HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

"Hi everyone, Congratulations to everyone who received an interview invite. Opposed to the usual norm of a former student interviewing the applicants before the adcom does, I was interviewed by a panel of 2; one from the adcom and the other was a professor of finance at HKUST. The interview lasted for a little less than 30 mins. I was thrown off a little bit by seeing a professor on the panel. So I started with their permission and introduced myself (walk me through your resume essentially). After that the questions were mostly personal and stemmed from whatever I said. -I did cover my long term goal short term goals. -What if short term goals aren’t met. -Problems you envision you’d face in getting a job in HK. - I was asked what my Biggest achievement was. I did have to get into a bit of detail on their request. -Companies I would want to work for in HK and what have you done so far that’ll help you get a job easily! They chose not to ask Why Hongkong, which is generally a must asked question in interviews from schools in HK. But I’d suggest do prepare why HK as well. Please feel free to ping me if you have any more questions."

"Two members from HKUST interviewed me, one from AdCom and the other was a current full-time MBA student. The interview started with them asking you to introduce yourself and why you want to pursue an MBA in HK. Next, they asked if there were specific companies or industries you wanted to work after your MBA. It ended with me asking them a couple of questions related to securing an internship and if there were challenges to job hunting. Overall, it was a very straight forward and relaxed conversation. As long as you've thought through your goals and motivations in pursuing an MBA and can articulate it well then there should be no problems. It was just one round of interview for me and the interview lasted about 30 minutes."

"1st Interview: My interview today went horribly. The interviewer was not only egoistic but also racist (both I and him are Indians). The whole point of this conversation he told me at the start of the interview was to gauge me as a potential classmate. Unfortunately, he completely forgot that I would also be doing the same. Sample this: the interview scheduled for 2.30 pm started at 2.45 without much ado from his side, he stopped the interview in between to take a personal call, and I kid you not send a chat reply. Throughout the interview, his intention was only somehow to show the flaw in my reasoning and thinking. If you think his intention was to grill me, then that was also not the case because, after my response, he would give his views and move on to the next question without allowing me to revert. He was extremely condescending about the companies I have worked in as he had no idea about their workings. When I explained about the niche products these companies had developed and their revenues streams, his response was "huh..ok". I am not kidding; this was happening in my MBA interview, I simply could not believe it and was left flabbergasted. I somehow kept my composure and at the end came the time for me to ask questions. I asked him about his experience so far at hkust, and he answered this query for a total of 12 mins without giving me the chance to intervene. These 12 mins covered such unnecessary sub-topics as how people in his old company could not believe that he went for an MBA because he was earning big time. Also included were topics like how European students enjoy their weekends partying and he did not approve their behaviour. Also, his feeling about the Indian batchmates was that he just could not believe that those people were Indians because of their behaviour and so on. At this point, if you are thinking huh??, then just imagine my state of mind when I was going through one of the most important interviews of my life. To keep this message short, I am going to skip talking about his opinions on my goals and the FT ranking of HKUST! The interview went on for 47 mins, and at the end of it, I was left thinking whether I should just withdraw my application before the next interview on the 6th of Feb. I am not exaggerating; it was a horrendous experience. The interviewer is the vice president of a prestigious club at HKUST, and if he represents the students there, I am wondering if I should even consider joining such an institution. Do not get me wrong. I am no superstar candidate who the colleges are lining up to take in and in fact, have no offer on my plate currently, but still I am seriously considering withdrawing my application. It pains that this stupidity had to happen at such an important institution as HKUST. :cry: :cry: 2nd Interview: Just had my 2nd interview an hour ago. Contrary to my interview with a current student, this interview with 2 ad-com members went very well. It was a friendly but very thorough interview that lasted for half an hour and more than made up for my bad experience in the first interview. In addition to the standard MBA interview questions, an unusual and unexpected question asked was: "Describe the product that you conceptualised and your role in the start-up to an eight-year-old. " The question had me stumped, and I made two attempts to ans the question. My first attempt was the usual description of my role, and all of us knew that I had not answered their question correctly. At this point, we had a big laugh, and I asked them to give me another opportunity to ans the same, and they did. The interviewer's response at this moment is why I say it was a good interview because they could have very easily given me a bad feedback for this ans and gone ahead or grilled me for my fallacy. Instead, they gave me a chance to make amends. At the end of the interview, I had to tell them that I have an offer from NUS and have to accept it by the 15th. So, I requested them to kindly let me know the result of my application by then. The panel told me that they are interviewing a lot of candidates during this period, but they will update the ad-com of my situation. Overall, to all prospective candidates (some of whom have pinged me and were concerned about their interviews because of my bad experience in the 1st interview) - Do not worry and just go into the interview with an open mind and put in your best effort. Everyone's experience is different; this two-round interview process is considerably fair and gives us an opportunity to come back if things do not go according to our plans. Best of luck, do well!"

"My first interview was with a current student. It was a normal conversation. He asked about work profile. Reason to do MBA. Plans post MBA. Why HKUST and what do you intend to gain from the program. Just basic Q & A and you can use the opportunity to get answers to any queries that you may have. The interview lasted for ~25 mins. The second interview was with two AdComs. Normal Q&A. Your professional journey so far, why MBA, why HUST, why Hong Kong, post-MBA plans. The interview lasted for ~20 mins. Overall it was a pleasant experience. Be thorough with your past work ex and where you want to go post-HKUST and how HKUST will help you achieve your professional goals. Since I am not from HK, I just had the option to pick up the skype interview dates. If you want to opt for a one-one interview, you can get in touch with the adCom. Good luck with interviews and if there is anything you may need help with, do get in touch."