Calling all Carlson(Minnesota) Applicants:(2016 Intake) Class of 2018!

To add on what you mentioned Christine had told me that from the start of this week they will start with interview invites. But that was the just the start date.
Does anyone here have an idea about the kind of questions asked during Carlson interviews. Or, should I just skim last year's posts.

Last year's interview debriefs:

1) I finished my interview on 15th. The interview was more of a conversation type... just the normal questions- why mba? why carlson? tell me about yourself..

2) The questions were usual like Why MBA, Why now, challenges at work, how do you approach an obstacle, how do you present a complex topic to strangers. They have added a new section to the interview where you have to talk/present on any topic for 2-3 mins. You will be given 1 min to prepare.

3) The interview questions were the usual: why MBA, why now, why Carlson, What will you give the community, have you faced any ethical dilemma, where else are you going to apply etc. These are questions I remember off-hand.. Try to interact with a current student or faculty.. They really like that you have taken some extra efforts to understand the culture of the university.

4) My interview had no surprises, it had just all the standard questions - Why MBA, Why Carlson, Walk me through yoru CV, Any situation where you faced conflict of interest, career goals etc. It had lasted 30 minutes.

5) So I had my interview last night.
The interview was quite conversational - he (AdCom) took great effort to get to know my background, experiences and the whole story...
Questions were the usual ones: (maybe I am missing a few too..)
- why engineering as undergraduate?
- why MBA?
- why Carlson?
- short/long term goals?
- strength
- weakness
- teamwork experience
- ethical dilemma
- how would I teach a totally new concept to someone?
- 2-min extempore on a topic of my choice (he gave me 1-2 min to prepare)
- which other schools have I applied to, and why?
- questions for him
Overall, it lasted almost an hour - and my interviewer was VERY friendly. I was not fully fully prepared for the 2-min extempore and maybe I stumbled at 2-3 questions more... but all in all it was a very nice experience!

PS:
1. The first admissions decision was received on Dec 19th. But the rest of the candidates got results between the afternoon of Jan 15th till Jan 17th as the applicant count went up by 15 to 20% last year.
2. Some interviews went on for 55 minutes!
3. Scholarship details are only communicated in the admissions package which is shipped to your postal address. Yeah more waiting!
4. Apparently last year's scholarship recipients had a GMAT score average of over 710

Congrats to everyone who received an invite.

Just wanted to know how does the recommendation thing work esp there is a paragraph :

The admissions committee may contact your references during the review of your application. Individuals that you indicate as references are not sent any materials when they are added to your application, and they do not need to complete a form or submit anything in writing.

I have listed 2/3 recommenders but the listed ones haven't received their emails yet. Does it usually send all the 3 recommenders as together ?

Pls shine some light.

I don't think an email is not sent even when you hit the submit button. They might send them a mail and fix a time for a call to get some perspective.

Good luck!

Guys,

I have my interview in less than 3 days. I have not get a Skype invite yet. Anyone on the same boat? Did anyone write to the school?

Congratulations to all who received interview invites!! We hope to see here interview debriefs of interviewed applicants in coming days.

Guys, how is job scene for international students at Carlson? I understand that with visa sponsorship challenges - career options for international students are inherently more challenging. however I will appreciate any more insights.

Thanks,

Interview debrief:

I was initially given an overview of the interview process. The skype interview was blind and lasted for ~35 minutes.

The questions asked were:
a) Run me through your resume
b) short term & long term career goals with a few follow up questions
c) Why MBA? Why Carlson? Why now?
d) Time when I had to convince a team member who was not co-operating
e) Time when I was bored with work
f) What would you do if you don't do MBA this year
g) Which other schools you are applying to and why
h) extempore speech - any topic for 2 minutes (1 min preparation time was offered)
i) questions for the interviewer



A very standard B school interview indeed!

Good luck everybody!

Update: I got the skype invite just a few minutes before my interview. I believe that is their process and that there is nothing to worry about.

Based on my interview's advise I sent a mail to Christine requesting the decision preferably by December 4th. On 7th I have to pay my deposit to Rotman! I believe you can do the same too.

Good luck!

Just had my interview with Melodie Bard. Conversational interview starting with walk-through, why MBA , why now and then moved on to the usual behavioral questions. Post this I was asked to speak on a topic of my choice for two minutes and was given a minute to prepare. I was also asked why Carlson and which others schools I had applied to.

It was a blind interview and went off well. All the best to the people who are yet to be interviewed.

Just had a pretty relaxed interview with Christine Foster.

1) Walk me through your resume.
2) Short term and long term goals?
3) Backup option?
4) Why MBA, why now?
5) Why Carlson?
6) Which other schools?
7) Hobbies?
8) Any questions for me?

Whole thing took less than 30 minutes.

I received an interview invitation yesterday. Did anyone else also receive it yesterday?

ishmeet

When did you apply ?

I applied on the 2nd of December.

Got interview invite.. Will schedule on campus interview.. Good luck everyone with interview...

Thanks

Hi friends,
I have applied to Carlson at round 2 on 26th of November and received an invite yesterday. I can believe how quickly it was released(just 3 days after round 2 deadline) i see people here applied round 1 and will be interviewed in the same period with me. Seems strange but i am happy.

Bro, I applied in the 1st Nov deadline and received an interview invite last week. Has anyone else who applied in the 1st Nov deadline received an invite after 24th Nov?