Calling Chicago (Booth) Applicants for 2009

Ok. I got to board soon and put away my laptop so here's my brief recap:

Yes, I was approved for extension on my interview date due to nature of my work. There was a series of posts in this forum few weeks ago regarding that matter.


So I met with Booth alumni, currently a managing director of Goldman Sachs in Chicago office. Lasted about 35 to 40 minutes. He was cocky. Before he got his Booth MBA, he worked in some boutique investment bank out of San Franscisco. Then after his MBA, he started working at GS and climbed ladder. He became a MD only after 3 years.

The guy had weird thing about lights in the interview room. He preferred not having lights on due to some stupid story about how he got yelled by his boss in a meeting once regarding a deal involving a company that makes lightbulbs or something. After that, he started working in dark whenever possible.

He asked:

1) Talk to me about your past work experience and the reason for pursuing MBA degree.

2) Explain your goals and how Booth fits into your plans (and after I stated 3 different goals, he kept asking what else, what else)

3) What attracted you to Booth MBA program and what do you hope to accomplish while pursuing your degree? (He kinda wanted me to do a analysis on benefits and opportunity costs of pursuing Booth over other options...I was like huh?)

4) Tell me about your leadership exp and give me few examples when you had to deal with problematic employees in your team.

5) I see that you have a list of professional certifications as well as a master's degree. Why do you need another master's degree? (Then he kept asking - are you sure you aren't pursuing MBA because it's just nice to have?)

In the end I asked few questions regarding his job and problems in financial services etc etc

I felt like I went through a cavity search rather than an interview afterwards. Not sure if I did ok. He kept a blank face during the whole time but I hope I impressed him enough.

I wonder if all Booth students have similar personalities...