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Posts: 5456
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Location: SF, CA, USA
Concentration: Technology, Entrepreneurship, Digital Media & Entertainment
Schools:UC Berkeley Haas School of Business MBA 2010
 Q51  V41
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
congrats sperinko!!!

My toughest question came from UCLA Anderson.

"What areas do you believe Anderson is weak on compared to other schools you are applying to?"

That threw me for a loop, because usually they ask what you like about the school as compared to other schools (i.e. what's "Unique" about the school), but this one got me. Since I could not say "your admissions office", and Anderson actually had the BEST and most supportive entrepreneurship program of all the schools I applied to (unexpected, but true), I had to say something about the lack of high-tech focus of Anderson compared to other schools I was applying to (which gave away that I applied to Stanford and Haas). It wasn't my best answer, but I did state that I truly believed Anderson has one of the best entrepreneurship programs out there.

good thread, added to knowledge vault.
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
sperinko, congrats!!!
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
wharton's "what will you contribute to your learning team" question gave me fits
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
sperinko, congrats on your NUS admit! Much props for a well-deserved accomplishment.

sperinko wrote:
NUS Adcom asked me "What do you NOT like about people ?"

I was like..."whaaaat!"
Obviously, I didn't have many points to talk about...and ranted whatever came to my mind at that moment. The interviewer was persistent and asked me to be more specific and quote an example...gave some answer that was even more in generic terms. He must have been pretty annoyed with my responses as he moved quickly to other topics :-D :-D .

Neverthless, got an admit yesterday. So I guess it was the only poor response in the interview.
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
My interviewer asked me about my international experience. If you haven't had any type of international experience (i.e. study abroad, backpacking for a month, international business, etc) this question can really catch you off guard. And, I don't think that your Spring Break trip to Cancun really suffices as internatioanl experience. :)
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
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My UC Berkeley interviewer looked at my resume and said "All of these accomplishments look like they're part of your job. What have you done that was above and beyond your job description?"

Good thing I worked at a startup so there's a lot of room for above and beyond, but I kind of stuttered that one.

Also, "how are you analytical, in your work or outside of work?"

My brain got sidetracked because I started thinking, who the hell is analytical outside of work? That's not fun...
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
Thanks nc ,clobo, kry....although I will probably not go to Singapore. Its a good program and is in a great place but does not have strengths in the areas I am interested (Hi-Tech product mgmt). I just applied there as a safety (plus no Application fee...will you believe that !!). Hopefully I have luck in atleast one of the US B-Schools I am applying to. We'll see. Thanks again.

ncprasad wrote:
sperinko, congrats on your NUS admit! Much props for a well-deserved accomplishment.

sperinko wrote:
NUS Adcom asked me "What do you NOT like about people ?"

I was like..."whaaaat!"
Obviously, I didn't have many points to talk about...and ranted whatever came to my mind at that moment. The interviewer was persistent and asked me to be more specific and quote an example...gave some answer that was even more in generic terms. He must have been pretty annoyed with my responses as he moved quickly to other topics :-D :-D .

Neverthless, got an admit yesterday. So I guess it was the only poor response in the interview.
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
Thanks RED
R.E.D. wrote:
sperinko, congrats!!!
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
sperinko wrote:
NUS Adcom asked me "What do you NOT like about people ?"

I was like..."whaaaat!"
Obviously, I didn't have many points to talk about...and ranted whatever came to my mind at that moment. The interviewer was persistent and asked me to be more specific and quote an example...gave some answer that was even more in generic terms. He must have been pretty annoyed with my responses as he moved quickly to other topics :-D :-D .

Neverthless, got an admit yesterday. So I guess it was the only poor response in the interview.


Congrats... its just the begining.
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
sperinko wrote:
NUS Adcom asked me "What do you NOT like about people ?"

I was like..."whaaaat!"
Obviously, I didn't have many points to talk about...and ranted whatever came to my mind at that moment. The interviewer was persistent and asked me to be more specific and quote an example...gave some answer that was even more in generic terms. He must have been pretty annoyed with my responses as he moved quickly to other topics :-D :-D .

Neverthless, got an admit yesterday. So I guess it was the only poor response in the interview.

