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Published: April 16, 2012

USC / Marshall MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / On Campus

We discussed TFA and teaching for the first couple minutes….this was a blind interview so the person only has my resume in her hand and has not seen any part of my application. (I was interviewed on campus by Grace Kim who is the senior assoc. director of admissions) Tell me about a time you had to deal with a moral dilemma Describe yourself in three words Why an MBA, how does your background and previous work experience contribute to your desire to obtain an MBA Why USC What do you think is the biggest challenge in education reform? (this Read more

Published: April 16, 2012

Oxford / Saïd MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Outside Consultant / On Campus

The interview took place in a conference room inside the Said Business School. The dozen interviewees were encouraged to mingle with each other throughout the day. Only two current MBA students attended the luncheon, given that they were on break. Surprisingly, almost all of the applicants had flown long distances from Seattle, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney, etc. Interview time: under 30 minutes The interviewer was a former headhunter who is now working as an outside consultant for the AdCom. She was knowledgeable, articulate, and friendly to converse with. We started with brief chit-chat about the program and the community, and Read more

Published: April 8, 2012

MBA Admissions Staff Monitor for Plagiarism in Application Essays

Following the disclosure earlier this year by UCLA Anderson School of Management that it rejected 52 applicants to its MBA program under suspicion of plagiarism, more business schools are turning to paid services that can detect when prospective applicants try to pass off pre-canned work as part of their own application essays, a Financial Times article reports this week. At UCLA Anderson, detecting plagiarism among applicants was an unanticipated result of going digital with its application process. Anderson’s admissions staff this year began reviewing all applications using iPads. “Once we went digital, all kinds of possibilities opened up, including the option to run admissions essays through Turnitin,” Andrew Ainslie, Anderson’s senior associate dean, told the FT. Read more

Published: April 5, 2012

IESE MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 3 / New York Center / Adcom

I had my interview at the new IESE New York Center. This center is used for a various events at IESE from Executive programs, Short Open Programs, and many presentations throughout the year. Full-time MBA students can actually study for two weeks in NYC during their two year program. I have already attended a few visits here like Assessment Day and presentations from two IESE professors. This New York Center is a testament to IESE’s effort to expand in the US and globally. As far as the interview, I was interviewed by Itziar and she was very easy to talk Read more

Published: April 3, 2012

GMAT Tips – Sample Problem: Critical Reasoning Weaken Question

Today’s GMAT Tip comes to us from Kaplan. In this article, Kaplan GMAT instructor Bret Ruber provides helpful advice about answering Critical Reasoning questions that require test-takers to weaken an argument: Today's GMAT practice problem is a Critical Reasoning weaken question. Weaken questions are more common than any other question type in the critical reasoning section, so it is essential to be prepared for them. On these problems, identify the conclusion, evidence and assumption and then look for the answer choice that refutes the central assumption. Problem Increasingly, American businesses requiring customer service phone lines have been utilizing overseas companies that can provide these services at extremely reduced rates. Toll-free calls are routed to countries like India, where low-paid workers have been trained to deal with most of the typical problems consumers have with their credit cards, online services, and computer equipment. Since the companies using these overseas call centers are saving so much money, they will undoubtedly show higher profits than companies that do not. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument? Read more

Published: April 3, 2012

INSEAD MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off Campus

First interview Who: Mid 30s entrepeneur working at startup. Interview: Met at a restaurant for lunch in London, interviewer was extremely warm and friendly. Brought a copy of my resume and asked me to walk him through it with occasional follow-up questions. Then asked the usual: Why MBA? Why now? Why INSEAD? Then went into detail on some activities and his experience at INSEAD. Only tricky part was interviewer identified the biggest weakness on my app was lack of experience and drilled down into it. Very relaxed and informal. Second interview Who: Mid 50s investment banker running his own hedge Read more

Published: April 2, 2012

Georgetown / McDonough MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On Campus / Adcom

I interviewed on campus at Georgetown McDonough on January 19 with my case manager on the admissions committee. The interview was a bit more formal/structured than the conversational ones at other schools and lasted approximately 45 minutes. I was granted about 10 minutes to ask questions and follow up on any of the previous discussion. This part was a bit awkward as I asked about the curriculum redesign which at that point they weren’t ready to release any information on this topic yet. She took sporadic notes on my resume and seemed to mentally refer back to a list of Read more

