My interview began promptly and lasted 35 minutes. Overall, I found the interview to be much more relaxed than I had anticipated. Before we started, the interviewer stated that the interview would not be overly formal.
The interview began in accordance with the chronology of my resume and I was first asked to explain why I chose to pursue my undergraduate major. I then fielded various questions that focused on choices I had made throughout my education, why I chose to pursue certain areas of study, why I chose to study in specific countries, etc. Throughout the interview, I felt that the interviewer’s questions were stimulated more by his sincere interest to learn about me than by his attempt to test my candidacy with his questions. This helped put me at ease such that I was able to enjoy the process.
Surprisingly, the interview only brushed over my work experience. I was not even asked specific questions about leadership or teamwork and I was not asked any situational questions (i.e. how would you handle a situation where you and your learning team…). These are the types of questions that I was told to prepare for in the Wharton interview. I think that such questions were not directly asked because our discussion of some of my accomplishments indirectly addressed leadership and teamwork. Additionally, there was not much time in the interview and we had a lot to cover.
After our brief discussion of my job, I was asked about a specific volunteer activity that I had listed on my resume. We spoke about this for several minutes.
The interviewer asked me why I want to get and MBA now and why I want to attend Wharton. I gave him a very detailed answer that demonstrated my knowledge of the Wharton program, my ability to contribute, etc.
The next topic of discussion was my post-MBA goals. We spoke briefly about these and the interviewer asked me to talk about a company that I would like to work for after graduation. Finally, we talked about my extracurricular interests. This discussion evolved into a chat about one particular activity, which he also pursues, and then into one about how I could contribute to Wharton through my interest in the activity.
The interviewer asked me to talk about a weakness in my application. We then shook hands and the interview ended.
