UT Austin / McCombs MBA News

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Published: January 20, 2013

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: R2/ Alumni/ Off-campus

The interviewer was in a hurry so he asked quite many questions but one after another. The interview was completed in 25 mins. Following were the questions asked- 1. Walk me through your resume 2. 3 reasons for why MBA 3. 3 reasons for why McCombs 4. Short term and Long term goals 5. An instance when you faced a tough client member 6. An instance when you improved a process (Process improvement was mentioned in my job roles) 7. Strongest and Weakest part of application 8. 3 qualities which your colleagues Read more

Published: January 17, 2013

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Off-campus city location

Interview was with Adcom member in comfortable setting in hotel lobby. Had reviewed only my resume and prefaced the interview by saying that some questions would overlap with information covered in the essay questions and application, which was okay. 1. Walk me through your resume, and tell me specifically why you choose your undergrad school. 2. How did you hear about McCombs, and how does McCombs fit into your career goals (why McCombs)? 3. Give me an example of leadership in your career? How do you define leadership in that moment? 4. What is the most difficult Read more

Published: December 19, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1/Alum/Off-Campus

The interviewer was easy going and an alum. He started with a bit of small talk and then asked the following questions: Walk me through your resume and how you got where you are today? What is the strongest part of your application? What are you most passionate about? Tell me about a team scenario where you faced challenges from a team mate ? Where do you see yourself in 10 years ? What other schools that you have applied to ? Surprising: Did not ask if i had any questions. Not Surprising: The questions asked. School experience: Read more

Published: December 10, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus

1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Why an MBA? Why Texas? 3. What’s the weakest part of your application? 4. What’s the strongest part of your application? 5. Describe how you deal with situations where you have a teammate who’s difficult to work with or isn’t living up to his/her part. 6. I briefly mentioned my undergrad institution, and the interviewer ended up asking if I was applying to that school for my MBA because it has a strong program. After I said no, the interviewer asked why not. 7. What’s the most Read more

Published: December 6, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumna / Off-campus

My interview was off-campus, so I was provided a list of alumni in my area that are able to do interviews. I reviewed the list and looked up people on Linked In to identify someone with a similar background / interests, hoping that we might just naturally hit it off. I ended up finding someone a friend of mine knew through work, so I knew a little about my interviewer going into the meeting. We met at a coffee shop after work, and it was very informal. The interview was blind; she had a copy of my resume and had Read more

Published: September 19, 2012

Admissions Director Q&A: Rodrigo Malta of the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business

Our 2014 interview with McCombs' Rodrigo Malta is available now. Rodrigo Malta, a native of Brazil, moved to the United States for high school and college and ultimately graduated from the McCombs full-time MBA program in 2007. While a student at McCombs, he was highly involved in admissions activities, and after graduation he remained in Austin, accepting a marketing position with Dell. A year later, when then-Director of MBA Admissions Tina Mabley contacted him about a job opening with her team – as associate director of admissions focused on diversity recruiting – he jumped at the chance to return to campus and work on something he was really passionate about. Later, when Mabley was promoted to program director for the full-time MBA, Malta applied for and got the admissions director’s position. Did he ever imagine as a prospective applicant to McCombs that he would be sitting in the decision-maker’s seat today? “Never,” he says. “Working in admissions while an MBA student was a lot of fun, but I never considered it as a career,” he says. It wasn’t until he returned to the corporate world at Dell that he found himself missing higher education. Prospective applicants may be happy to learn that Malta understands the position they now are in on such a personal level. Perhaps that’s why he’s so full of useful tips and advice. Read on to learn what he has to share. 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 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: February 21, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On Campus / Second-year Student

I applied in Rd 2; received the interview invite in mid-december and did the on-campus interview in mid-january. I had made a visit to the school before so I elected not to append any classes or tours with my interview. The atmosphere was relaxed: I informed the office that I was there about 15 minutes early and spent some time looking over notes in the reception area. The interview was done by a second year student who had a copy of my resume but had not seen the rest of my application. Questions I remember: Walk me through your resume Read more

Published: February 21, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 3 / Off Campus / Alum

I received an invitation to interview on February 7th, roughly two weeks after having submitted my application. I was given the choice to interview with a second year student or an alumni. For convenience, I chose to interview with an alumni who lives near to me. The university has a great system for contacting and coordinating with alumni to set up an interview; I was able to contact someone quickly and had an interview scheduled within one week. The interview itself was very conversational, it took place over lunch and the interviewer was gracious and accommodating. I was told by Read more

Published: February 20, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off Campus / Adcom

Met in the suite of a hotel as the admissions comm member was on a recruiting trip in my city Walk me through your resume and how you got where you are today? Why an MBA and why now? What about Mccombs makes you think it is the place for you? Tell me about a time you led a team Tell me about a time you dealt with a team member not pulling his/her weight? What did you do to resolve the situation? What is the strongest part of your application? What is the weakest part of your application? Who Read more

Published: February 19, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-campus / Student

