(This report also appears on my blog.)
My interview with Columbia was a truly nice experience. During just under 90 minutes of discussion I feel like I made a strong case for my candidacy, while also absorbing my interviewer’s genuine enthusiasm and passion for Columbia’s program.
The conversation flowed naturally, but I’ll do my best to recount the line of questioning:
1) Why MBA? Why now? 2) Why Columbia? 3) You’re into marketing…why not Kellogg? 4) Where else are you applying?
It turned out that she had applied to the exact same group of schools so that largely diffused the issue. Rather than coming out and saying that Columbia was my first choice school, I told her that I was excited about all of the schools to which I had applied – and that I had a number of special reasons for wanting to remain in New York that make me significantly biased toward Columbia. Over the course of the interview I was able to clarify my excitement about business school in general and Columbia specifically several times, so I feel like the right message came across.
5) Talk about a time when you were successful as a leader. 6) Talk about a challenging team situation and how you handled it. 7) What are the qualities of a good team player and what would you bring to a team situation at Columbia? 8) How do team skills differ from leadership skills? 9) What clubs or activities would you like to be involved with on campus? (Wish I could have been a bit more specific here) 10) Have you contacted anyone on campus to talk about your particular interests? 11) Is there anything you want Columbia to know that wasn’t mentioned in your application? 12) Do you have any questions?
That was basically the flow, and my sense is that my interviewer will be supportive of my candidacy. She told me to keep in touch with her and let her know what happens, and offered to help me get in touch with alumni in my field of interest.
Overall, this interviewer did a great job of selling Columbia and raising my estimation of the school and it’s advantages. In comparison with the cordial adcom interview at Kellogg, I would have to say that today’s experience was much more interesting, informative and compelling.