Sperinko! Somehow I missed this...Congratulations! :-D
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
Mine was stupid:

I talked about being a voracious reader and reading just about anything I can get my hands on - fiction and non. Next question? What's the last nonfiction book you read?

Uh....uh....don't know....can't remember....my brain just went "duh" and i couldn't come up with anything for a moment. I was so busy during admissions season last year that I wasn't reading quite as much (used to be that i would be in the middle of at least 2 or 3 books at all times) and the last thing I read was sorta dumb and I couldn't remember the author and I said it anyway and just felt like a hoser.
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
Tell me about a time you took a risk without consulting your supervisor?

- a good one, you either come out sounding like a wuss, or like a crazed lunatic if you aren't careful.

I know a lot of people on the end of "why wouldn't I employ you?" and similar questions. I didn't like the "how would you use a jump diffusion model to price an option?" (the guy KNEW I had never covered that, and was just being an ass).

These are all job i/view questions though. Which reminds me to go over to the advice for the break prior to school thread...
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
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mba2010 wrote:
My UC Berkeley interviewer looked at my resume and said "All of these accomplishments look like they're part of your job. What have you done that was above and beyond your job description?"


wow, your interviewer was *tough*! That's a very mean question.
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Joined: 15 Jun 2006
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Concentration: Finance, Strategy, and Accounting
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
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Ok, my Wharton interviewer asked me to solve the following problem:

You are on a wilderness retreat with your team. It’s getting dark, you are returning to the big camp with your team and looks like you are lost. For a split of second you spot the campfires among the trees, but however hard you try to see it again, you cannot. Yet, you are absolutely positive about the general direction of the camp.
However another team member who boasts vast experience of surviving in the wild, insist that the camp is in the opposite direction. The rest of the team have no opinion. What do you do?


I think I botched that one. I would not reproduce the whole answer and follow up questions (oh, he was persistent) but I ended up saying that we would spend the whole night there on the spot… waiting for the dawn… sharing each other bodywarmth… :shock: Guess that explains why I was dinged at Wharton :oops: :roll:
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
helg wrote:
Ok, my Wharton interviewer asked me to solve the following problem:

You are on a wilderness retreat with your team. It’s getting dark, you are returning to the big camp with your team and looks like you are lost. For a split of second you spot the campfires among the trees, but however hard you try to see it again, you cannot. Yet, you are absolutely positive about the general direction of the camp.
However another team member who boasts vast experience of surviving in the wild, insist that the camp is in the opposite direction. The rest of the team have no opinion. What do you do?


I think I botched that one. I would not reproduce the whole answer and follow up questions (oh, he was persistent) but I ended up saying that we would spend the whole night there on the spot… waiting for the dawn… sharing each other bodywarmth… :shock: Guess that explains why I was dinged at Wharton :oops: :roll:


Can you cheat by saying.. I pull out my N82/N95 and check the GPS. :lol:
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
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helg wrote:
Ok, my Wharton interviewer asked me to solve the following problem:

You are on a wilderness retreat with your team. It’s getting dark, you are returning to the big camp with your team and looks like you are lost. For a split of second you spot the campfires among the trees, but however hard you try to see it again, you cannot. Yet, you are absolutely positive about the general direction of the camp.
However another team member who boasts vast experience of surviving in the wild, insist that the camp is in the opposite direction. The rest of the team have no opinion. What do you do?


I think I botched that one. I would not reproduce the whole answer and follow up questions (oh, he was persistent) but I ended up saying that we would spend the whole night there on the spot… waiting for the dawn… sharing each other bodywarmth… :shock: Guess that explains why I was dinged at Wharton :oops: :roll:


Great question. It actually reflects on your decision making abilities. Especially split second decision making abilities. It questions you as to how can you choose between your gut feeling and a 'well tested external input'. Frankly, like an behavioral questions there's no right answer. However, because you said that you would not take either of those decisions and choose a relatively easier alternative, that might have cast a negative impression. Just my thought.
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
The one that caught me the most off-guard was "Tell me something you learned yesterday."
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Re: Toughest/Interesting question you've had [#permalink]
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