Published: April 1, 2012

UVA / Darden MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / 2nd Year Student

The interviewer said I would have about 30 minutes to “Tell me your story, you can start from wherever you want, high school, college, your choice” He said he would chime in with questions every so often but after 30 minutes he would have some additional questions. It was very relaxed, more like a conversation than an interview. My advice would be to make sure to get through the early part of the story pretty quickly because my interviewer asked a lot of questions and I had to shorten the second half of my story because of it. After he Read more

Published: April 1, 2012

Georgetown / McDonough MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off-Campus / Adcom

I interviewed with Georgetown McDonough in Asia. They sent an Adcom member and we had the interview in a lounge a nice hotel. It was a really relaxed setting and the interviewer made sure I was comfortable. We had our own table, but there were definitely other people at tables around us. It felt much more like a chat than an interview. Very casual. Some pretty standard questions: walk me through your resume ( we discussed several points about my resume, transitions between jobs etc. ) why do you want an MBA? why now? what attracts you to Georgetown? describe Read more

Published: March 27, 2012

Columbia MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Regular Decision / Alum / Off Campus

I met my interviewer at a coffee shop, and he was immediately very friendly and casual – extremely easy to talk to. I provided a copy of my resume. He began by letting me ask about his background. He and I both work in the retail industry, so it was good to establish some common ground at the beginning. then he pulled out a worksheet and ticked through some standard questions. walk me through your resume what is an ethical dilemma that you’ve faced? Do you wish you’d acted differently now? Why business school? Why now? Why Columbia? talk about Read more

Published: March 27, 2012

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Off-campus Hub

Had a brief five minute chat about the adcom member and his background and a little bit about the process. Then we jumped into questions Walk me through your resume (I wove in a bit of why MBA here) Tell me about a time when you managed a team and one person was less motivated Tell me about a time when you managed someone senior to you Tell me about a time when you participated in a successful negotiation Why do you want an MBA now? (I spoke a bit more about why MBA here) Why Wharton specifically? Do you Read more

Published: March 27, 2012

MIT / Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom

Any updates to your application or anything new you’ve accomplished at work? Tell me about a company in your industry that has caught your eye. Given your role at your company (work for a startup), what will it be like when you leave? Tell me about a time you helped a colleague who was struggling professionally. Tell me about a time you had to persuade your colleagues. Follow up questions about how I delegated analysis of the issue and how I felt my colleagues perceived my approach. Tell me about a time a colleauge had a contrasting opinion or gave Read more

Published: March 24, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 3 / On Campus / AdCom

Submitted application on 1/23, invited to interview on 2/8. US, non-Texas applicant. This was probably my most relaxed b-school interview yet (fourth one) – I nearly ended up in tears of laughter, which was completely unexpected. I chose to interview on-campus in Austin and since I interviewed on a Friday, my interview was with an AdCom member – not a second-year like I was told. Much of the focus and crux of the interview was atypical from the usual – in that there were no “Tell me about a time when…” questions or questions on leadership/teamwork… but the nature was Read more

Published: March 21, 2012

Yale SOM MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / AdCom / On Campus

Hi all Pretty standard questions mostly: Explain why you choose your undergraduate school and what you did there. Explain how you got to your current job. If asked, how would your boss or client describe you? Tell me about a time you worked on a team. Questions? Good luck all ! Read more

Published: March 20, 2012

UCLA / Anderson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Second-year student / On Campus

I interviewed Round 2 with a second year student on-campus last week. The interview lasted 30 minutes. I was asked the following: Tell me about yourself and walk me through your resume. Why an MBA, and why UCLA? What student organizations would you get involved with? How would you describe a leader and what is your role? Tell me about a failure and what you learned. Questions for me? The interview was friendly and casual, and I left with a good impression about UCLA. Read more

Published: March 19, 2012

UVA / Darden MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off Campus / Alum

I had my interview on Feb 28th with an alumnus off-campus. I am an international applicant based in Mumbai. The interviewer was extremely friendly and asked me to tell me my story, telling about my life, academics, decisions taken in life what I have done, work experiences and then touch upon why MBA, career goals and why Darden. I had heard of this format of interview and had prepared for this so after the initial chat I started with my story and told about my experiences in detail. The interview asked questions related to what I told but all in Read more

