sting wrote:
DING with interview! international j-term reapplicant here. and i didn't even get a courtesy e-mail notifying me of the decision; i had to log in to my account to find the decision update, so be sure to check your app status regularly.
application process debrief and thoughts for what it's worth:
- at the time of submission (early july), there wasn't an application preview option before submission and i inadvertently clicked submit thinking that there would surely be a proof preview option before paying the application fee. there wasn't. but fortunately a frantic call to the adcom was all it took to have them reset my application to “not submitted”, giving me the opportunity to proof check before submitting.
- nevertheless, after submission and once the preview option became available a few days later, my application still looked crummy. text in certain sections was truncated, test scores for V/AWA sections were reversed, resume was missing etc. boggles the mind how a supposed top tier school cannot work out the bugs in their app system before releasing the app - unnecessary cause for apprehension to already stressed out applicants!
- as bad as it looked, i still received an interview invite within 1 day of submission. goes to show how fast adcom can move if they really want!
- before i freak people out, the quick processing was only because i requested an expedited review at the time of submission. i told them that i was considering some fall options as well and therefore need a decision in 3 weeks.
- surprisingly, they were very accommodating and in the interest of time even offered to do a skype interview with adcom instead of the usual alumni interview.
- i did the skype interview with one of the junior assistant directors 1 week later. the guy seemed decent enough but the video was turned off on the his end, so it was a bit awkward in the sense that i was staring at a blank screen unable to gauge his expressions/reactions.
- interesting interview - it was not blind like the traditional alumni interview (he had already read my app and had it in front of him) and i didn't get most of the standard CBS interview questions that you find on the clear admit website (you know those pesky "tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership/integrity" type bs questions). instead he asked me to walk him through my resume and then seemed to delve deeper into whatever areas of my application he felt needed more clarity.
some examples: i see that comp at your old firm was flat, so did you leave because you felt that you couldn't advance (clearly they use the compensation/bonus numbers as an indicator of your performance/advancement in a role); if you had the option to advance in pe, why did you leave to join your family business; a whole slew of questions about the family business - sales, number of employees, regional operations, managerial dynamics, etc.; a whole slew of questions about my post-MBA plans for the business - it doesn't appear that you have much managerial experience to date, so how do you think you'd be able to achieve your goals to manage what you project to be a growing and much larger organization in the future; it seems that you struggled in certain semesters in college (i had a gpa towards the low end of their admitted candidate range) so how do you expect to manage your priorities at CBS; how do you expect to contribute to CBS.
- on balance, i thought that his line of questioning was fair as it gave me an opportunity to address some of the weaker areas of my app. i just wished i had known what to expect ahead of time, so i could have prepared and articulated my responses more coherently.
- i received a final decision about 2 weeks after the interview.
- in conclusion, here's my overall sense about cbs: (i) they are really really stats focused (despite solid ib/pe work ex and a mid-700 gmat, they didn't blink at the low gpa. furthermore, a 70-point score improvement was the only material change since my previous app and this time around i made the interview cut). for applicants from well represented demographics, the stats carry far more weight than adcoms would care to disclose and while they won't guarantee you get in, low stats will definitely keep you out despite quality work experience, essays etc. so in the event that your stats are low, you are better off cranking on the gmat to get it over the 7 hurdle or taking the time to create an alternative transcript instead of wasting time polishing essays; (ii) they really want to know that you will be employable upon graduation; (iii) for j-term applicants, they want to be dead certain that you don't need the internship and want to see evidence that your goals are realistically attainable; (iv) if you have entrepreneurial goals, including family business, scale seems to matter (i would reckon revenues of $25M+ to carry some weight and get them comfortable); (v) for fall term applicants, i cannot emphasize enough how greatly you improve your odds if you apply ED as CBS uses it as an effective yield management tool.
@sting How did you request expedited review ? I didn't see any space for any extra comments on submission page . Also do you think you'd have preferred an alumi interview vs adcom interview?
30 Jul 2012, 17:33
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