University of Washington Foster school

Hi guys!

Where did you folks do your interviews? On-campus, at an interview hub, or over the phone? I've just gotten an invite and am considering the pros and cons of various options. None of the available locations are in my country.

Any information would be appreciated, thanks!

I did mine on campus (of course, campus is a 20 minute bus ride from my Apartment AND my Workplace). If you haven't been to the campus/Seattle I would recommend interviewing on campus so you can check out the area. A couple of remarks:
-The interview will almost certainly be PAINFUL. I'd say this is the consensus(please correct me if anyone had a pleasant interview). I don't know that you will gain much by being here in person FOR THE INTERVIEW. If you are familiar with the area/campus, just do one over the phone. (Seriously, I have had phone interviews with people who speak English as a third language that were warmer and more human than my in-person interview).
-Seattle is BEAUTIFUL, and a great, vibrant, young city.
-The UW Campus is BEAUTIFUL. Great location too.
-Foster is ugly. Seriously. If it is important to you to have a new, comfortable building... think twice. They are starting on new buildings, but they wont be done for a couple of years. This means we get to deal with the noise, without getting to use them. (I know this sounds shallow, but some people have a real image of what they want B-school to be. Right down to the beautiful buildings many b-schools have - and that Foster WILL have in a couple of years)

In conclusion, if you are fmailiar with seattle/UW/Foster, just do a phone interview. If not, Come out in person. You deserve a nice vacation after doing all of that hard work on applications!

I would say an in-person interview would have a much greater impression than over the phone, since you can't physically see the person.

What sort of questions were being asked during the interview?

Thanks for all the info westsider! I've never visited Seattle before, but from everything I've heard about it all my life, it sounds like the city for me. I've been warned it rains a lot, but believe it or not, I like rain and cloudy weather!

soul_assassin, yes, I agree, thanks for your input. However, I have actually met the interviewer before at an MBA Tour, and it seems kind of funny if I were to travel to another country just to see her again. Friends and family say I'm crazy for wanting to fly halfway around the world just for an interview.

A telephone interview would be most convenient, of course, (not to mention most reasonable financially,) but they specifically state that "Telephone interviews are reserved exclusively for applicants whose circumstances make it impossible to interview in person."

You have to send an email to them explaining your reasons for requesting a telephone review, and they will either confirm or deny your request!

Interesting note - I was chatting with the admissions staff, and was told that in general their strategy is to spread award money more evenly. As in - they would rather offer partial scholarships to 50% of applicants than full scholarships to 10%.

I guess this being good/bad depends on where people think they would have ranked in the scholarship race !

For whatever it's worth, my interview experience was actually pretty pleasant. I went to campus (it's a ten minute drive from my house), and met with an AdCom member. It didn't strike me as terribly different than my other interviews. Pretty standard questions (why an MBA, why Foster, what I thought the most challenging aspect of business school would be, etc, etc). My interviewer was really friendly and pleasant, and it was relatively conversational (as much so as any other interview I had).

Guess I got lucky? :-/

jc2010 - glad to hear some other people had a pleasant time!

Well, I just scheduled an on campus interview for the beginning of march. I've never been to campus, so I figured it would be worthwhile. Hopefully all goes well.

Hopefully the weather will co-operate! Are you coming in from a long distance? It would be a shame for it to be all Seattle-y when you come.

I'm comming from New Mexico, so I'm comming from a little far away but nothing like others that fly around the world to visit.

I would definitely recommend doing in person interview. Most schools put a lot of stock into how you would present yourself to employers and interact with other students, and they are worried about applicants having others interview for them. Many schools are now requiring in person interviews to weed out applicants who cannot communicate effectively.

You should find out if an interview can be set up near your home, and you should talk with them about your concerns. They are very helpful and will be able to give you the best advice.

I am late to this discussion, so here are my thoughts as a person living in Seattle and applying to Foster.

My interview was not painfull at all from my point of view. I expected most of the questions, and the interviewer was very nice and informative.

Weather - I have lived in Seattle for 4 years after living in warm weather climates for the rest of my life. The summers in Seattle cannot be beat, and the rest of the year is a little dark and wet for me. I miss the sun and heat around this time every year. However, I love Seattle even in those winter months because there is skiing within 45 minutes, water everywhere you look, mountains in all directions, and a fun/growing downtown scene.

The last few days have been nice and sunny for those of you coming for interviews.

Campus - It is a beautiful campus with an active night crowd. For example, the football stadium in right on the water and you can see Mt. Raineer and water from the open end of the stadium. Students go to bars on the "Ave." near campus. They are pretty typical college spots. Balmer Hall is outdated, but a new building is being built that will help the reputation of the school in the future.

Living - The school is close to downtown and most students live in the Wallingford, Freemont, Capital Hill, and Greenlake areas or near Roosevelt Ave. between 65th and campus. Two of my favorite areas are Queen Anne and Belltown, but transporation to campus is more difficult from those locations. Rent is expensive relative to most cities, but it is cheaper than the Bay Area, LA, Chicago, and New York.

plus, seattle is the bomb! at the very least you can have a good time hanging out in the rainy city...

if you manage to get a sunny day in march, you'll realize just how beautiful of a city it is!

Those of you that did have a good/bad experience with UW interviews, who did you interview with? do you have any names? I'll be interviewing with Dan Poston. I've tried to find out some information on him and only know that he is an assistant dean, and that's all I know. Also, does anyone have any suggestions for great places to eat while I'm there or areas to look at for possible housing?

I interviewed with Erin Dennett and know a little about Dan Poston.

Erin was extremely nice and we had a relatively conversational interview. It went approximately 45 minutes. She asked most of the typical questions, including those asked in the essays.

Dan Poston is a dean of some sort. He is a former practicing attorney who went back to get his MBA. I think he came from Stanford and likes experiential learning. That is about all i have got.

There are so many different types of restaurants, so I will list those near campus and my favorites.

My favorite place to eat near campus is Aladins, they have great gyros. Agua Verde is near campus and very popular for the atmosphere more than the food (they are on the water south of campus).

Here are my favorite restaurants in town:

Flying Fish - Belltown (seafood, fun, moderate to expensive)
Pair - near campus (eclectic, fun, moderate to expensive)
La Spiga - Capital Hill (authentic Italian, I love this place, moderate)
Pesos - Lower Queen Anne (neuvo mexican, great breakfast too, becomes a bar scene at night, moderate)
Wild Ginger - downtown (pan asian, expensive and very popular, get a reservation)

Great places to go for drinks and views:

Edgwater Hotel - The bar in the edgewater has a great view and atmosphere, especially on a nice day (go during happy hour because it is expensive). The restaurant is supposed to be good.
Anthony's (Kirkland and Seattle) - has a good view and decent food

See my post above, I listed the areas to look for housing.

Thanks for the info