I applied in Round 1 for a seat in the MBA Class of 2013 and received an interview invitation in early December. I completed the on-campus interview at NYU’s Kaufman Center in mid-December, just before the admissions office left for the holidays.
On the day of my interview, after checking in at the admissions office front desk about fifteen minutes early, I was given a folder with information tailored to my academic and extracurricular interests and a Stern t-shirt (after the receptionist asked for my t-shirt size). There were a few other prospective students waiting for an interview at the same time, so we introduced ourselves and chatted until our interviewers came to get us.
My interviewer was an admissions officer and was friendly but professional. We walked to the interviewer’s office, and I thought it was a considerate touch that there was a cup of water on the desk waiting for me. The interviewer gave an overview of what the purpose of the interview was supposed to be (i.e., learn about me and my fit with Stern, as well as a chance for me to learn about Stern), and then asked for my official transcripts and an updated copy of my resume (if it had changed since I submitted my application).
After that, the interviewer started with an easy question about one my hobbies and smiled to put me at ease (but, for whatever reason, I kind of stumbled through that question), before going through mostly standard questions:
- Why do you want an MBA?
- What are your career plans after an MBA?
- How will Stern help you achieve your career plans?
- How did you enjoy your undergraduate experience? graduate school experience?
- How did you chose your job?
- Why do you want to pursue a career change now?
- Why do you want to go to school in New York? How does that fit in with your career plans?
- Example of leadership in my job.
- How would your co-workers describe you?
- What are your strengths in a team context? weaknesses?
- How would your friends describe you?
- How would a supervisor describe you?
To be honest, the last set of questions, about my perceived strengths and weaknesses from the standpoint of different people in different contexts threw me off, since I struggled to come up with answers that didn’t overlap. I didn’t get a direct “Why Stern” question, probably because I touched upon that throughout my interview. Finally, the interviewer said that was all the questions for me and I had a chance to ask questions about Stern.
Overall, the interview took a little more than half and hour. I left with a sinking feeling that I bombed the interview (or at least the strength/weakness questions), even though the interviewer was very cordial and encouraging throughout. Still, I remained hopeful that my interest in attending Stern was made clear in the interview.
After the new year (about three weeks after my interview), I received an admit to Stern! That just goes to show that the interview is one part of the application, but might not be a make it or break it proposition for everyone. Just do your best and let your passion for a school come through. Good luck!
