We started with a little chit-chat about our shared backgrounds (both Chinese), then talked about the following (with probes from the interviewer throughout):
1) Tell me about your career thus far.
2) Why SOM?
3) Who have you spoken to about SOM?
4) What will you contribute to the SOM community?
5) Why the specific career goal you’ve articulated, and why not something else?
6) What do you think of the Dean Kerwin Charles quote?
7) Why did you choose your quote?
8) Anything else you’d like to mention?
The atmosphere was very casual; my interviewer was dressed in a button-up, which was a bit more dressed-up than my other alumni interviewers at other schools, but took care to be clear that this was a casual conversation. He also informed me at the beginning that there were specific questions he’d have to get through. The conversation was wholly resume-based.
I thought the interview was one of my choppier MBA interviews, because there were a few instances where the interviewer asked very pointed follow-ups.
I was most surprised by how strict the time limit was. At the 30-minute mark, the interviewer dropped off; so I only had time for one question. In contrast, alumni conducting interviews at all but one of my other schools were happy to run a few minutes over to answer questions.
Update: Waitlisted, then declined the waitlist due to significant scholarship at another program.
