Cox (SMU) Hub

The first interview is an all-round interview, your goals, why Cox, and how you intend to contribute to the community. The second interview is focused on your career. I was asked questions like a reason for my current professional trajectory, my goals including the exact companies and exact roles, alternative career routes if my goals do not work out, What other schools I applied to, why MBA, and why now.

Almost the same for both the interview, But stick to your story, traditonal questions like Run down your resume/ tell me about yourself Why MBA and why at this point in your career Why SMU Short term and long term goals (try to sneak in some internship that you are looking out for that aligns with your career goals) Couple of behavioural questions like TMAT you faced difficulties completing your task/ conflict resolution/ difficult teammate

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!

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?

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?

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?

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Went through my interview today Usual questions - Walk through your resume - How would your team mates characterize you - Career goals - Which other schools you have applied to - Any experience where you failed and what you learnt - Any questions All the best

Just got my interview done with JR McGrath. Very friendly chat. The usual question Walk-through? Why MBA? Why now? What are you looking for in a school? Difficult situation at work? hobbies? And in the end questions by me. Nothing formal. For guys yet to be interviewed, chill and give it your best shot.

Hi! The questions will be similar to the following: Introduction about yourself - Where are you from, nature of your current job in brief, about your family, education etc Why MBA? Why SMU MBA specifically? - Go through their program details and brochure and talk about 2/3 things you liked the most about the program. How is MBA going to help your career? What will you bring to SMU? Talk about how your work experience or education is going to benefit the class What are your short-term and long term goals? What are your strengths and weakness (professionally)? What are the BSchools have you applied to and the status?

I was interviewed yesterday by J.R.McGrath. He was pretty cool and interview felt more like a casual discussion. Pretty much same questions of - why MBA, - why Cox, - post MBA goals, - some behavioural questions etc.

Got admitted! Interview Questions: 1. Walk me through your resume 2. Tell me about a time when you failed. 3. Why Cox? 4. Why an MBA now? 5. How would your team describe you? 6. What are your short/long term goals? 7. What are some companies you want to work for post-graduation? 8. Tell me what your job is like day-to-day. 9. A follow up question on something specific about my day-to-day job. 10. Questions for the interviewer. GOOD LUCK GUYS!

Hi, My interview lasted for around 34 minutes and my interviewer was Hannah Nousain Questions asked 1. Introduction 2. Why MBA 3. Short term goals 4. Why Cox 5. Past Job Experience 6. Other Schools I have applied to 7. How I lead my team 8. Questions? It was a conversational interview, stay calm and composed. All the best!!

My Interview was taken by Hannah. IT was mostly behavioral questions. She initially told about herself then asked to tell about myself. Then she asked why MBA at this point of time, Why SMU and she asked to quote leadership skills I exhibited in my company and asked many follow up questions on that to make herself clear on each point I stated. She was going through my resume simultaneously. As a whole, it was a cool and interactive interview. Hope this helps you. If you already completed your interview, All the best.

Very conversational and great, make sure you know your resume well and can quickly identify your short and long term goals. Why SMU? It wasn’t hard at all I did not practice at all. Interview was with J.R. McGrath