The interview took place at the office of the alumnus, a graduate from the late 90s. The interview was not so much an admissions interview as it was a friendly conversation. None of the typical questions were explicitly asked, though I managed to work some of my canned answers into my responses. Since we work at different ends of the same industry, most of the talk was about the gritty technical details of my work and a detailed discussion about my goals in the industry post-MBA.
Several years removed from B-School, he actually was asking me about the GSB since he genuinely wasn’t familiar with the school’s current positioning. He asked me to comapre and contrast the GSB and some other schools’ entrepreneurship offerings not because he was testing my knowledge, but because he was interested in the current B-School landscape.
He had some great suggestions for me, not for admissions, but for my longer-term career. I was tremendously impressed with his knowledge and friendliness. It was almost a fun experience.
For me, there was some value in interviewing with an alumnus with several years of post-MBA work experience. More removed from the admissions experience than adcom members and current students, he was less interested in, shall we say, the sillier questions that are sometimes asked. Thankfully, I didn’t need to describe myself in three words or explain why I think the GSB is the prettiest girl at the dance.
All in all, it was a great experience and very different from what I expected. As a result of this interview, my impression of the school and its graduates is overwhelmingly positive.
(Full disclosure: I was recently admitted to the GSB so one could argue that my recollection might be a bit romanticized. I don’t buy it, but it could be argued. 🙂 )
