Our archive of over 2,000 MBA admissions interview questions includes self-reported accounts from applicants. Please use the dropdown menu to view filter reports by school.
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Published: January 1, 2020
Harvard Business School MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub
I am a re-applicant and I interviewed with Andrew Elrick (Executive Director of David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It seems like he does all interviews in Brazil, and I did not have another HBS person in the room. After greeting my interviewer, he thanked me for putting together a great application and for coming back as a re-applicant. That was a great ice breaker and made me feel at ease. It was clear that he knew all the details in my application and had already outlined points he wanted to touch upon. The first
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Published: January 1, 2020
Wharton MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
The group interview was very straight forward. I had a one-minute pitch prepared. Each member gave their pitch, we developed a proposal stemming from the prompt and finished with one minute to spare. I think as long as you balance being a good team player with letting your personality shine through & leveraging personal experience in developing a proposal, you should be fine. The 1:1 interview was only 10 minutes in length and the interviewer asked: – Why Wharton? – Why an MBA? I basically gave an extended version of my elevator pitch to answer both questions (making
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Published: January 1, 2020
Harvard Business School MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
– What have you done with your time since arriving to Boston? – Tell me about your international assignment? How was that experience challenging? – How important is X initiative to your overall company? – I see you made a low grade in class X in college – why was that course so difficult for you? – How do you see yourself impacting X industry/segment? – Is there anything you would like for us to know? The interviewer was very difficult to read. I left the interviewer feeling very lukewarm. Some questions I answered perfectly,
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Published: December 18, 2019
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub
At a hotel lobby / Highly conversational & to the point As I saw my interviwer walking towards me, she picked a table at the lobby. We sat down and started to talk. 1. What’s new since you applied to Sloan 2. Why now MBA? – I added comment about my career goals 3. Why Sloan? 4. Tell me about a time when you mentored someone 5. What’s your biggest achievement – She asked about my company and my product’s category for more contexts. 6. What do you do in your free time?
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Published: December 16, 2019
MIT Sloan MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub
Interview was at a hotel. I was 15 minutes early so the interviewer started the interview early. She started with explaining the process and that she will take notes. 1) What changed since the app Tell me about a time when 2) you had to work with a difficult person 3) you solved a difficult problem with an innovative solution 4) you had to work with a struggling team 5) you had to make a decision quickly 6) Why MBA? Why now? Why MIT? I asked 2-3 questions for which the interviewer didn’t
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Published: December 12, 2019
Columbia Business School Interview Questions & Report: Early Decision / Alum / Off-campus, LA (Alum’s Office)
Blind interview – interviewer requested resume a few days in advance. Recent alum, Class of 2018. Very warm and friendly, felt like I had really lucked out. Asked typical behavioral questions one would expect, tone was very conversational and she seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say and my goals. Questions: – Walk me through your resume. – Why CBS / Why NYC? – What resources will you take advantage of at CBS / how will you give back? – Tell me about your proudest work accomplishment. – Who is a leader you
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Published: December 11, 2019
Chicago Booth MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus
It took place in a neighboring country as there wasn’t any interviewer in my city. I got to the cafe we agreed to meet 15 minutes before and picked the table I wanted. He brought a blank piece of paper on which he took actually quite detailed notes throughout the interview. A short chat about my travel was followed by the following questions. It lasted for about 45 minutes. 1. Could you introduce yourself? 2. Tell me about your work experience (here I handed him my resume and briefly walked him through) 3. You are successful
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Published: December 11, 2019
Yale SOM MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Skype
The interview was blind and went for ~32 minutes. I am an international student and was matched with another international student, which was a bit of surprise to me. She briefly explained about the nature of the interview and we jumped right in. It seemed that she was advised to ask a list of questions and to complete the interview within 30 minutes. 1. Walk me through your resume within 30 seconds – I had 6+ years experience, so it was definately over time. 2. Why MBA – I mentioed my career goals first. 3. Why Yale
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Published: December 9, 2019
London Business School Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Local City
Applied Round 1 Met at a cafe for lunch. Helped to make the conversation very casual because we talked while we waiting in line to order. Questions spanned the following topics: Post-MBA goals and how my experience to-date is relevant Why LBS? Why London vs US? h How/what am I doing now to achieve my post-MBA goals International experience Overall the interview was much more casual than expected, she was just genuinely trying to get to know me. Preparing for an upcoming London Business School interview? Click here to get the Clear Admit London Business School Interview Guide.
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Published: December 9, 2019
Stanford GSB Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
The interview was conducted by an alum in his office building. I walked into the building and entered the elevator to go up to my interviewer’s floor as instructed in our emails to each other. As I was going up, I noticed a man looking at me curiously. When I turned to him, he introduced himself to me and said that I must be the person he’s interviewing. He’s the CEO, so I must have been the odd person he did not recognize in his elevator! We chatted a little bit and then walked over to the in-company coffee bar,
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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
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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
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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,
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Published: December 8, 2019
Cornell Johnson MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Adcom / Skype
I interviewed with Eddie, who was very friendly and definitely put me at ease right off the bat. He asked how I was doing etc etc before getting into the actual interview. Questions he asked me: – Take me through your resumé, specifically your post-undergraduate work history – I currently work with a family member, so he asked if there were specific professional challenges working with family – Long and short-term goals – Why Johnson? (I spoke about both faculty and extracurricular stuff I’m excited about and that aligns with my goals) – What is
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Published: December 5, 2019
Columbia Business School Interview Questions & Report: Early Decision / Alum / Off-Campus
Fairly straightforward. Interviewer was friendly, 10+ year alum, interview took place in the co-working space he uses. I had sent him my resume when I emailed to schedule the interview, and he had it printed (though I had also brought a copy with me). His main focus seemed to be understanding my story – where I was coming from, why MBA, and where I want to go – and seemed very structured in asking questions that would chronologically develop this narrative in his perspective. Other than that, he asked some questions about living abroad (I’ve lived in 6 countries) and
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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
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