Walk me through your resume Tell me about a time you had a creative solution to a problem. Who’s leadership style do you value and how have you adopted it? It can be a public figure or someone in your life. What are you most passionate about? Why UT? Why an MBA? If you could change one thing about your application, what would it be? Any questions you would like to ask me? It was a very comfortable interview experience. We were scheduled for 30 minutes but ended up going for about an hour and toward the end we were Read more

Published: February 19, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Off-campus / Alum

Coffee shop in Atlanta, GA 8am. I wore a suit and may have been a bit overdressed but felt it was better to err on the side of caution. My interviewer apologized for not letting me know that less formal attire would have been acceptable. Questions: Pretty standard stuff but there were two that I wasn’t expecting Why MBA? Why now? Why McCombs? Post MBA goals Tell me about your current role Tell me about a time you led a team Tell me about a time you overcame a challenge Who do you admire? And the two I didn’t see Read more

Published: February 19, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Off-campus / Alum

Tell me about yourself Why McCombs? Why MBA? Why now? Explain an example of leading through a business challenge Strongest part of application? Weakest part of application? If you are choosing a team, what qualities do you look for in a team member What will be your biggest non-academic challenge at McCombs Questions for me… Casual interview. Very conversational. Make sure you have down the standard interview questions – why MBA, leadership and teamwork examples, post MBA plans. Read more

Published: February 19, 2012

UT Austin / McCombs MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off-campus (Skype) / Second-year Student

I interviewed with McCombs today (20 February, 2012). Since I am an international student, it was a Skype interview with a second year student. 1) Why MBA? – I gave a very brief background about myself and tied it with my short-term goal. 2) Why McCombs? – I described why it is a great fit for me both professionally and personality-wise. My interviewer also pitched-in by elaborating on my points based upon his experience and explaining the resources at McCombs that will be very useful in achieving 3) What does ‘personal success’ mean to you? – I gave an honest Read more

Published: March 1, 2011

Clear Admit Career Services Director Q&A: Stacey Rudnick of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin

This week as part of our continuing Career Services Director Q&A Series, we touched down in Texas. Stacey Rudnick, director of MBA Career Services at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, took time to participate, and we’re so glad she did. Rudnick has been the MBA career services director at McCombs for almost seven years, and before that she worked as a senior associate in career services at her alma mater, Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Read more

UT Austin / McCombs

CLASS SIZE: 255

Women: 33%

MEAN GMAT: 704

MEAN GPA: 3.58

Livewire Decisionwire Interview Reports Essay Topic Analysis MBA Admissions Deadlines View Full Profile

MBA Applywire

January 20, 2025 11:52am ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Real Estate

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Consumer Goods, Non Profit/SI, Other Companies: Deloitte , McKinsey , 3M , Coca Cola , Unilever

GRE: 328

GPA: 3.05

Years of Work Experience: 7

Location: Nigeria

Post MBA Location: United States of America

Notes:

I would appreciate if given pointers as to the kind of questions to ask while attending virtual events and how to successfully gain application fee waiver. Thank you.

January 19, 2025 11:24am ET

Applying: Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Michigan / Ross, U. Chicago Booth, UCLA Anderson, UT Austin / McCombs

Pre-MBA Career: Production Supervisor

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Consumer Goods Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey

GPA: 2.9

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: Southern California

Post MBA Location: Midwest

Notes:

Low GPA due to having to work full time during schooling to support my family and also career change. I was originally in Engineering undergrad then switched to Finance and achieved much higher grades.

I have taken a practice GMAT and I am aiming for a ~675+ to hopefully offset GPA.

M 30, Hispanic American, First-gen, I would apply through the Consortium, also a part of the Big Brother program mentor.

3 years of credit specialist experience and 2 years of production supervisor experience, all within the same company. 5 more years of general production jobs where I had some leadership experience but nothing too notable.

I'm not absolutely locked into only attending those schools, but I know they have great placements in Consulting. How would everyone rate my chances?

January 16, 2025 2:59am ET

Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Financial Services, Wholesale Banking

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting

GPA: 4.0

Years of Work Experience: 2

Location: Bangladesh

Post MBA Location: United States (preferably Boston, NY, Chicago, or Seattle)

Notes:

Hi Alex and Graham, huge fan of your podcast. Love the work that you are doing, especially with the candidate profile reviews

- Female from outside the capital city in Bangladesh; 23-year-old; to accumulate 3 years of full-time work experience at matriculation in Fall 26. Also completed HBS CoRE with high honors (99th Percentile). Prepping for the GRE now and expecting a score of 330 ish, with a skew towards quant.

- Graduated with 4.0 in Econ (Minor: Finance and Math) from an international women's college in Bangladesh; extensively involved as Tutor (Math and Science Center) and Teaching Assistant (for 8 courses) during my undergrad; Secretary at the SDG Club. Have done internships and global mgmt. programs internationally, but remotely given it was during peak Covid.

- Working as an Assistant Vice President in one of the largest multinational banks; I manage the largest client of my office and oversee accounts; I also work actively on several CSR projects of my organization, including a major initiative that involves my Alma Mater. Managing a team of 3 at work now despite being the youngest in the team

- Target is to get into Top 15 MBA programs at the US with a substantial scholarship. I recognize that the Work Exp will be a major barrier. Please suggest ways in which I can maximize my chances. My goal is to do consulting with an MBB firm in the Short Term and then move to Non-profit/Social Impact (either in Consulting with orgs such as Dalberg, or at the likes of Gates Foundation etc.) focusing on women empowerment/ education.

