I applied for the Final Round for international students and was interviewed on February 26, 2011. UT Austin has a great system for scheduling interview with alumni at your location. There is a long list of alumni (I searched in the San Francisco Bay Area), from which you can chose someone, based on your preference. I chose an alumnus whom I met before at an MBA fair in San Francisco. He was very cooperative, and accommodated my request in spite of a tight schedule. We met at a coffee shop in Santa Clara, close to his house on a Saturday morning. He got coffee for both of us and we went on an hour-long session, which felt very comfortable. He carried a set of questions, but also veered off whenever needed, making room for me to talk about what I considered important. He started off asking me to describe what I do at my current position (Traffic Safety Engineer at Caltrans), because my job is a bit different from most of the candidates having a business background. This was followed by other specific questions as follows (the order may not be perfect!):
- Why an MBA?
- What do you define as successful?
- What is the one aspect of your job that you find frustrating?
- Outside of work, how do you engage yourself?
- Critical attributes of a successful study team, with respect to the highly collaborative environment at McCombs.
- What skills do you hope to develop through an MBA program?
- How will you give back to the McCombs community, both as a student, and as an alumnus?
- If a team-member is not pulling his/her weight, how would you resolve the situation? Give an Example.
- If I give you two free plane-tickets, who would you go with, and where would you go?
The alum asked these questions in a very casual manner, although he was reading them from a set he had with him. After each of my answer, he would provide his own comments and share his experience. Also, he never rushed me through my answers. He was patient as I gathered my thoughts and gave my responses, sometimes may be too long. He did not take a single note, but at the end of the interview, he told me that he would type up his comments and send it to the Adcom at McCombs.
When he gave me the opportunity, I asked him about the on-campus clubs at McCombs and how hard it would be to open a new one. Also, I asked about the alumni network, the general management curriculum, and the different options for financial assistance. He was very detailed in his answers and made every attempt to give me an honest picture of the program at McCombs.
Note:
a) I was never asked Why McCombs? So, I tried to tie back some of my answers to the MBA program at McCombs. For example, while answering Q. 4 (extracurriculars), I mentioned some of the activities at McCombs that I would be interested in. Similarly, with my answer to Q. 6 (skills from an MBA program), I talked about a few unique characteristics of McCombs, including the MGC study trips, MBA+ Leadership Program etc.
b) My interviewer seemed to be more interested in the conversation, and the way I answered the questions, rather than the actual answers. So, it may be a good idea to be confident in your answers, and keep a positive note, even if you are not sure of the answer itself. But this is only my thought.
Overall, a good experience. This was my longest interview so far (almost one hour), but it was relaxed. After we were done with the interview, we shared our plans over the weekend, and went on our ways.
All the best to you in your application process.