Published: March 19, 2012

Kellogg MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alum / Off Campus

I am an international applicant and had interview on Feb 29th with an alumnus, off-campus. My interview was held in interviewer’s car as she had to go somewhere and we had to complete the interview within a day according to school deadline. I was asked by her to meet at airport. The interview began about half an hour late, when she came out of the airport and it began as soon as she met me on airport itself. The interview questions were mostly standard: Where are you working and whats your job responsibilities? What is your background? Why you want Read more

Published: March 19, 2012

MIT / Sloan MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-Campus / Adcom

I got my invitation to interview on March 2nd, and had 2 weeks to schedule the interview. I scheduled it for the week after, because of work obligations. They offered lunch with a current student on interview days, but then there were no interview timeslots around lunchtime, so i chose a morning slot to minimize the amount of time out of the office (i’m local). ALSO — YOU HAVE TO BRING TRANSCRIPT COPIES. nowhere on their website did they mention that, at all, before you get invited to interview (and i looked, because i was ordering them for another school Read more

Published: March 19, 2012

UCLA / Anderson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off Campus

Interview conducted on 3/15 in a local Starbucks and lasted approximately 45 minutes. Was not asked to send my resume before the interview, but presented the resume as the interview started. Relatively informal and casual interview – the main goal of the interview was to assess fit. Traditional questions to start the interview. Walk me through your resume/tell me about yourself. Why MBA? What are your short term and long term goals? Why is UCLA a good fit? How do you plan on getting involved at UCLA? Read more

Published: March 19, 2012

UCLA / Anderson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 (Admitted) / Second-year Student / On Campus

Interviewed on 1/11/2012 with a 2nd year student on campus. Received admission e-mail on 1/25/2012. Interview lasted about 40 minutes Walk me through your resume (with some questions about my engineering experience) Why MBA? Why UCLA? Tell me about a leadership experience. Questions for me? Overall, I enjoyed the interview. It was a very casual conversation where the interviewer showed genuine interest in me as a person, my career aspirations, and how the Anderson MBA fits in. No probing / forcing questions to put me on my toes. It really was a 2-way conversation, where the interviewer related and inter-weaved Read more

Published: March 18, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 3 / On Campus / 2nd year student

Invitation to interview received on February 15th. I’m an international student It was very relax interview. The interviewer first explained 4 strength of McCombs (his version) and share a little bit of his career and background 1. Tell me a little bit about yourself. 2. Other schools that you have applied 3. What are your goals? 4. What is the weakest part of your application? 5. What is your biggest accomplishment (professional and personal)? 6. How do you define “great leadership”? And how did you implement it in your life? 7. What is your difficulties working in a team? What Read more

Published: March 15, 2012

UCLA / Anderson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 (Admitted) / Alum / Off Campus

I am in UCLA Round 2 with US$30K. I was invited for interview on Feb. 15, and took my interview on March 4. I received my admission call on March 9. Why MBA? Why UCLA? Why now? Leadership example. Hobbies? An example of resolving conflict. A story shown on my resume (I am a lawyer; so it is about my experience of defending a murder-rapist). Any questions to UCLA or interviewer? I asked his experience: why consulting, PE and then banking? Why UCLA? Collectively lasted over 75 min. Read more

Published: March 14, 2012

Columbia MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Regular Decision / Alum / Off Campus

Applied to Columbia MBA program: Jan. 15th, 2012 Invited to Interview: Mar. 5th, 2012 Interviewed: Mar. 11th, 2012 Status Changed to Complete: Mar. 14th, 2012 We met at a Starbuck’s in Atlanta The interviewer was a recent grad who works for McKinsey. He was candid, straight-forward, and didn’t let things feel formal. He first gave me a chance to ask questions about his Columbia and work experience. It was a great way to break the ice. This lasted for 15 minutes. We thoroughly discussed the academics at Columbia (particularly around finance and Heilbrunn) along with the new grades disclosure policy Read more

Published: March 14, 2012

UCLA / Anderson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Second-year Student / On Campus

I arrived and checked in at the admissions office with my photo ID. My interview started at my appointment time in a career center interview room. It went for 25 minutes with 15-20 minutes of me asking questions at the end. The atmosphere was relaxed and very conversational. My interviewer was taking copious notes the entire time. Type of interview – Blind, resume-based interview with 2nd year student. List of interview questions: Tell me about yourself. Resume-specific questions: gaps, details, etc. Short and long term goals. Describe day-to-day at recent job. Discuss what you like the most and least about Read more

