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Published: December 9, 2019
Kellogg / Northwestern MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-campus
This was a R1 interview, and it took place at a hotel near the Alum’s office. He was extremely friendly. Questions: 1) Walk me through your resume 2) Why MBA? 3) Why Kellogg? 4) Goals 5) How will you differentiate yourself at Kellogg? 6) A few specific questions about a previous job I held 7) Tell me about a time when you led a team. 8) How will you contribute at Kellogg? 9) Which other schools have you applied to? For the Why Kellogg question, I happened to mention about how Read more
Published: December 9, 2019
Wharton MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum & Adcom / Off-campus
This was a team-based discussion in Mumbai, at the McKinsey office. Each team had 6 members, and were invited to have a live discussion which was viewed by an AdCom member. The structure of the interview was: 1. Quick intro on yourself 2. Team-based discussion, 30mins 3. 1×1 interview for 5 mins each The TBD was essentially people throwing in their thoughts, collaborating, and displaying team-work in real time. The adcom is looking for people who can take a stand, yet convince others to join in. You want to be noticed. The TBD is tricky because you Read more
Published: December 9, 2019
Columbia Business School Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
I have often heard that alum interviews can be tricky, and boy this one was. My interviewer was from the metals and mining industry, and had very little context on the industries I had spent time on (Consulting and PE). As a result, he got lost trying to understand my industries rather than understanding my experiences. He asked me questions like – 1. Why is the PE industry on the decline? Why do you guys charge high fees? Is it not morally wrong? 2. Tell me about your biggest professional mistake. 3. After I answered Q2 above, Read more
Published: December 9, 2019
Columbia Business School Interview Questions & Report: Early Decision / Alum / Off-Campus
My alum was a much older and experienced one, looking at his profile I was quote intimidated going into the interview. He suggested we meet on a Sunday morning at 8AM at a local coffee shop. I was dressed quite formally and he showed up in jeans and a suit jacket. My interview was definitely not as casual as many of the other reports I had read. My interviewer had printed out a copy of my resume, along with the CBS recommended questions and was taking notes as I spoke the whole time. Nonetheless, he made me feel comfortable talking Read more
Published: December 9, 2019
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus
The interview was at a hotel, and was a very relaxed atmosphere. It was an application-based interview where the interviewer had done a lot of research into my profile, and prodded a lot on my future goals. Questions were on the lines of – 1. Tell me about a time you worked on a team. What went right/ wrong 2. What are your long term goals? Why Sloan? 3. Why not start up right now? Why do the MBA? 4. Describe your most memorable professional experience till date 5. She asked me to describe my Read more
Published: December 9, 2019
UVA / Darden MBA Interview Questions & Report: Early Action / Second-Year Student / On Campus
This was my first interview I had for an MBA, so I was understandably nervous. The interview was laid back, and my interviewer was quite friendly, which eased the tension. They explained to me at the beginning of the interview that it was one of many data points in the application process and proceeded to give me the structure of the interview: 1. Roughly 20-30 minutes for me to tell my story, why I’m interested in Darden, and what I want to do with an MBA. 2. Roughly 5-10 minutes for him to ask me follow up questions. Read more
Published: December 8, 2019
Stanford GSB Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus
It was a very laid-back interview, held in the office of the alumnus. Both my wife and I interviewed back-to-back. He asked me (with some follow-ups): – Walk me through your resume – How would you make a decision as to which school to attend? – Tell me about a time you found a problem and solved it – Tell me about a time you convinced other people to do something – Tell me about a time you led a team – How did you change someone because of your mentorship? – Tell Read more
Published: December 8, 2019
Columbia Business School Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
My interview was with an alumnus from the batch of 1972. The alumnus was now retired after a very illustrious career where he led business divisions for large conglomerates. I didn’t expect I’ll get a chance to interview with someone as senior, and so when the interview got scheduled I didn’t know what to expect. I reached out to people I knew in CBS and luckily I was able to get in touch with people who had interviewed with him last year. They instantly put me at ease, their experience had been very pleasant, where the interview genuinely wanted to Read more
Published: December 8, 2019
Cornell Johnson MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / On-Campus
The interview was short and very friendly. The student prefaced it with the fact that he had some notes from my application and would ask based on those questions, but that really it should be a two way conversation. Questions included in approximately this order- 1. What have you thought of Johnson so far? (Since I was there in person) 2. Why an MBA? 3. Why now? 4. Why Johnson? 5. Tell me about a time you had a failure in a team? 6. Will you continue your entrepreneurial pursuit while in school (most interesting Read more
Published: December 8, 2019
USC Marshall Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
List of interview questions: Tell me about yourself. What is something I wouldn’t know about you from just reading your application? Why USC? Why LA? What do you hope to gain from the program? What do you hope to gain academically? What would you contribute to the student body? Why an MBA? Why now? What questions do you have? What else? Anything else? What more? What else are you curious about? What else can I help you uncover about the program? Did you receive your admissions decision? Yes. What did you think of the interview? Very casual. Read more
Published: December 5, 2019
Harvard Business School MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
Interview was quite structured. AdCom hosts interview days, where you’re encouraged to join coffee chats with current students, sit-in on a class, or join networking lunch. When it’s time to interview, interview is held in interview rooms (similar to on-campus recruiting suites if you had that for undergrad). Some of the questions asked: 1. What did you do this morning? 2. Tell me about your country 3. Explain the difference of your consulting firm versus industry, which do you prefer 4. Differences between the US and Other country for consulting 5. What is my motivation Read more
Published: December 5, 2019
Stanford GSB Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
Interview was held in interviewer’s office – very conversational, but interview was clearly prodding for specific things but not sure what. Interviewer had a copy of my resume beforehand. Main questions were (not in order) 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Tell me about a time you failed 3. Tell me about your biggest accomplishment 4. Why is X your passion 5. Why Stanford MBA 6. What was your favorite project in consulting 7. Tell me about a time where you had to convince a team of an unpopular opinion Interviewer then asked Read more
Published: December 5, 2019
Georgetown / McDonough MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / First-Year Student / On-Campus
