If you’ve gone to schedule an on-campus Round 2 interview at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business only to learn that all the slots are full, you’re not alone. Soojin Kwon, Ross managing director of full-time MBA admissions and program, shared these and other updates—as well as valuable Ross interview tips—in a post today to her MBA Admissions Blog.
“Shortly after posting the interview schedule, nearly all of our on-campus slots filled up,” she wrote. So her team reached out to student interviewers to volunteer more time and opened up more slots—only those filled, too! “Please don’t despair if you weren’t able to get an on-campus interview slot,” Kwon assured. “Interviews with alumni hold the same weight, and you’ll have more opportunities to visit us here in person.”
What if you didn’t receive an interview invitation? The admissions committee will do another review of your application to determine whether to waitlist or deny, according to Kwon. “Then on Friday, Feb 9, we will be releasing a batch of early denies,” she continued. “If you have not heard from us on that date, you will receive your decision on March 16.”
Kwon went on to counter some common interview myths in hopes of helping candidates feel less anxious and better prepared to meet her and her team.
3 Myths About Ross MBA Interviews That Simply Aren’t True
- “If I can’t make it to a team exercise, I’ll probably get dinged.”
Not true, said Kwon, underscoring that on-campus and off-campus interviews are weighted equally. “While participating in the team exercise does provide us another opportunity to get to know you, you can still be admitted without participating in the team exercise if your app and one-on-one interview are strong,” she wrote. - “It’s better to interview in-person with an alum than via Skype with a student.”
This, too, is false, Kwon noted. In-person alumni interviews are weighted exactly the same as Skype interviews with students. “We’re more interested in what you have to share with us than the medium through which you share it,” she wrote. - “Ross only interviews and admits students with GMAT scores over 700.”
Wrong again, said Kwon, referring applicants to a recent podcast interview in which she shared that GMAT scores vary widely for Ross interviewees and admits alike. “We look at an applicant’s entire profile to determine who to invite, not just a test score,” Kwon wrote. “Moreover, interviewers don’t see your score or anything else in your application except for your resume.”
In addition to dispelling these interview myths, Kwon also offered the following interview prep advice:
- Be prepared to answer three questions: (1) Why do you want an MBA? (2) Why Ross? (3) Tell us about your pre-MBA career path and post-MBA career goals. “Your path and/or goals may be similar to others in the pool. But the reasons for choosing your path and goal are bound to be different,” Kwon wrote. “That’s what we want to know: What drives you? What interests you?”
- Fight the urge to organize other applicants to rehearse for the team exercise. “There is no need to prepare for the team exercise,” stressed Kwon. “We’re not looking to see if you can throw out clever responses on the fly. We want to see how you interact with new people, in a new situation, on an activity that requires listening, contributing, and collaborating, because that’s what you’ll do at Ross and in pretty much any post-MBA job.”
- Don’t stress—just be yourself. “You know yourself better than anyone else—why you made the choices you did, what you learned from the experiences you’ve had, and what you’re looking for in an MBA program and in your future career,” Kwon wrote. “That’s what we’re trying to get to know—you.”
If you find these tips from Kwon helpful, be sure to also check out her video, “How to Ace the Michigan Ross MBA Interview.”
And don’t miss these Clear Admit resources that can help you prepare for your Ross interview:
Clear Admit Ross Interview Guide
Clear Admit Interview Archive
