Cox (SMU) MBA Program Guide 2025

There are two interviews at Cox- Admissions Committee & Career Management Cell Questions largel... Read More

There are two interviews at Cox- Admissions Committee & Career Management Cell Questions largely overlap so I am listing all the questions I was asked during the process: 1. How did you choose your undergrad major? 2.Walk me through your resume. 3. Why MBA? Why SMU Cox? 4. What are your Short Term & Long Term Goals. What is your Plan B? 5. Tell me about the greatest achievement in your career / what are you most proud of? 6. Tell me about a time when you received feedback about something. 7. Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses. 8. If you could travel anywhere for the international consulting program at Cox, which city would you choose? 9. What can you contribute to the university? 10. How will you measure at your graduation ceremony if your time at business school was successful? 11. Which company and role do you look forward to? What attracts you to it? 12. What will you do if you are not admitted to Cox? They also ask you about any other universities you have applied to. After that you can ask any questions you have for them. All the best! Read Less

Hello If you're reading this you've either got an invite or anticipating one. Congratulations on m... Read More

Hello If you're reading this you've either got an invite or anticipating one. Congratulations on making it this far. 1. Why did you choose your undergrad major and school? 2. Walk me through how you ended up at your current role. 3. How will work in team, or any problem solving experience? 4. short term goal 5. Plan B 6. how will contribute outside class 7. Other universities you applied 8. any questions for me? Read Less

I am done with my 2nd interview with the director of FTMBA. It was very similar to the 1st one. 1)W... Read More

I am done with my 2nd interview with the director of FTMBA. It was very similar to the 1st one. 1)Walk through resume 2)Your rationale for the career choices you have taken till now 3)Post MBA goal. Which industry and role? 4)Target Companies and why those companies 5)What is your Plan B? 6)Why MBA and why Cox? 7)What will you do, if you aren’t admitted to Cox? 8)TMAT when you received a feedback hard to accept 9)What other colleges have you applied for ? 10)Do you have any questions for me? Read Less

A lady from AdCom took the interview. Did not introduce herself. Was new she said. She told me upfro... Read More

A lady from AdCom took the interview. Did not introduce herself. Was new she said. She told me upfront that I will be getting another interview invite from the Career Body. 1. Tell me about yourself/how did you land up in your current role, your journey? 2. What does being a team member mean to you and what qualities do you bring to the table? 3. Tell me a little about the Excellence Award of NCQC? 4. Questions for me? 5. Volunteering – Why did you volunteer what motivated you to give back and contribute? 6.Why SMU? What attracts you to this school? 7. How will your plans change when you come here? What about your company? /Why MBA now? 8. How did you transition from undergrad to your first job? How did you adjust? What did you do? Read Less

I had my 2nd and final interview with Cox. It was on zoom with a member of the career team. - Walk ... Read More

I had my 2nd and final interview with Cox. It was on zoom with a member of the career team. - Walk me through your resume. - What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received? - TMAT when things didn’t go how you wanted them to? - Why an mba? - Why Cox? - What will you do if you’re not accepted to SMU Cox? - What’s your post mba goal? - What company/title? Why? What attracts you to that company? - What’s your backup plan? What are your priorities for your job/life? - What questions do you have for me? Read Less

1. Why did you choose your undergrad major and school 2. Walk me through how you ended up at your cu... Read More

1. Why did you choose your undergrad major and school 2. Walk me through how you ended up at your current role. 3. What’s one of the most difficult things about your job? 4. When did you decide to get an MBA? Why? 5. What are your post MBA goals? Will you continue in the same industry? What’s your backup plan? 6. How did you decide which MBA programs to apply to? 7. How will you contribute to the Cox community outside of the classroom. 8. How will you measure at your graduation ceremony if your time was successful? 9. Tell me about a time you had a challenging experience with a coworker or a team? 10. What has been your greatest achievement in your career / what are you most proud of? 11. Tell me about a time where you failed a task or things didn’t go according to plan. How will you manage your time at school? 12. Tell me about any international work experience you’ve had. 13. If you could travel anywhere for an international consulting program which city would you choose? 14. What’s a fun fact about you? The class of 2022 had a 98% job placement 3 months after graduation. Read Less

I am done with my interview yesterday with adcom.Most of the questions are expected and what we writ... Read More

I am done with my interview yesterday with adcom.Most of the questions are expected and what we write in essays only. Few of them are 1) Why MBA and why Cox 2) Long term and short term goals 3) Industry and company you want to work in post - MBA 4) Plan B 4) How will you contribute to the cox community 5) Questions on leadership and challenges 6) Biggest achievement at work 7) Describe a time when you had to deal with a failure 8) Fun fact about you 9) How will you measure your success after completing MBA 10) Other programs you applied for I asked few questions on their leadership training and the adcom’s personal learnings and challenges in her current role as she told in her introduction that she is new to Cox but familiar to SMU. The interview was very smooth and conversational. Read Less

Hi Guys, I had my interview for the fast-track MBA program with Brent Upham, such a great guy. Inte... Read More

Hi Guys, I had my interview for the fast-track MBA program with Brent Upham, such a great guy. Interview lasted for about 30 to 40 minutes. 1.Walk me through your resume. 2. Why MBA and why SMU Cox 3. My long term and short term goals? 4. I had indicated that i plan to work in consulting (Mckinsey,BCG,Bains)in my home country post-MBA so I was asked what if my short term goals fall through, what if i get an opportunity in the US(This was probably meant to test my flexibility and global mindset) Other discussion points stemmed from my response to his questions. Read Less

Hi folks, If you're reading this you've either got an invite or anticipating one. Congratulations o... Read More

Hi folks, If you're reading this you've either got an invite or anticipating one. Congratulations on making it this far. I had my interview with Brent D. Upham. It lasted for over 50 mins I guess. Here are the questions I was asked: 1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Why MBA and why SMU Cox (do your research on the curriculum and the professors, that helped me)? 3. My long term and short term goals? 4. I had mentioned potentially working with Amazon or FedEx immediately post-MBA so I was asked what if my short term goals aren't met. 5. What is your biggest achievement? Before the interview ended, I asked him a few questions about his favourite thing(s) about Cox! Hope this is helpful. Please feel free to ping me or tag me if you have any further questions. Best wishes, Sourav Read Less

Had my interview yesterday with Jillian Melton It was pretty much a Conversational chat. Questions ... Read More

Had my interview yesterday with Jillian Melton It was pretty much a Conversational chat. Questions asked were Walk me through your resume Describe your routine job day schedule What other schools have you applied to How does your sub ordinates/colleagues describe you Tell me a situation when you have exceeded your expectations why did you choose your undergraduate major Any questions for us The interview lasted for about 30 mins. Read Less