I did my Chicago interview in Bombay with a member of admissions committee. Surprisingly enough, at the beginning of the interview my interviewer admitted that she was nervous about conducting it. I am not sure whether she was really nervous, but that definitely made me more comfortable.
She had my resume marked with notes and questions, and she started with a typical walk me through your resume question. As I started explaining, she asked me specifics about my experiences. There was no clear structure to the interview and it became very informal within first 10 minutes or so. She asked me about my extra curricular activities, what I am passionate about and what impact I have made. She also asked a few questions that were very similar to the essay topics – for example – explain your leadership style which I believe is similar to one of the essay questions.
There were no surprising questions – they were pretty much the same as reported by the other candidates. I sensed that the interviewer was looking for a ‘fit’. For example – while explaining a situation, I said something like – ‘So I questioned to them why do we follow strategy abc and not xyz?” I noticed that such statements made impact on her as Chicago believes in being inquisitive and questioning all the time. In the retrospect, I think all they are looking for is the passion, fit and commitment to the GSB.
