I received an invitation for an interview about one week before Thanksgiving and went for my interview just before the Holiday.
Pros- The students and staff were extremely friendly and welcoming. The tour guides were enthusiastic, and in a genuine way. The staff was very professional and accomodating– when I walked in the room they stood, shook my hand, and introduced me to everyone in the room. I can say that has never happened at any other school.
Cons- For those of us hoping to enter Fall ’09 we will miss out on the new construction that is underway. There is no on campus housing, but it seems the students all choose to live very close to campus so there is a strong sense of community. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the campus and classes we visited were sparsely populated.
Nonetheless, it was a great visit— any question about the rankings (per other posts I’ve seen on here) probably has to do with the fact that the program is on the smaller and newer side and that the student body is largely non-traditional. It’s a very unique program.The Financial Times puts it in the top 10-15. As for the interview, I don’t know if this was standard or not, but because I have a non-traditional background we spent almost all of the time discussing my resume and each professional/life transition. I worked in a lot of stories and details which then prompted other discussion before returning to the next item on the resume. The questions were like ‘what do you think of this topic (related to your industry)’. I don’t think the question was meant to throw me off or test me, but a different way to understand my point of view (and, of course, to see if I am informed). Because I added in stories on my own, I think that precluded the interviewer of asking me ‘tell me about a leadership experiece etc…’
Then, Why MBA/Why Yale/Post-MBA goals. Because Yale is a lot about fit, I think the Why Yale question needs to be sincere and when you ask questions at the end they should be thoughtful. You don’t want them to think this is another stop on your interview tour. Plus, they get that you are applying to other schools, they just don’t want a lot of disappointed Harvard or Wharton candidates reluctantly taking up spots in their very small class. In the waiting room, I spoke with the other candidates and we all had very different and diverse backgrounds. It was not a room strictly of I-bankers and consultants.
Because the interview was with a second year student, I found it to be more of a conversation and less of a grilling, but don’t get me wrong, it was serious. The interview was actually 45 minutes because at the 30 minute mark the interviewer wanted to make sure that I had enough time to ask him questions. He took notes the entire time, paid attention to my answers, and was really engaged.
No word yet about my status… good luck to everyone.
