I had my alumni interview in Delhi on 30th Nov 2007. The alumnus was a very senior person as belonging to class of early ‘90s. He told me in beginning that interview will be for 30mins out of which 20mins he will ask and rest 10 mins are for my questions (if any). He also tried to calm me down by saying interview is just another input in appas process like GMAT, LORs, Essays, Transcripts etc. He told me that he has set of 4-5 questions for me. Infact he was so well managed that irrespective of my answers length he asked me 4-5 questions and stopped in dot 21st minute. Questions were straight and not led by my answers. Like goals, accomplishments, testing times in life, value system, what do I do for fun and why GSB. Though I am a marketing concentration aspirant and he was from Fin background, to my surprise he didn’t ask why Marketing in Chicago vs Kellogg or Wharton. May be he believed it as redundant question considering the increased credibility of marketing concentration from GSB.
The most uncomfortable part was that interview wasn’t probing and wasn’t led by my answers. Also he didn’t write anything or referred to my resume once. He kept looking into my eyes while I was answering without any expression. He was straight faced with limited expressions which couldn’t communicate to me whether he was convinced or not with my answers.
Overall, not a good post-interview feel but I still remember alum’s first statement that ‘interview is just another input to apps’. It is a soothing statement that keeps my hopes alive.
Best of luck to other R1 and R2 aspirants.
PS: Special thanks to Chicago GSB adcom for helping me through with appointment with alum. My experience with Chicago Admissions committee has been really good. I have applied to other schools too but the level of assistance, consideration, responsiveness and clarity in communication exhibited by Chicago GSB adcom is really professional and appreciative.
