Soarer: I had scheduled my on campus Chicago GSB interview early this month. The interview was blind. The interviewer was a second year student and he made me comfortable by starting the interview with my travel stories (Chicago had witnessed a snowstorm that day).
Most of the questions were standard. Walk me through your Resume, Why MBA, Post MBA career goals, Why Retail industry (in my career goals I had mentioned about working in the Retail industry), Why Chicago GSB, Why do you like A, B student groups (I had mentioned about A and B in the Why Chicago GSB section), any other student groups that interest you, What do you want to concentrate in, Once I replied about the concentrations I was asked about the course names that I would like to take (this was the only question which I did not answer). I think the interviewer was trying to find out the amount of research I had done on the GSB hence the questions on course names. Then he asked me about the challenges I face in my workplace and how do I address them, What would be my suggestion to the CEO of my client (I work in a technology consulting company), What do I do outside of work, Why do I like Racing (my favorite activity), What extra curricular activities did I indulge in while I was in college.
Towards the end of the interview I was given the opportunity to ask a few questions. I wanted to know about the Grade Non Disclosure (GND) policy (since a lot of debate has been going on in all the top schools) and his personal opinion on the positives and negatives of the policy. He explained to me the process and that every year the incoming batch of students needs to vote for the GND policy. I also asked him about the downtown campus and how was the part time class environment different from the full time class environment.
And that was the end of the interview. It lasted for about half an hour. I think I did a decent job. But have to admit that every time I visit (have visited twice already) Chicago GSB I fall more and more in love with it. The only suggestion I have to give is that one should do in-depth research on the school. If you have been short listed for interview it means that you are good enough to be admitted. The interview is probably a means for the school to find out whether the applicant will join the school if admitted.
