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Published: February 2, 2022
Stanford GSB Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Zoom
The interview was scheduled based on the alum’s availability and lasted for approximately 1 hour. I was matched with an alum with whom I shared the same undergrad school (different industry though). He was a 2010 GSB graduate. He was friendly and the interview flowed like a conversation – in fact, some 30 minutes into the interview, we took a break for some time where he asked me if I had questions for him (in most interviews this is done towards the end). The interviewer had access only to my resume. There were a few standard questions at first – Read more
Published: February 1, 2022
Cornell Johnson Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Skype
Top-level: It was a relatively low-stress typical interview with fewer ‘situational/behavioral’ and ‘how-would-you-contribute’ questions than other schools. Tips for applicants: Don’t forget your driver’s license. Make sure to ask the interviewer to repeat their name and email very clearly so that you can write it down and thank them after the interview since Skype closes pretty quickly. Only name-drop a current student or recent alum with whom you truly had a memorable conversation because the ad-com or second-year student interviewer will likely know them better than you. Because of an earlier issue with my transcript, my invite Read more
Published: January 31, 2022
Yale SOM Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Second-Year Student / Zoom
The interview was with a Y2 student via Zoom. Interviewer was extremely welcoming and friendly, told me it would be a very casual 30min conversation, that she had a list of questions she needed to ask and would be taking notes. We exchanged some casual ice-breakers about CNY. It was standard Yale-style of blind interview (interviewer only had access to resume) and no “tell me about yourself”. 1. I won’t ask you to tell me about your resume. Instead, choose a professional experience that is meaningful to you and talk about what the outcome was. Why was it meaningful to Read more
Published: January 31, 2022
Minnesota Carlson Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Adcom / Zoom
The Carlson interview was very short, and it looked the Adcom member was just trying to run through the list of questions he had written down. It was a blind interview, the Adcom member only had my resume and not the rest of the application. 1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Why Carlson? 3. How will you add value to the Carlson community? 4. Short term and long term goals? 5. Tell me about a time when you had a difficult conversation with someone. 6. How have you shown your commitment to diversity? Read more
Published: January 30, 2022
Episode 211: Wire Taps – Potentially very strong candidate, needs to shape their story. A candidate with interesting work experience…but is low GPA a killer? Darden ($0) vs. Johnson ($80K) for consulting (or maybe IB)?
As Round 2 interview invite season continues, Alex and Graham discuss Harvard’s release date (Wednesday of this upcoming week) – something your hosts had indeed speculated would be the case in last week’s episode. Graham also highlighted the latest Real Humans piece from Georgetown / McDonough and noted some fun facts and figures from the employment reports for MIT / Sloan and Yale SOM. Your hosts then discussed the latest MBA rankings from US News – for online programs – and wondered why Michigan / Ross was not included. As has been the case of Read more
Published: January 29, 2022
Stanford GSB Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Alumnus / Zoom
Interview was pretty conversational and easy going. About 50 mins long. Talking through key experiences with digging throughout: + Talk me through your resume. + What are you most proud of? + Tell me about a time you were challenged. + Why GSB? Why an MBA? Read more
Published: January 23, 2022
UCLA Anderson Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Second-Year Student / Zoom
Really conversational, very chill second-year student [interviewer]. Questions: Walk me through your resume. Why an MBA, why now? Short-term/long-term goals? Plan B short-term goals? Why are you interested in finance? Why Anderson? What will you contribute to Anderson? Greatest strength/weakness? What is your best quality when working in a team? Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work and how did you resolve it. Questions for me? Read more
Published: January 23, 2022
Episode 210: Wire Taps—Strong female candidate worried about a 710 GMAT. Pivot from tech to investment banking, with a 770 GMAT. Wharton ($10K) vs. Sloan ($100K), for MBB Consulting.
In this episode, Graham and Alex kick things off with some talk about the timing of interview invitations for impatient Round 2 applicants.  Interview invites are already starting to roll out for some programs (West Coast schools, plus Yale and a few more) but the programs with ‘fixed’ interview decision dates remain a couple of weeks away; your hosts speculated that HBS would be the first week of February. Beyond talk of R2 applications, Graham highlighted our final Real Humans student piece for the season, USC Marshall. He also mentioned the upcoming events Clear Admit is hosting for Read more
Published: January 19, 2022
CBS Interview Questions & Report: Early Decision / Alum / Zoom
Was notified of interview invite and was matched with a recent alum and instructed to schedule Zoom interview. I provided my resume to the interviewer when scheduling the interview, but the interviewer had not seem my application or read my essays. Questions asked: Why MBA / why CBS? Short term / long term goals? How will being in NYC help? Tell me about a time you got critical feedback. Tell me about a time you used data to help you on a project. Tell me about 2-3 important qualities you’ve picked up in your Read more
Published: January 17, 2022
CBS Interview Questions & Report: Rolling / Alumna / Zoom
Interview was pretty standard: 1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Why MBA? Why Columbia? 3. What is your leadership style? 4. Anything else you would like admissions team to know that’s not on your application? 5. Any questions for me? She submitted her feedback same day. Read more
Published: January 16, 2022
Episode 209: Wire Taps— Dartmouth grad with 11 years of work experience in Japan. Syrian American chemical engineer looking to transition to consulting. West African candidate weighing offers from Booth, Johnson, Yale and Stern, for Investment Banking.
