Tepper (CMU)

"The interview was online with an ad-com, not blind (ad-com would have already read your essays and resume). It was very short: 25 mins an official interview + 5 mins for Q&A. Interview was with Amy Lasota and it feels conversational. 1. Tell me about your yourself. 2. What does DEI mean to you? How do you contribute? 3. How do you resolve conflict with a co-worker? 4. Tell me a time you fail. 5. Why Tepper? 6. Why MBA now? 7. What is your post MBA goals?"

"Had my interview with Tony Gomez on Thursday. Basic behavioral + elevator pitch, why MBA, why tepper + TMAT you got feedback, helped others (personally + professional), what does DEI mean to you. He had gone through my essays, letters, and application, so its not blind this year. Super positive experience, we were done in 25 mins, laughing and discussing what I could be doing at Tepper. He’s given me his email too"

"My interview was with Gina. She already reviewed my whole application (resume, essays & video), it was very conversational and very friendly. I was asked the usual questions -tell me about yourself -why an MBA? -why Tepper? -Is there anything you’d like to add that you haven’t shared so far?" However the behavioral questions were very tailored to my work experience " tell me about your management style" " tell me about the time when you had to take a step back in a project and what you learned from that?" "tell me about the time when you didn't accomplish the desired result and ask for help?" 30 minutes interview, and 10 min to follow-up questions. Best of luck."

"It was a very conversational interview with someone who knew very well the career I wanted to transition to. They had consulted my whole application. They had a list of questions and took notes to report everything to Adcom. It was somewhere along those lines: - 1 min summary about myself - Why an MBA? And why Tepper? - What did I do to prepare for this new career? - Something about a difficult leadership situation - What do diversity and equality look like to me, and what did I do to use that in my professional and personal life? - Any questions left?"

"Had an interview with Amy Lasota. It was conversational. Following topics were discussed: 1. Elevator pitch 2. Why MBA? 3. Leadership story 4. A quality which all members of a team must have. 5. Knowledge gap 6. Promoted DEI (other than application stories) 7. TMAT when you used a knowledge acquired somewhere (hobby, friends, books, etc) in your professional life. Overall it was a good experience."

"It was a very conversational interview and the Adcom member was aware of my application in entirety (Essays, Work Exp and Goals) Focus was majorly on some pointed focus areas which I had emphasized on in my essays. Some pointed questions on why MBA? why Tepper? what is leadership style and how do you plan to bring your experience and help the overall Tepper community? As I had mentioned experience around volunteering in DE&I teams at workplaces, I was also asked what I felt about DE&I and how I would bring those values to the Tepper community."

""Had an interview with an adcom member. It was a ~30 min interview. It was not a blind interview, he had gone through my application and it was very conversational. 1) First he shared his background & prof exp. and then asked me the TMAY question . 2) Why MBA? 3) Why Tepper? 4) What are your post MBA goals? 5) What does diversity and inclusivity mean to you, why is this important for an MBA program and how did these values guide you through your professional and personal life? 6) TMA your leadership style and how do you intend to improve it? 7) Is there anything you’d like to add that you haven’t shared today or in your application? 8) Do you have any questions for me? 20 min interview & 8-10 min follow-up question" He spent a lot of time on the diversity topic throughout."

"Had an interview with Megan Grady. It was a ~40 min interview. It was not a blind interview, and she had gone through my essay & video and it was conversational . 1) TMAY - and then she shared her background & prof exp. 2) Why MBA? What is your criteria in selecting a business school?. 3) What are your post MBA goals? 4) What does diversity and inclusivity mean to you and how did these values guide you through your professional and personal life? 5) TMAT when you failed & what you learnt from that. 6) TMAT you used strength to help a team or teammate succeed. 7) Is there anything you’d like to add that you haven’t shared today or in your application? 8) Do you have any questions for me? 25 min interview & 15 min follow-up question"

"Give me a one minute introduction to who you are. Why am mba? Why now? What is your criteria in selecting a business school? What are your post mba goals? Give an example when you accomplished something to bring better results to your team. What’s your definition of diversity? Give an example when things didn’t go according to plan as a leader? What would you have done differently? Is there anything you’d like to add that you haven’t shared today or in your application? Do you have any questions for me? It only lasted 20 minutes."

"Had an interview with Allison hill. It was a 50 min interview. It was not a blind interview, and she had gone through my essay & video. It was conversational, she was patient and told me in advance to ask anything i may want to know during the interview too. 1) TMAY - and then she shared her background & prof exp. 2) Why MBA & Why Tepper - in any order. 3) How you plan to learn from your peers. 4) TMAT when you lead an initiative & failed & what you learnt from that. 5) TMAT you used strength to help a team or teammate succeed. 40 min interview & 10 min follow-up question..."

""The interview was conversational and with a member of the admissions team (Tony Gomez). It lasted ~30 mins. 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Please clarify your long term goal. 3. What factors did you consider when applying to Tepper? 4. Tell me about a time you used a strength to help your team succeed. 5. How do you plan to learn from and contribute to your diverse peer group? 6. Anything else you would like to tell me? There were a few minutes for any questions I had to ask him.""

