Booth 2012 - Calling All Applicants

Ok so my 2 cents for much dear clubbers...

I interviewed off campus with an alum and it was completely the opposite of my Wharton interview.. For one - I was happy and not cursing myself when it was done... And the interview was very casual... He didn't even take my resume.. No notes at all.. Just a conversation span over 30 minutes...

I was also asked the why booth? Why MBA? Career goal question.. We went in to a little depth of which other schools and a comparative analysis of my choice.. Luckily I was prepared... didn't really have behavioral questions... Most of them related to what I have done in life and questions around my thought process...

Sent my interviewer a thank you note after an hour to which he replied immediately... Good experience...

Take away - chicago booth interview is entirely dependent on the interviewer!! Its More about knowing you as a person than anything else...

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Good luck to all. My interviewer has still not replied to my thank you note. I am not sure what to make of it

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Hi all, I don't have much to add to the discussion yet (writing applications for a round 2 submission) but I wanted to chime in to say that I can already feel the neurosis growing inside me with regard to interviews / status changes. I'm already spending far too much time on this forum. God help me when I actually have a submitted application to obsess over!

It's going to burst out of my chest and get alien goo all over these forums. Just a fair warning

I think the GMAT has no place in the interview. The way I see it, the student or alumn that interview you will try to picture you as a classmate and determine if you are someone that he/she would be happy to seat next to and if you are someone he/she would be proud to count as a future alumn. I know some people here have 750+ GMAT scores and probably had to work extremely hard to get it. But again I don't think the alumn actually care about your score.

I also sent a thank you e-mail the day after my interview and never got a response back. And I am very confident about the interview...it went incredibly well.

In fact, I've now interviewed at 3 schools...and despite sending thank you notes after each interview, no one has replied. This is even true for a school I've been admitted to.

So really, don't sweat it. This is normal and it's nothing to be alarmed about.

+1

If you're invited to interview you are already a stand out applicant...it's just a given that you have a strong profile.

This is your chance to step outside of your statistics and show your passion about the school, confirm your interpersonal skills, and prove that you're a multidimensional individual that can have a conversation.

I can't think of a single point during the process where your GPA/GMAT matters less.

My interviewer actually asked me for my score and GPA during the interview.

^^

The interviews are very dependent on the interviewer and it seems as though most of the recaps posted so far have been from people who had a great, conversational, interview. That's not always the case, though. The brother of one of my friends interviewed on campus with a 2nd year and the interviewer wouldn't let go of the kid's college GPA; it just kept coming up. In a case like this, a good GMAT score on the resume could help to temper the idea that the interviewee is a slacker, or whatever the interviewer was trying to imply. Just because we think the interview should be about fit doesn't mean that's how the interviewer is going to conduct the interview. The short version of what I'm saying is that I don't think a good GMAT score on the resume will hurt you.

As far as getting a reply to the 'Thank You' email goes...I sent an email and did not get a reply as well...I did not think too much of it and I dont think it reflects anything to be honest...Dont sweat over it too much...

Had my interview yesterday with alum. He started with giving me a brief introduction about himself and his experiences, followed by these questions:

1) Walk me through ur resume
2) Goals
3) Any other schools you're applying? (but didn't ask me to name the schools)
4) Challenging team work experience
5) Failure
6) Innovation example
7) Questions for him

It lasted about 50 mins and was pretty interactive. Good luck to me and to all of you guys!

To all those who interviewed on-campus what is your 'conversational interview' -- CI -- factor? Where:

CI = (number of minutes you talked)/(number of minutes your interviewer talked)

For me, CI ~ 4.

I'm trying to understand -analytically of course- what 'conversational interview' really means!

This feels like you're trying to overanalyze here. Your "CI" factor could be 1, 2, 3 or 4, but if the tone was tense, awkward, etc., you wouldn't describe it as "conversational" under any circumstances.

Had my interview on-campus yesterday morning.

Was greeted by a couple of First Year students at the admissions lobby. Spent a good amount of time talking to them about their experiences, my background and goals etc, while I waited for my interview. The students were super friendly and very chatty, and it was a great way to get rid of the pre-interview jitters.

After a while, I was called in to interview. My interviewer was a really friendly and laid back Second Year student, and the interview was really conversational.We covered the following areas:

1. Walk me through your resume
2. What are your future goals?
3. What are some of the challenges you faced during your time in <specific industry>?
4. How do you keep people motivated?
5. Give me an example of a challenging team experience. How did you handle it?
6. Any questions for her?