Welcome back to WireTaps!  On this Martin Luther King Day, Alex and Graham take a moment to recognize the enormous contributions made by Dr. King before turning their attention towards the latest MBA application news.  Round 2 application deadlines have passed for all the top MBA programs except for MIT / Sloan; Alex discussed the advantages this might provide Sloan, year on year. Graham then highlighted the new Real Humans pieces Clear Admit has published for Boston College, UT / McCombs and Vanderbilt / Owen. Graham also noted the new employment report for Northwestern / Kellogg, Read more
Published: January 14, 2022
UPenn Wharton Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Zoom
WHARTON TBD: The TBD went as expected. The link was opened just a couple of minutes before starting. We introduced ourselves before the “clock” started ticking. When the time began, everyone presented their ideas in about 65-70 seconds. Then we started to attempt converging into an idea. It wasn’t easy at first, but everyone was very open to suggestions. Only a couple of people were more “stuck” with their own ideas, but eventually went with the group. After deciding on a topic, the entire conversation went more smoothly. I think that following the specific questions from the prompt was key. Read more
Published: January 14, 2022
Northwestern Kellogg Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Zoom
The interview was with a local alumnus from my same industry and undergraduate university who had just graduated from the program. The overall mood was mostly formal, though it became more relaxed by the end when I started asking questions back. The questions were: 1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Specifics about some projects and roles. 3. What do you like and dislike about your current job? 4. Tell me about some experiences that shaped your career development. 5. Tell me about a time you had to work with someone difficult. 6. What is Read more
Published: January 10, 2022
Yale SOM Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 /Second-Year Student / Zoom
My interviewer was pretty straight forward and friendly at the same time. She mentioned that the interview would last 30mins. I was already aware Yale SOM is not fond of starting interviews with the famous ” Tell me about yourself/ walk me through your resume” question so I was not surprised they did not ask it. These were the questions: 1. I won’t ask you to go through the whole resume, choose one professional experience where you succeeded at something and talk about what the outcome was. What did you learn from the experience and how did you apply it Read more
Published: January 9, 2022
Episode 208: Wire Taps—Female Indian candidate with a lower GRE score. Tech candidate with super numbers. Darden with dollars versus Kellogg.
Welcome back to WireTaps, our weekly podcast covering all things MBA Admissions!  Round 2 application deadlines continue in the week ahead; Alex and Graham discussed Chicago Booth moving its deadline to this week, January 11, speculating on the reason why. Graham highlighted the Real Humans pieces from Rochester / Simon and Washington U./ Olin. Graham also covered the employment reports from Columbia and Duke / Fuqua, and your hosts noted that Columbia does not break out the geographic spread of its graduates, while Fuqua is sending 28% of its class to the west coast, a high Read more
Published: January 2, 2022
Michigan Ross Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Zoom
I interviewed with an alumnus based out of Dallas. It seems like we were paired together based on background and location. He lives in Dallas and also works in Product Management so he was able to talk about my job and ask detailed questions about what I currently do. Questions Asked: -Walk me through your resume. -Why MBA? -Why Ross? -What do I want to do post MBA? -Where do I see myself in 5 years? Long term goals? Overall it was a fairly easy interview and he was very interesting to talk to. I Read more
Published: January 2, 2022
Episode 207: Wire Taps—Female engineer with lower GMAT quant score. Operations candidate targeting the COO role at Patagonia. Stern with a full-ride vs. Booth full-fare, for Investment Banking in New York?
Happy 2022 to all! Graham and Alex are back to ring in the New Year, despite some unexpected hurdles involving an acronym… Round 2 application deadlines are now upon us; Alex noted that 20 MBA programs that Clear Admit covers have their application deadlines this week. Our hosts also marvel at the increase in MBA DecisionWire entries, and the community discussion around those entries on the wires. Graham highlighted the recently published Real Humans pieces for UCLA Anderson and Cambridge Judge. Graham also discussed a new feature on Spotify, the show can now be rated; so here’s Read more
Published: December 26, 2021
Episode 206: Wire Taps—Outstanding military candidate with modest GRE. Government worker turned serial novelist. US-based candidate weighing options with non US-based programs.
Grab a glass of eggnog and cozy up to this holiday edition of the WireTaps podcast! While things are now quiet on the MBA decision release front, plenty of MBA candidates are sharing their decisions on MBA DecisionWire, and Graham and Alex get into some helpful content around how to spend the holiday break if you are deciding on R1 options or applying in R2.   Graham also noted the release of Real Humans pieces for Dartmouth / Tuck and Minnesota / Carlson and highlighted the employment reports from Harvard and Tuck. Both programs had an average starting salary at $150,000; Read more
Published: December 19, 2021
Episode 205: Wire Taps—URM college dropout with low test scores; can he make the cut? Accomplished woman with great numbers despite being expelled from ugrad. Will adcoms take a risk? DW: Stern full fare vs. McDonough with dollars; Should money matter?
