The interviewer asked all the standard questions (goals, why MBA, why now, why the GSB etc). Therefore, I’ll just elucidate on slight variants and questions I wasn’t quite prepared for.
- A common question is how your co-workers would describe you. My interviewer asked me how my supervisor would describe me, which threw me a little.
- I was asked about a difficult problem I faced that I had to solve. This type of question is so broad that it provides an opportunity to share something you’d like the interviewer to know.
- At the end, I was asked if there was anything else not covered in my application or interview that I wanted the adcom to know. My application was so comprehensive that there was literally nothing more to say! However, I heard that it’s best not to take this question too literally. The Chicago interview is blind, so it might be best to state anything else you want your interviewer to know. As I walked away from the interview, I realized that we didn’t talk about my job at all, and I probably should have mentioned something about that (though it was already covered in my application).
One last note. I usually interview well, but I didn’t get an overwhelmingly positive feeling from the interviewer. If this happens, I would encourage you not to worry about it too much. As we know, Chicago’s interview is not make or break (it’s just one aspect of your candidacy). Another thing people mention is that second-year students sometimes don’t interview as well as adcom members, so they may not appear as encouraging. For instance, I got into Chicago, and did not get into a school where I had a very positive interview experience with an adcom member. So do your best, but if you’re unhappy with your performance, it’s not the end of the world! 🙂