- Planning to apply in R1 to 5 ish schools (Mix of M7, Top 10, 10-15 range) and then in R2 to 3 ish, targeting a total of 8 applications

Would love to get covered in one of your future episodes. Happy to share more about my profile and ambitions. Thanks a ton!

January 14, 2025 12:01am ET

Applying: Duke / Fuqua, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Private Equity tax consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey

GMAT: 675

GPA: 3.95

Years of Work Experience: 9

Location: Bangalore, India

Post MBA Location: East Coast

Notes:

I have primarily worked with venture funds and startups covering a range of tax advisory projects from M&A, due diligence, venture fund setup etc. I want to go beyond tax and step into strategy consulting roles, with a focus on fund strategy and portfolio acceleration in private equity.

Extracurricular : Involved with Rotaract for 2.5 years, taken part in multiple corporate responsibility initiatives at the firm , volunteer in pet rescue initiatives for the community

January 13, 2025 11:26pm ET

Applying: Columbia, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, UPenn / Wharton

Pre-MBA Career: Consulting at MBB; will continue with consulting post-MBA as I am considering firm sponsorship

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Venture Capital Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Andressen Horowitz , Sequoia Capital , Other

GRE: 335

GPA: 3.94

Years of Work Experience: 2

Location: India

Post MBA Location: NY, Chicago, Boston

Notes:

- South Asian (Non-Indian), Male, 25 year old

- Bachelor in Finance and Economics (1st in Class) Graduated May 2023

- Activities:
Debating (Coached National Debate Team to its best performance in the World Championship, 3x Asian Top 10 debater, won/competed in finals of Oxford Intervarsity, UCL Intervarsity, Durham-Oxford-Cambridge Open, and many more prestigious competitions, Mentored 100+ debaters across 15 countries and advised Debate Organizations in Australia and China).
Non Profit (Founding member of a student org; Conducted 5 city-wide projects on Food Security, Clothing for the poor in Winter, and Improving sanitation in slums that received national coverage)

- More on Work: My focus is on Growth Tech (Startups and fast scaling businesses) and Public Sector practice area. I have led the writing of a report we co-published with a client (my name is on the acknowledgement section). The client and Partners loved my work and have now staffed me in writing another report for the same client. Evals are highly positive and have endorsements from 2 Senior Partners in the org (who are happy to write my recc)

- What I am doing outside of work now: I had a merit scholarship offer from LBS for its MiM program upon graduation. I have been helping folks from my country get into top tier early career master's programs pro-bono (Most people here cannot afford Western Admissions consultants as the charges are exorbitant for us given the country is an LDC). Since joining work, I have continued to work as a selector for National Debate Team and I take pro-bono sessions for disadvantaged schools. I have also taken sessions at local consulting firms to teach them what I have learned from my MBB experience (I am the first from my country to make it to an MBB after a local undergrad; MBBs do not have offices in my country)

- Future Plan: Continue at MBB and specialize in Venture Capital/ Startups. I have a very good network with VCs and founders in my home country. I would love to raise a fund to help the startup ecosystem of my country in the future or work in the capacity of mentoring founders.

- Target: Full-rides to top schools such as HBS, Wharton, CBS, Sloan. Looking for tips to develop my profile for 2027 Fall entry. I believe that I have what it takes to make it to an M7 but would love to take the 2 years to solidify my profile so that I can be in the mix for a good scholarship

Interests: Martial Arts, Reading (I have read books from Wharton Professors such as Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth, and Katy Milkman) Weightlifting, Marathon Running (I am aware this is super cliche haha)

Side-note: My GRE split is 166 Q (84%ile), 169 V (99%ile), and 5.5 AWA (98%ile). I can improve my Quant to 169-170 but I doubt the extra effort needed now will make a material difference. Would love to have your thoughts

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MBA LiveWire

January 20, 2025 4:01pm ET

Applying to UVA / Darden

Round: Round 2

Received via portal

EA: 149

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Entrepreneurship

Application Location: Chile

Note:

Applied on January 4th

January 20, 2025 3:30pm ET

Interview Invite to UVA / Darden

Round: Round 2

Received via email on January 14, 2025

GPA: 3.6

GRE: 320

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Entrepreneurship

Application Location: Atlanta, GA

Note:

HBCU grad. IB/VC/Startup experience.

January 20, 2025 2:01pm ET

Interview Invite to Emory / Goizueta

Round: Round 2

Received via email January 20, 2025

GPA: 3.89

GRE: 320

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

January 20, 2025 1:13pm ET

Interview Invite to Stanford GSB

Round: Round 2

Received via email January 20, 2025

GPA: 3.9

GMAT: 690

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Entrepreneurship

Application Location: san jose

January 20, 2025 8:33am ET

Interview Invite to Dartmouth / Tuck

Round: Round 2

Received via email January 20, 2025

GPA: 3.53

GMAT: 655

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

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