I heard from Booth on the first day of the week when interview invites were supposed to be out. After submitting answers to the short answer questions Booth asks, I got the name of my interviewer in around 4 days. Mailed him to set up a time, and interviewed on the last day of the interview window. We met at his office.
Questions
It was a comfortable experience. It felt quite informal for the most part. We started with him asking about my family, which surprised me. He wanted to know about what my family did, where we were from etc. This caught me by surprise because I expected questions like “Why MBA?” and “Why Booth?”. After around 10 minutes, he asked some questions about my work and the company I work at. We spoke about what I did at work, and the previous roles I had performed. He then tried to catch me off guard by saying that I spoke with passion about my work and didn’t sound like I needed an MBA. Which was when I had to explain the need for it and why I wanted to go to Booth.
He then asked me which other schools I had applied to, and what the outcomes were. He asked why I was applying to Booth in Round 2 if I really wanted to go there like I said. We spoke about what Booth was like before the Harper Center was built, and what a difference it had made to the school. We also discussed the Chicago winters and how students cope during school.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a good interview – it felt informal but he found a way to extract all the regular information while managing to catch me off guard a few times. It was testing and challenging, but was also pleasant overall. He was also very willing to answer any questions I had about the school and program. The interview lasted around 70 minutes.
I received an admission offer from the school.
Preparing for an upcoming Chicago / Booth MBA Interview? Check out Clear Admit’s other resources:
- Clear Admit Chicago Booth Interview Guide: Strategic tips for approaching Booth’s interview questions, and more.
- Interview Archive: More firsthand accounts from Chicago Booth MBA applicants themselves
- Understanding the MBA Admissions Interview: Blind vs. Non-blind Interviews
- Podcast Episode 23: 5 Most Common MBA Interview Questions You Need to Ace
After your interview, be sure to add your first-hand interview report to the Clear Admit Interview Archive.