"Had a 25 minute interview with Paige Davies. She reassured me that it’s fine if we don’t use the fully allocated 45 mins. Felt very conversational, she was patient with my occasional stutter and asked good follow up questions. 1. Tell me about yourself. Brief 1 minute elevator pitch. 2. Why MBA? 3. How will Tepper help achieve your goals? 4. Describe day to day activities at work. 5. What qualities do you look for in an MBA program? 6. What is your leadership style? 7. How do you expect to connect with the diverse class of Tepper? 8. TMAT you used your strengths to help out a team. 9. TMAT you had to convince a coworker to do something. 10. What do you do for fun? 11. Questions for her."

"TEPPER interview debrief: Profile: Indian IT male, GMAt 710, 5 yrs work exp Had my interview with an AO. It wasn’t a blind interview. Overall Conversational and was a good experience. 0. Brief intro 1. Why TEPPER ? 2. Why MBA? 3. Tell me about a time you convinced your senior leaders on something? 4.Tell me about a time you strives for an inclusive environment and how will you contribute to DI club at TEPPER ? 5. Tell me about a time you helped a member in your team? 6. What companies are you targeting post MBA ? Questions to adcomm. Whole interview lasted for 40-45mins."

"The interview was conversational and with a member of the admissions team (Tony Gomez). It lasted ~35 mins. 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Please clarify your long term goal. 3. What factors did you consider when applying to Tepper? 4. What makes a team successful? 5. What are your motivators at work? 6. Tell me about a time you used a strength to help your team succeed. 7. How do you plan to learn from and contribute to your diverse peer group? 8. Anything else you would like to tell me? There were a few minutes for any questions I had to ask him."

"Interview - JR McGRath, Ad Com Duration - 45 min Behaviour - friendly, had a nice conversation 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Why MBA 3. Follow up on Q2. You talked about connecting with diverse set of people, can you tell me a story you heard from a person. 4. Follow up on Q1 and Q2. You say you want to work on impactful products. Tell me about a product that has impacted your life and if there is anything you want to change in the product. Or you can talk about a new product idea if you have any. - I talked about google maps 5. TMAT you had to compromise on work. How did you convince your shareholders during that time 6. TMAT you used your skills to help someone in the team and ultimately helping the team in the process 7. Anything else you want to share 8. Any questions for me - In this conversation I brought up 1-2 points I researched about Tepper because I was not asked the "why Tepper" question and I wanted to show that I did my research"

"My interview was a ~45-minute zoom call with an adcom member. The interviewer was ready at sharp 11 AM ET for the call. She had my resume AND my scores and essays. It wasn't a blind interview as I'd expected. Questions included: 1. Tell me about yourself. (She then introduced herself as well) 2. Why MBA? Why Tepper? 3. TMAT when you had conflicts at the workplace. 4. What does inclusivity mean to you? 5. What do you expect from the community at Tepper? 6. What challenges do you expect to face from the MBA program? 7. How would you contribute to discussions in Tepper's diverse classrooms? 8. What's a piece of advice you received during your professional career? This went on for 30 minutes and I had 15 minutes to ask her any questions I had."

"My interview was ok overall. Was asked a question on inclusive environment and also about my skills as a team leader and a team player. Many "Tell Me about a time" questions. Short term career goals. Tell me about yourself. The lady said everyone will get to know their decision on 7th December"

"Interviewed with Paige Davies (25 minutes) 1. Tell me about your current role 2. Short term Goal 3. Long term goal 4. Why Tepper 5. What do you do for fun? 6. Tell me about a time where you lead a team & faced failure 7. Tell me about a time you had difference of opinion with your manager Given 5 minutes at the end to ask questions."

"I was interviewed by Gina, Associate Director of Admission. It was a blind interview which lasted exactly 30 minutes. Mostly behavorial questions so do prepare yourself with as many stories as you can. 1. Explain my 6-month job gaps. 2. Because I took up many different roles so she asked me what specific role I would do after MBA (I mentioned both ST/LT goals) 3. Backup plan if short term goals doesn’t work? 4. Tell me a time when you had to compromise on a project. 5. Tell me a time when you led a project and faced a challenge/difficulty as a team. 6. Tell me a time when you had to convince your team to follow your decision. 7. Tell me a time when you reached out to learn a new culture or met somebody from a different culture. 8. Questions."

"I interviewed with Kari Calvario, it lasted about 30 minutes. She had some technical problems so we started about 10 minutes late but she still gave me 30 minutes. It was a pretty casual conversation, we started with a little chat about the weather and she gave a brief overview of the process. The questions were definitely tailored to my work experience/background. Questions: - In your own words describe your current job - Career goals - why an MBA, what are your post MBA goals - Plan B career goal - Why Tepper? - What lead you to your current job - TMAT when you bridged a knowledge gap at work - TMAT when someone came to you for help due to your expertise/knowledge? - TMAT you had to compromise on a project - Do you have any questions for me?"