My interview was blind with a GSB alum. Received an email matching me with my interviewer ~7 days after receiving my invite (I’m in the southeast U.S.A and there aren’t as many alumni here to support as there are in NY, Chicago, Boston, west coast).
I was extremely pleased with how strong of a match the AO was able to make with my interviewer. We worked at the same company pre-MBA. He had the same post-MBA goals as I do, and we had very similar interests in our personal lives.
~15 minutes before my interview was scheduled to start, I met my interviewer at an office building where he was holding his interviews this year. We spent the first 15 minutes chatting in the lobby before heading up to the interview room. Once we got in and settled, he gave an overview of how the interview would flow and then we immediately kicked off.
The interviewer was extremely friendly throughout the interview and the interview quickly became very conversational. I was slightly surprised he did not ask me anything about myself to kick off the interview. Instead, he dove right in to the behavioral questions:
– Tell me about a time you were particularly effective
– Tell me a time that you identified something that no one else had identified
– Tell me about a time where you had to deal with a challenging team member
– Tell me about a time where you were blocked from reaching a goal
– Tell me about a time where you took on a leadership role that was outside of your scope
– How have you motivated people on a team?
– How would you react in a team environment where not everyone on the team wanted to give as much effort or cared as much about the outcome?
– Why Stanford?
He was up front about the fact that he was going to jump around a bit. We dug deep into the details of a few questions, but nothing too stressful. Just be prepared to go into nitty-gritty detail on all of your stories. Do not fabricate stories, because it will show.
After all of his questions, he left ~20 minutes for me to ask questions, and he was open and honest with all of his responses.
Overall, I think the interview went great. The interviewer was extremely kind and genuinely seemed to care about getting to know me. Offered to be a sounding board for me at any point in the process as I think through potential decisions down the line. Definitely came away with a good sense of who he is as a person and what GSB is looking for in its students and alumni.
Clear Admit Resources
Preparing for your Stanford MBA admissions interview? Check out Clear Admit’s other resources:
- Clear Admit Stanford GSB Interview Guide: Strategic tips for approaching Stanford’s interview questions, and more.
- Interview Archive: More firsthand accounts from Stanford 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
