Business schools have started rolling our interview invites to Round 1 applicants. If you have already received the interview offer, congratulations. You have crossed a crucial stage. Now it's time to start preparing for it. The interview is the final step in your journey to your target school that can make or mar your chances of success. Through the interview, the schools want to know who you are beyond those carefully crafted words. Therefore, the first and most critical step in the MBA interview preparation is knowing your content and understanding questions that a particular school may ask you.
We at MER requested our last year's successful students share their interview questions. Some of them have gladly shared their interview debriefs. We have compiled their questions/ interview experience in this blog. The blog also includes interview questions of two candidates who went to different programs but shared interview debriefs of schools that waitlisted them.
Let us look at the interview questions of Tuck, Ross, Fuqua, Oxford, Alberta, Olin, Stanford (MSX), Hitotsubashi, McCombs, Berkeley Haas, and Wharton (EMBA), along with candidates' comments on their overall interview experience.
1. Tuck
Alisha - Tuck and Ross Admit, W/L at Fuqua- (Went to Tuck)
- Walk me through your resume.
- Why did you take statistics as a major?
- Tell me about the fitness club you started.
- tell me about your short-term and long-term goals.
- Why MBA? Why Tuck?
- What is your biggest failure?
- What are you proud of?
- Tell me something you have not already mentioned.
- Do you have any questions for me?
2. Ross
- Tell me about yourself.
- What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- Why MBA? Why Ross?
- Tell me about a time when your company was going through change. What did you do?
- Tell me about a time when you led the team.
- Tell me about the tough feedback you have received.
- Tell me about a time when you worked with people of different cultural backgrounds.
Alisha's questions:
- I know Ross is heavily focused on culture, and I have seen it in my conversations. Any highlights from your experience?
- I wanted to ask how Ross helped you in your career transition, but you have already answered that.
- How was your experience at Ross Open Road?
- How have you been engaged with the school as an alum? For example, how did alums help you with recruiting, or did you get alum support with recruiting?
3. Duke Fuqua
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why MBA? Why Fuqua?
- What are your career goals?
- Tell me about constructive feedback you have received.
- Tell me about a time when you had to choose the harder right over the easier wrong.
- Tell me about a time when you gave feedback. What was the response
- What are the three components that make the team successful?
- Can you give an example where you have fostered these elements of creating a team in your experience?
- What is the most challenging aspect of working in a diverse team? And what is the most rewarding?
- How do you plan to enhance your leadership exposure at Fuqua?
- What do you understand about Team Fuqua?
- Describe a situation where your communication skills made a difference
- Any questions for me?
4. Ross
Faisal- Ross, Cambridge, and Haas Admit (Went to Cambridge)
The interview went well, and there were friendly vibes. Here is the list of questions:
- Walk me through the resume.
- Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
- Why specifically from Ross?
- What are your long-term and short-term goals?
- Tell me a time when you worked within the team.
- Tell me about a time when you failed.
- Tell me about your best success story.
5. Oxford
John ( not real name)- Oxford Admit
Associate Director of Programs of the Entrepreneurship Center conducted the interview.
- Why Oxford? (We then dug into the curriculum and co-curricular. She did not run through my resume.)
- What is your most significant achievement?
- How do sports and yoga translate into your working life?
- What are you reading now? (We then had a 5-minute discussion about that book)
In the last 8 minutes, I asked her a few questions about culture and student/ professor dynamics.
6. Alberta
Deepu- Alberta and Schulich Admit, WL at Olin-2022
I had my interview with a second-year Canadian student working as Director of Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Alberta.
My interview was decent, as there were no cross-questions, and my interviewer was satisfied with my answers. She told me this was not a formal interview and would last for about 20 minutes only. However, my interview continued for 42 minutes.
The interviewer started the interview by asking about my experience with the KIRA talent interview platform; then, she asked the following questions.
- Please introduce yourself, including academic, professional, and extracurriculars.
- Why do you want to do an MBA now?
- What makes you think the University of Alberta will be the right place for you?
- Tell me a leadership story you are most proud of.
