Hi All,
I interviewed in R1 and I know that it is a little late to share my experience. But I think it may still be helpful for those who are awaiting interviews. I received an interview a week within the decision deadline. I want those who are waiting to know that please remain positive. No matter how hard it is, stay positive.
Here is my experience. I have to mention that I absolutely loved Ithaca. It is a very quaint town and very picturesque. My interview was in the afternoon on Tuesday so I arrived on Monday afternoon. I hadn't scheduled the campus visit which I regret no doing. So if you have a chance to do that, definitely it is a must!!! I arrived at Sage Hall and met my interviewer and went to a small interview room. We chatted a bit about my trip to Ithaca and then started with the interview.
Questions
1) Why MBA (first question, I distinctly remember b/c I was thrown off guard as I expected a walk me thru your resume)
2) What are you doing now? (Resume question that I expected the conversation to begin with
3) Tell us about a leadership experience, then a follow-up question on the impact it had on my organization
4) How would you add to the Johnson community?
5) Why do you want to an MBA now?
6) What do you like to do outside work?
7) What other schools are you applying to? (I added why I applied to those schools, even though I wasn't asked)
8) What is something that isn't on your resume, that you would like the admissions committee to know about you and your candidacy?
9) Weakness question (I also added how I address the weakness although I wasn't asked)
The 30 minutes went by really quick. I came out of the interview unable to judge at all how it went. I had answered the questions, but didn't know if I was able to connect at a personal level. But I was super-surprised and delighted when I received the call on Thursday from Ann Richards. We spoke for 10 minutes about my visit to Ithaca and my experience. She was happy to hear my experience. I believe that the community feel at Cornell is awesome due to the relatively smaller class size and the its location. I think that's one thing that really stands out for me. If you are looking to build life-long friends, relationships, people you can call anytime, then I think the program really offers that. Ofcourse, that is my outsider perspective and Ariel and other current students are in a more suitable position to comment. But I absolutely loved Ithaca, and could envision myself spending 2 years there. Good luck!