I applied to Georgetown McDonough Round 1 and was invited to interview on campus or remotely. I was able to make it to campus on the last day available in the portal, just before Thanksgiving. I had already done self-initiated interviews at two other schools and bombed the first one – I wasn’t prepared and very tired so I rambled and the scheduled 30-45 minute interview lasted well over an hour. So I made sure to be well-rested and focused for the McDonough interview. I was interviewed by a first-year student at the admissions office in the business school. I’m Read more
Published: December 4, 2019
Wharton MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub
I had my interview in London, with a member of the Adcom and five other candidates from Europe/Africa/Asia/America. We all got together about half an hour before the interview and got to know ourselves, which gave the tbd a relaxed feel. The interview was blind as the interviewer hadn’t seen my application or resume. I was asked why I wanted an MBA and why Wharton. One on one felt informal, and the interviewer was very open and friendly. Interview experience was pleasant overall. Preparing for your UPenn Wharton MBA Admissions Interview? Check out Clear Admit’s other resources: Read more
Published: December 4, 2019
Kellogg / Northwestern MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
Interviewer was very warm and nice. Asked typical behavioral questions that you can find on Clear Admit/GMAT club, but drilled down on a couple questions such as: 1. (After explaining my analytical background briefly) Can you tell me about a project where you showed your analytical skills? 2. (After walking her through a time I have failed) How did you handle it? 3. (After walking her through a time I led a project) What do you think is the contributing factor to the your success ? 4. (After reviewing my resume) what is your role and Read more
Published: December 4, 2019
Cambridge / Judge MBA Interview Report: Round 1 / Faculty / On-Campus
I opted for an on-campus R1 interview on October 21st ’19. The night preceding the interview, the adcoms threw this amazing dinner at Queens’ College’s Old Hall which was absolutely stunning. The dinner was not assessed (at least that’s what they said) but both adcoms and current students are there for you to ask questions about. Feel free to ask them anything, especially the students. The following morning, a cab picked us up from Westminster College (a free night stay courtesy of the adcoms for some of us) and drove us to the School. We were handed these goodie bags Read more
Published: December 4, 2019
Harvard Business School MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
I only had the AdCom member in my interview, and did not have an observer. Here are the questions they asked: 1) I see you were on campus in [month]. What class did you visit? What did you like about it? 2) You grew up in [Country]. Do you remember any of it? Keep in touch with any of your friends from there? 3) So that’s how you started [niche EC]. I can’t imagine that was a thing in [NewCountry]. Makes sense! 4) How did you like [UG university]? 5) Why did you pick it? Read more
Published: December 4, 2019
Wharton MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / On-Campus
The team based discussion was fairly straightforward: 1) Got email for interview 2) Signed up for interview 3) Received prompt for TBD 4) Went to TBD During the TBD, there were 2 second-year students in the room evaluating us. They read a very generic intro statement at the beginning, which was fairly formal and seemed to add to the tension in the room. From there, we had the standard 35 minutes to discuss the topic and get to a recommendation. Others in the TBD were fairly talkative, but clearly lots of nerves in the room. Regardless, Read more
Published: December 3, 2019
Emory / Goizueta MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
Overall, a typical MBA interview. A blind interview with an adcom. Pretty conversational. Why MBA? Why Emory? Strengths/weaknesses Leadership example Just prepare on how you would contribute to the small by design Goizueta program. Read more
Published: December 3, 2019
UCLA Anderson MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Skype
I had my Anderson interview over video with a second-year student. Overall, I’d say it was the most conversational of all the interviews I had which I really appreciated as I got to ask questions about his experience and his overall demeanor definitely calmed my nerves. No major curve balls or unexpected questions. The interviewer was super nice and was clearly really excited about Anderson. Questions – Walk me through your resume – Why MBA / why Anderson / why now (he pressed on the timing) – What clubs would I want to join and why Read more
Published: December 3, 2019
UC Berkeley Haas MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
Type: blind interview (interviewer only sees resume) List of required interview questions: 1. Walk me through your resume 2. Why an MBA? 3. Why Haas? How will Haas help you achieve your short/long-term goals? 4. Tell me about a time when you were on a team where others didn’t agree with you at the start of a project, but by the end you had changed their minds…or something along those lines (can’t remember the exact phrasing) 5. Diversity question…something along the lines of “How have you actively promoted diversity in the workplace?” (question asked Read more
Published: December 3, 2019
Wharton MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / On-Campus
Got to the admissions office early to socialize with other applicants. I was lucky enough that two applicants with whom I was talking to ended up in my team, so I had had time to get to know their names and personalities beforehand (we were all wearing name tags regardless). During the TBD, there were two people with the same main idea so we went with that. Not sure how we would’ve decided on an idea otherwise. Be prepared to answer some basic questions that may come up if your idea is chosen, it can be your time to shine Read more
Published: December 3, 2019
Wharton MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Students / On-Campus
The interview was fairly quick and went as explained online. I showed up about half an hour before the scheduled time and interacted with the other students who had also arrived in the admissions office. When the time came, we were called into a room as a group of 6 for the Team-Based Discussion which followed the pre-posted prompt. It lasted for thirty minutes with one student in each corner of a small conference room while the team had its discussion around the main table. Then, one of the students pulled each of us aside for a ten minute discussion Read more
Published: December 3, 2019
Stanford GSB MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
Interview was blind and conducted with an alumnus off campus. Stanford admissions was very flexible with scheduling; when I received my invite to interview, I was required to submit my current location and given a 10-14 day interview window. However, due to military training I had to put multiple locations by date. The admissions director linked me up with an alumnus (State President for Fortune 500 Company) that happened to be in my training location, but said not to worry too much about the 10 day window and that Stanford Admissions could also arrange a different alumnus or even a Read more
Published: December 2, 2019
Columbia Business School MBA Interview Questions & Report: Early Decision / Alum / Off-Campus
I met the alumni interviewer at a local Starbucks on a weeknight evening. He was running pretty late so we ended up meeting 15-30 minutes after the planned start time. I’d reached out to him earlier over email to introduce myself and schedule the interview, and he told me we’d have a conversation around 3 questions (listed at the end) so I knew exactly what to prepare. He only had my resume to go off of, and though we started off more formally (talked about my resume and my career goals) and talked more to the questions he asked, it Read more

