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buffdaddy
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 08:23
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i agree with emoryhopeful.

To add to that, i've also heard Adcom talk about using interviews to gauge whether candidates are "aware". Eg how much do they know about their industry, their intended industry upon graduation, their region etc. This helps adcom to know whether the individual will commit positively to discussions in the classroom and if so, how will they communicate this information. Hence the reason many schools match alums carefully for interviews.

Additionally some schools also want to know how well the candidate can "think on the spot" by giving impromptu presentations and or a panel discussion which is marked.

-buff
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isa
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 09:20
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Quote:
Additionally some schools also want to know how well the candidate can "think on the spot" by giving impromptu presentations and or a panel discussion which is marked.
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Which schools have that? :o
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Bosley
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 09:45
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Bschool interviews are pretty straight forward, atleast the ones I had last year were. Just be comfortable describing your career progression and how its led you up to this point. They are not looking to stump you or test your "on the spot" thinking.
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 09:50
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ac8706
Quote:
Additionally some schools also want to know how well the candidate can "think on the spot" by giving impromptu presentations and or a panel discussion which is marked.

Which schools have that? :o
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London Business School is one. Also i think a couple of other schools have that (but i can't remember them). Cambridge (Judge) have a panel discussion (or rather a QnA session) on the interview day with the faculty. Asking intelligent questions here can earn brownie points for sure.
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 12:13
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A former Adcom member from Tuck told me that in his experience about 95% of the time the interview report confirmed the impression they had from the rest of the application. I think you can definitely blow an interview and screw up your whole ap, but you're pretty unlikely to be successful based solely on an interview. Basically I think the goal is to have a good at bat, rather than trying to hit a home run.
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 13:52
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what do you do if a question totally stumps you and you can't come up with an answer or relate it to your experiences?
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isa
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 15:52
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terp26
what do you do if a question totally stumps you and you can't come up with an answer or relate it to your experiences?
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that wouldn't be fun...If I haven't had the experience, I'd prolly say something along the lines of how I haven't experienced x but have experienced y and it taught me a comparable lesson...
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How do interviews factor in? 13 Nov 2008, 15:53
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buffdaddy
London Business School is one. Also i think a couple of other schools have that (but i can't remember them). Cambridge (Judge) have a panel discussion (or rather a QnA session) on the interview day with the faculty. Asking intelligent questions here can earn brownie points for sure.
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Good to know! thanks!
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How do interviews factor in? 14 Nov 2008, 06:10
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I think application-blind interviews tend to have less weightage.
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How do interviews factor in? 14 Nov 2008, 08:42
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CompanyMan
I think application-blind interviews tend to have less weightage.
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I agree with this point... it would be tough for an app-blind interviewer to really delve into more than the standard questions.
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How do interviews factor in? 17 Nov 2008, 08:05
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Does anyone else have their interviews randomly replaying in their mind? it is driving me crazy, I remember a good point I hit on and then I am excited, then I remember something I wasn't so strong on and I am upset , MAKE IT STOPPPPPPP
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How do interviews factor in? 17 Nov 2008, 08:18
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I'm going through that phase right now Terp since all of my apps are in post interview limbo. I alternate between really optimistic and dejected about 10 times a day. My wife has been ready to kill me for the past month or so since I've been finished.

But then I remind myself that I did the best I could with my nerves and that it's not in my hands anymore.

I also did a R2 app for a safety school (I think) in case the negative thoughts turn out to be right...
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How do interviews factor in? 17 Nov 2008, 10:10
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terp26
Does anyone else have their interviews randomly replaying in their mind? it is driving me crazy, I remember a good point I hit on and then I am excited, then I remember something I wasn't so strong on and I am upset , MAKE IT STOPPPPPPP
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I am going through the same thing. After my Wharton interview, I honestly thought there was nothing I could have improved upon. But, I think I was basing that off the rapport I had developed with the interviewer. I think most people develop such rapport, due to the nature of the interviewers. The more I think about it, the more I can come up with things I could have improved upon. But, there's only so much a person can do in 30 minutes, and overall, I think it went pretty well.
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How do interviews factor in? 17 Nov 2008, 11:40
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Thanks everyone for the responses. I guess where my question was coming from was when I started to see many dings after interviews.

I started thinking, why would the adcomm ding someone after the interview? Bad interview - OK..but that can't be 60% of all the people being interviewed? So then why..maybe there is some truth to people walking into an interview with their fates sealed already - which again is mind-boggling, whey would the adcomm interview someone they wanted to ding anyway?
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How do interviews factor in? 17 Nov 2008, 12:02
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I think people do that kind of thing all the time. The adcom probably feels like the want to ding someone, but they're not quite comfortable with it (harvard is aparently rejecting many of the typical profile HBS types this year) so they invite them to interview thinking that if they talk to the person face to face they'll feel better about it. Ultimately they don't, but they still go with their initial impression.
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How do interviews factor in? 17 Nov 2008, 13:19
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It's true that this sort of thing happens all the time and not just in the B-School process.

For instance, a few jobs that I barely qualified for interviewed me for a variety of reasons (alum of the school, family connection) even though I had a tiny, tiny chance of being hired when stacked up against the competition. I was even told once by an interviewer that I was only interviewed because my father in law would have made life miserable if I hadn't been. That was an unfortunate way to start off but it actually turned out to be a good interview even though it was obvious I wasn't getting the job.

I think for the most part your fate is preordained before the interview and (as has been said before) is just the final data point as long as you don't mess it up too badly or totally rock the interview. Interviews are so subjective I doubt that they significantly sway the adcom in most circumstances unless they are REALLY strong one way or the other since, like everything else, they are only a tiny fraction of your file.

I doubt anyone has ever talked their way into business school without the rest of their file being at least solid if not great...
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How do interviews factor in? 19 Nov 2008, 15:11
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So to close out this thread - i got dinged from Columbia! AFTER interview.

Next week I am up for Wharton and Cornell - any tips on how to get my head right?
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