Right, so folks I completed my interview earlier this week and now my application is apparently pending final review before a decision is rendered in (hopefully) another couple of weeks.
I had lunch with an MBA2 immediately before the interview. I chose to do so deliberately to pick up some last minute interview tips over lunch (this was at an Italian place in the Village btw, on NYU's tab) and calm myself down a little. Most of you know NYU Stern is my top choice school right now, so I'd been completely on edge going into the interview. Nonetheless, lunch was very pleasant and I was happy to find out that my host already had a full-time offer secured and said the overall mood at Stern, recruiting wise, was still pretty positive.
I received a NYU Stern t-shirt and a customized information package when I went to check in for my interview. A nice touch no doubt, and when I say customized, I mean CUSTOMIZED! I'd mentioned a couple of employers specifically in my goals essay, and my packet contained profiles of NYU Stern alumni at those employers, information about the Specializations I had indicated an interest in, as well stuff about the student clubs I had expressed an interest in in my essays and application.
I interviewed with one of the Associate Directors in Admissions. Now we've all heard about how the Stern interview isn't blind and the interviewer has gone through your application, recommendations, and especially the creative essay. If that was indeed the case, my interviewer did not really bring up anything I had spoken about in my essays. She had my resume in front of her, and the whole interview experience was an intense (but overwhelmingly cordial) 35-minute conversation about my career interests and how my somewhat distinctive long-term career goals came to be. I don't think I did as well as I would have liked, because I had prepped a lot of other things that seemed to be asked in NYU Stern interviews according to
accepted.com and the ClearAdmit wiki. Of course, I did a good job of explaining the career path I chose and why I wanted to do what I want to do in the future, but because I hadn't expected to go into such minute detail, what I said (I think) unfortunately lacked sufficient polish and charisma. In fact the only "traditional" MBA interview question I was asked was, "...tell me about a significant professional accomplishment at employer XYZ..." and even that was specific to something I did for a particular employer. This was followed by questions about why I wanted, specifically, to work at the two employers I talked about in my essays (I brought one of them up several times during the interview) and what research I had done on them and their distinct practice specialties. Why would those employers want to hire me, and what I would do during my first semester to make sure I received an internship with those employers.
As some other people have reported elsewhere, the questions I was asked came in quick succession. I feel I slightly missed out on an opportunity to talk about how I planned on contributing to the Stern community et cetera. To make up for my gaffe in my interview at Cornell (some of you know the story), I did let my interviewer know that NYU Stern was my top choice school and if offered admission I
would matriculate. I don't think that statement had the necessary effect however, haha, and it was probably a bit silly on my part.
So in summary, I don't think the NYU Stern interview is really something that can be prepared for - and I think it's a great thing they don't ask ridiculous questions about "teamwork," "leadership," and "ethical dilemmas." I appreciated the opportunity to talk about my plans with someone who clearly was very interested in what I had done earlier in my professional life, and my future ambitions.
Overall - nothing has changed my opinion of NYU Stern. I think it is a great school, I would love to be there and I think I made the right choice in applying to NYU Stern as a "somewhat of a reach" school instead of another M7 school.