Published: March 14, 2012

UCLA / Anderson MBA Admissions Interview Questions:

I applied in Round 2 and was interviewed via Skype with a 2nd-year student on March 8, 2012. I signed in my Skype account about 20 minutes prior the interview and realized that the student had already added me some minutes before. He later called me promptly at the interview time. He was very friendly with a cute smile. 🙂 He introduced himself and tried to make me feel at ease. He said the interview would last 30 minutes. He would ask me about my candidacy for 20 minutes and the rest was for my questions. First, he asked me to Read more

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MBA Applywire

November 26, 2024 6:16am ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, UCLA Anderson

Pre-MBA Career: Software Engineer

Post-MBA Target Industry: Other

GRE: 331

GPA: 3.2

Years of Work Experience: 4.5

Location: United States

Notes:

I am aiming to pivot from Software Engineering to Product Management. My undergrad degree was in Computer Science from an Ivy League school where I was a D1 varsity athlete. EC's outside of that are pretty slim, although I am involved with charities and volunteer organizations sporadically. Have organized and led a small handful of hobby groups among friends and colleagues as well. Work experience includes solid brand recognition, and my previous 2.5 YoE are in the music/entertainment industry.

November 26, 2024 5:48am ET

Applying: Columbia, NYU Stern

Pre-MBA Career: product Manager in Entertainment

Post-MBA Target Industry: Undecided

GPA: 3.57

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: New York

Notes:

I am a woman of color and a Product Manager at a major streaming service with three years of experience thus far. I hold a degree in Cinematography from a CUNY school and began my career as an NBCUniversal Page. Since then, I’ve worked for prominent media companies like NBCU, Peacock, A+E Networks, and Paramount+. While I didn’t initially plan on pursuing an MBA, my career trajectory has naturally led me in that direction due to my rapid career growth. I’m preparing for the GMAT (focus edition) with a target score of 655 or higher.

As a non-traditional candidate, are there any potential red flags in my profile? Additionally, are there other MBA programs I should consider? Thank you!

November 26, 2024 12:03am ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Government Affairs at technology startup

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , LinkedIn , Microsoft , Tesla , Uber

GMAT: 770

GPA: 3.4

Years of Work Experience: 3

November 25, 2024 11:01am ET

Applying: Arizona State / W.P. Carey, Georgetown / McDonough, Indiana / Kelley, U. Washington / Foster, UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Military: Acquisition Program Manager

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , Bain , Deloitte , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , IBM , Lenova , LinkedIn , Microsoft , Oracle

GRE: 317

GPA: 2.43

Years of Work Experience: 9

Location: Los Angeles

Post MBA Location: West Coast

Notes:

Undergrad was at a Service Academy. Also earned a Masters of Science with a GPA of 4.0, Project Management Professional certification holder, and volunteered for two years at service to schools helping veterans get into an undergraduate program.

November 25, 2024 7:58am ET

Applying: Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB

Pre-MBA Career: Equity Research at Goldman Sachs, and long only Asset Management (healthcare sector)

Post-MBA Target Industry: Asset Management, inc. HF Companies: Fidelity

GMAT: 735

GPA: 3.6

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: San Francisco CA

Post MBA Location: San Francisco CA

Notes:

I took a gap year in college and switched majors taking longer to graduate so I’m 30, would matriculate at 32 and graduate at 34. Seems like I’m an outlier and worried I’m too old.

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MBA LiveWire

November 26, 2024 2:43pm ET

Interview Invite to NYU Stern

Round: Round 2

Received via email on November 24, 2024

GPA: 3.8

GRE: 324

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: United States

November 26, 2024 2:22pm ET

Accepted to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via portal November 26, 2024

GPA: 9.48

GMAT: 705

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: India

Note:

Interview 11/12

November 26, 2024 2:21pm ET

Interview Invite to Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 1

Received via email on November 13, 2024

GMAT: 735

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: India

Note:

Interviewed on 11/22.

November 26, 2024 2:19pm ET

Accepted to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 26, 2024

GMAT: 735

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: India

Note:

Interviewed on 11/7.

November 26, 2024 2:18pm ET

Accepted to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 26, 2024

GPA: 3.6

GMAT: 675

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

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