MBA Livewire

November 15, 2024 3:55pm ET
Interview Invite to UVA / Darden
Round: Round 1
Received via email on October 27, 2024
GPA: 3.01
GRE: 319
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Other
Application Location: New York City
November 15, 2024 3:38pm ET
Accepted to Toronto / Rotman
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 15, 2024
GPA: 3.6
GRE: 331
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Marketing
Application Location: Nigeria
November 15, 2024 2:27pm ET
Rejected at Columbia
Round: Round 1
Received via portal November 15, 2024
GPA: 7.6/10
GMAT: 695
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Non Profit / Social Impact
Application Location: India
Note:

Did anyone else also receive the following in their decision letter?

Thank you for your application to Columbia Business School. Unfortunately, the Admissions Committee is unable to offer you a place in the August-entering MBA Class of 2027.

Please know that we did not reach this decision easily as we were impressed by your professional accomplishments, academic success, and personal attributes. Indeed, your profile and stated career goals may be a good fit for our January-entering MBA program (J-Term).

The J-Term, which has the same core curriculum and elective offerings as the August-entry MBA, allows students who do not need a summer internship to achieve their career goals to earn their degree in only 16 months. It’s ideal for students who wish to remain in the same industry after graduation or pursue entrepreneurial interests.

Although there is no guarantee of admission, we encourage you to learn more about the J-Term. If interested, contact us at [email protected] and we will connect you with an admissions officer.
November 15, 2024 2:20pm ET
Waitlisted at Columbia
Round: Round 1
Received via email November 15, 2024
GPA: 8.5/10
GRE: 317
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: México
November 15, 2024 2:20pm ET
Rejected at Columbia
Round: Round 1
Received via portal November 15, 2024
GMAT: 685
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Finance
Application Location: India
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