- Tell us about your most significant professional achievement to date.
- What motivates you, or what is the motivation factor?
- What challenges you might face during your MBA at the University of Alberta? How do you mitigate those challenges?
- What do you think about teamwork, and how do you contribute to a team environment?
- Tell me about an issue that is currently disrupting the global business environment (apart from the COVID-19 Pandemic).
- Is there anything that you would like to share?
- Any questions for me?
7. Olin, University of Washington
I had my interview with Ad com, Director of Employer and Students Relations. The interview lasted for exactly 30 minutes, and the interviewer asked the following questions:
- Tell me about yourself
- Why did you consider Olin B-school for your MBA, and how did you hear about Olin?
- Tell me something about a disruption faced by your current industry.
- Tell me about a time when you faced an adverse/negative circumstance and how did you handle that situation? What was your motivation?
- Why did you choose to do a global MBA?
- Do you have any questions for me?
8. Stanford
Thai- McCombs (EMBA) Admit; interviewed at Stanford
I was confused by the first question, and it took a bit longer to tell the interviewer what my company was doing. Obviously, they took a great deal of time to learn about my application. Therefore, I felt like she understood well why I started my business. She also sounded like she knew the cultural norm that I described in the essay as she said: "It was a harsh situation you had been through...".
Here are the questions in the interview (not in chronological order)
- Tell me about your company's business. What is it about? What is its product?
- What is the most challenging issue you are dealing with in your company?
- Why is the MSx? Why now?
- What do you think is the most useful factor that contributed to the success of Burger Bistro? What did you learn from it?
- You already did the MBA in Italy. Do you think that the MSx will be redundant?
- What is your plan for DATA Group? Do you think you will change something in the way you're running it now?
- How will your company operate without you?
- How about your family support?
- How would your friend describe you?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What is your leadership style?
9. Hitotsubashi
Cheska Galve- Admits from Hitotsubashi ICS ( national scholarship), Waseda, and NUCB
During the interview yesterday, the interviewers asked me whether I had talked to somebody in SGV about joining the Japan team there and whether I had connections to consulting firms in Japan, such as EY. They also stated towards the end of the interview that although they do have connections to consulting firms, they cannot guarantee placement after graduation.
In response to their question, I explained that the managing partner and chairman of SGV himself suggested the idea of joining the Japan team. I also talked with another partner who handled the firm's greatest number of Japanese clients to seek advice on what it takes to succeed there.
10. McCombs
Askand- McCombs Admit with 20K scholarship, W/L at Haas
I interviewed with Adcom. Here are the questions:
- Walk me through your resume.
- Why do you want to pursue an MBA, and why McCombs?
- Can you tell me what you learned during the application process?
- What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your life?
- How would you contribute at McCombs?
- What are your short-term and long-term goals? What if things don't work out?
- What constructive feedback have you received? What did you learn?
- Do you have any questions for me?
11. Berkely Haas
I interviewed with an Alum.
- Why MBA? Why now?
- Tell me about a time when you promoted diversity.
- Provide an example of when you had to convince others to do something outside of their scope.
- How will Haas help you achieve your goals?
- How will you contribute to Haas?
- Do you have any questions for me?
12. Wharton
Nikhil- Wharton (EMBA) Admit
I interviewed with an admission officer, and it was a very friendly conversation.
- Tell me about yourself.
- What do you do outside of work?
- Which step are you on in the application process? Do you need any help?
- Is your employer okay with your plans, and how are they supporting you?
- What do you want to achieve through the EMBA program?
- How will you handle the extra EMBA workload after work and family?
- What is your GMAT/EA/GRE score?
- Is there anything you would like to share with me?
Related Resources
MBA Interview Debriefs of MER Students
6 Things to Consider During an MBA Interview
Since 2011, MER has assisted hundreds of applicants in getting accepted into the top 20 MBA programs. (Poonam, President, and founder of MER, is one of the 5 most-reviewed consultants on the GMAT Club.)
You may email Poonam at poonam@myessayreview.com with questions about your interview prep.
This blog was first published in myessayreview.