Welcome back to another episode of WireTaps!  With decisions from leading programs wrapping up over the last week, there has been no shortage of activity on both MBA LiveWire – and MBA DecisionWire, as candidates start weighing their options.   Beyond the usual profile reviews, Alex and Graham dive into an ongoing conversation on LiveWire about the timing of interview invites for Columbia’s rolling admissions. They also look at the new Real Humans piece for Columbia and the employment report for Georgetown / McDonough, which had significance for the third WireTaps candidate this week (see below). As to this week’s candidates: Read more
Published: December 12, 2021
UCLA Anderson Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Virtual
The interviewer was a very chill second-year student. We had about 20 minutes of interview questions and the rest was asking the interviewer questions. I was asked the following: Walk me through your resume. Why MBA, why now? Why are you a good fit for Anderson? How would you contribute to Anderson? Tell me about a time you worked in a team on a process. Tell me about a time you failed. Any questions for me? Good luck everyone! I got in to Anderson! Read more
Published: December 12, 2021
Episode 204: Wire Taps—Energy Guy Worried About ROI. Columbia ED Candidate Targeting Round 2. Latam Candidate Might Rethink Target Programs.
Alex and Graham are back for another episode of WireTaps amidst the whirlwind of R1 decisions from Harvard, Stanford, Tuck, Kellogg, Emory, Darden, Michigan, Georgetown, and more! Our hosts preview MIT, Berkeley, and Wharton R1 decisions (coming later this week) and remind listeners to drop by Clubhouse this Thursday at 12 pm ET for some R1 results chatter. Alex and Graham also dig into some of the specific activity they’ve seen on MBA LiveWire over the past week, including one candidate who’s Stanford deny was softened by his HBS admit.  Graham also noted that plenty of interview reports are still Read more
Published: December 9, 2021
Yale SOM Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Skype
Interviewer was kind and attentive. My background was very unfamiliar to him and it seemed to me that he hardly understood what I was explaining – my fault! Anyhow, I could see he was trying, but he rarely gave me back up questions. I felt that this interview would not play a very decisive role in my application, since I could get admitted even though I could not engage him effectively. Interview Qs were as below: 1. Tell me about your most meaningful achievement (no walk through your resume). 2. Tell me about your failure. 3. How will Read more
Published: December 8, 2021
UPenn Wharton Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Zoom
Like everyone else, I had a team based discussion over Zoom with 5 other candidates and 2 second-year admissions fellows. We were let into the Zoom meeting roughly 5 minutes before the start time and had a bit of small talk/chatter before the admissions fellows got us started. They laid out the instructions and format then let us kick off the next 35 minutes. We wrapped up our discussion & presentation by the end of the 35 minute mark. The admissions fellows then shared that we would do a 1-on-1 interview, each of them taking 3 applicants and they showed Read more
Published: December 6, 2021
Yale SOM Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Zoom
October 18th, 2021 – Round 1 The interview was held through Zoom, in a very collegial atmosphere. The interviewer was great: a very welcoming and nice second-year student! From the beginning, she made me feel comfortable and told me that she had only gone through my curriculum, as well as that she would be taking some notes during the interview about my answers. List of interview questions: A little bit of conversation about my background and points in common we had to break the ice Walk me through your resume Responsibilities involved in my current position Time when I demonstrated Read more
Published: December 6, 2021
NYU Stern Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Adcom / Zoom
Interview with Adcom. She was very nice and started the interview with a question about my pick six essay. She talked about herself as well. It was an application based interview and lasted 30 min. Questions asked: 1. About my Pick six 2. Tell me what you do at work 3. Leadership example 4. Why MBA 5. Plans for recruiting (how will you use NYUs resources) 6. Any other thing you would like to share 7. Questions for admissions Overall the interview was very friendly and no surprises. Read more

MBA Livewire

December 21, 2024 8:37am ET
Accepted to Duke / Fuqua
Round: Round 1
Received via phone on December 11, 2024
GMAT: 675
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
December 21, 2024 2:38am ET
Waitlisted at Duke / Fuqua
Round: Round 1
Received via phone on December 10, 2024
GPA: 3.27
GMAT: 760
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: CA
December 20, 2024 11:16pm ET
Accepted to Babson / Olin
Round: Round 1
Received via email on December 17, 2024
GPA: 3.9
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: South Asia
December 20, 2024 7:50pm ET
Accepted to Columbia
Round: Round 1
Received via portal on December 10, 2024
GMAT: 750
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Application Location: India
Note:

$100k scholarship
December 20, 2024 3:21pm ET
Accepted to Yale SOM
Round: Round 1
Received via email December 20, 2024
GPA: 4.0
GMAT: 750
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Note:

100% scholarship
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