I interviewed with a first year student, on UC Berkeley Haas’ campus. All in all, it was a pretty relaxed, conversational and even fun experience. She started off by introducing herself and her background and explain how the interview was going to go. Then we jumped in the questions:
- Tell me about yourself
- Follow-up question: She asked if I use any of the skills from my previous job in my current role
- Why go back to school?
- I took this as the Why an MBA/why now, but she did tell me when she first asked the question that we would get more into this later in the interview, so I used it as an opportunity to state my goals and why now it was a good time and why the MBA was the best degree, briefly touching on the specifics, but I had a chance to really explain why an MBA at Haas later on.
Then, she told me that she had a few required questions and read them off a piece of paper, which were:
- Tell me about a challenge that you’ve faced, either personally or professionally, and what lessons you learned from it
- Follow-up: how have I applied these lessons elsewhere in my life.
- Tell me about a weakness (personal trait)
- How have you promoted diversity/equity in your workplace or in other areas of your life?
- The “official” Why an MBA, and why Haas?
Then she got back to other questions:
- Describe a time when you had to convince someone of something at work or in another activity you’ve been involved with
- Describe your leadership style
- What clubs and activities would you get involved with?
- Tell me about an accomplishment that is not on your resume
- Any questions for me?
Clear Admit Resources
Preparing for your Berkeley / Haas MBA admissions interview? Check out Clear Admit’s other resources:
- Clear Admit Berkeley / Haas Interview Guide: Strategic tips for approaching Haas’s interview questions, and more.
- Interview Archive: More firsthand accounts from Berkeley / Haas 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
