Dates – Submitted 06/03/2010, Under Review 06/14/2010, Interview Invite 07/09/2010, Interview Date 07/21/2010, Report Completed 08/03/2010, Accepted 08/06/2010
Atmosphere – It was easy to contact the interviewer and he gave me a range of possible dates for us to meet. We finally met at a coffee shop after working hours. He was the CFO of a major local Chemical company, a young but successful individual. I would say that he was a very fair and accessible interviewer. He did not have time to print my resume so I provided him with a copy that I had brought along with me. He had a list of questions given to him by the adcom and we went over the questions while he took notes of specific points about my answers. The interview itself took about 40-45 minutes. After that he spent about 15 minutes answering questions about life at Columbia and sharing some of the highlights of his experience. Overall I felt very comfortable with the interview… it was much more friendly and productive than the Wharton interview, which was time constrained and very transactional. The interviewer was very excited about his experience at Columbia and reinforced my desire to join this school.
Questions
- Briefly discussed my resume in a timeline fashion, after that he began asking the questions.
- Why Columbia?
- Why an MBA, why now?
- What are your career goals? Why?
- How would you get involved with community life at Columbia (clubs, sports, organizations, etc)?
- What other schools have you applied to?
- Why Columbia and not these other schools?
- What is your back-up plan if you dont get into Grad school this year?
- Give me an example of a team experience you have been a part of.
- How have you dealt with conflict in a team… this question lead to another question about a time when you have convinced others in a team to pursue a specific path… what was the result? I gave him 3 different examples before we found one that suited his expectations.
- Why wouldnt you want to stay in the US after completing your MBA?
- Give me an example about a time when you have faced an unethical dilema.
- Tell me about the time when you have faced your biggest adversity in life.
- Any questions? I asked him about his experience at Columbia and about the network of friends and colleagues he had built during his TIME AT CBS.
Commentary – Once the interview was over he told me that he thought I would be a good fit for Columbia based on my professional experience and background. He also commented that Columbia was strong on Finance and that knowing this was one of my weaknesses I would have to be prepared. He wished me the best and asked me to stay in touch and to let him know about the outcome of my application. I recently got accepted.