It was a very very very conversational and friendly interview. Surprisingly, she didn't ask me anything about why I wanted an MBA education, or why I wanted to go to Booth. Either I covered those answers as part of the other questions about future goals, or I talked so much that she didn't have time to fit those questions in. I hope it is the former.

I tried to show my interest in Booth by asking her questions that I hope showed that I had done my research, and how interested I am in the program. The interview lasted about 40 minutes. Overall, I had a really enjoyable experience and came back feeling even more impressed and interested in Booth.

Good luck to everyone that is interviewing! From my experience, I think it is really important to have a good time at the interview and have fun with it, because it reflects in your answers, and makes it a far more interesting experience for both interviewer and interviewee. My interviewer said that fit is very important for Booth, and what they're trying to gauge (more than anything else) is if you'll be able to become an engaged and valued member of the Booth community. So be yourselves and enjoy the process!

Also, I highly recommend spending some time talking to the FY students who will be present in the lobby to chat with you. Not only does it help get rid of your nervousness, but talking about yourself, your background, your goals etc will be a great dry run for the actual interview!

For future rounds people, here is a summary the interview invites that were reported on this board for R1:

R1 Mid-Decision Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2011
First Report of Interview Invite: Wednesday, November 2 (one week before Mid-Decisions day)
Last Report of Invite: Wednesday, November 9 (not all decisions on mid-decision day were Dings)

Breakdown by Day (based on posts on this board only)
Wed 11/2: 5 invites - early afternoon emails
Thur 11/3: 25 invites - timestamps 9:10 am cst, 12:40 pm cst
Fri 11/4: 14 invites - timetamps 9:01 am cst, 1:05 pm cst
Mon 11/7: 23 invites - timestamps 9:46 pm cst, 1:31 pm cst
Tue 11/8: 3 invites - timestamps 12:15 pm cst, 2:06 pm cst
Wed 11/9: 1 invite @ 9:02, dings also seemed to be at 9:02

87% of reported invites were received the Thursday, Friday, or Monday before the Mid-Decision date. There seemed to be two releases each day except the first and last days. The releases were not at the same times each day.

Tracking this kept me occupied while I waited for my invite!

Thanks for this. I'm going to put it in an excel sheet that will recalculate my odds of getting an invite after each day.

If I'm waitlisted I'll send the spreadsheet to the adcoms as proof of my analytic ability.

haha great post, i love it.

Im doing all kinds of calculations myself on the odds, but in the end we really all just have to wait....3 weeks to go. Good luck everyone.

I had my interview with an alum yesterday and it lasted around 80 minutes.
Firstly, I think the interview depends a lot on the interviewer. In my case, the interview started with walk me through your resume, then a very mysterious 'What next?', and then what other schools am I applying to.

The interviewer then opened up a long and really interesting discussion on what he had done, why did he choose booth and how is he on many non-profit boards. During all this conversation, he nudged and I asked questions and he answered freely. He then asked me my views on the current trends in education (my current work stream) and again we engaged into a discussion on the same.

Then he talked about some books that Booth faculty has been writing (who he is in touch with and is also a guest lecturer himself at Booth) and we talked about those a bit. He is sending me a copy of that book!

Then he came back to the schools I am applying to and said that he too only applied to Wharton and Booth and we talked about these schools a little. HE further prodded for second round schools and then convinced me (:D) how Booth is the best school for an MBA.

He then asked me how did I plan to pay for the MBA if admitted and engaged into a description of the scholarships available at Booth and a scholarship that he has instituted which is given to one foreign admit each year. We went back to the other Booth alumni I know from my previous consulting experience and he recalled knowing one of them and took details of the other.

Finally, after about 70 minutes or so, he said he needs to get into a meeting but that I should keep in touch with him, we exchanged cards (he said I will surely send you that book). His final words to me were, do keep me posted and let me know if you need any help in deciding schools in case you are admitted to both.

I sent him a thank you email today morning and he replied within 10 minutes saying he is sending me that book. (I guess he really loved that book :D).

Overall, I really liked the experience I had and was impressed with his passion for the school and that he is still so active with school related activities (he's an '89 graduate).

All the best to others! I have a book to read to kill the wait.