Actual MBA Interview Debriefs

"Friendly interview with Adcom. Approx. 30 minutes. Blind interview. - Tell me about yourself. - Why MBA, why Simon? - Long term goals. - Tell me about a time where you experienced culture shift - Tell me about a risk you have taken and how it went. - Tell me about a time when you have traveled abroad/cross-cultural experiences. - Questions for me?"

"talked about one of my "pick 6" as a starter 1. why mba, why now 2. proudest professional achievement 3. what type of leader are you? 4. How would your collegues describe you? what do they love most about working with you? 5. what companies will you recruit into? plan B? 6. how to leverage the recruiting resources at Stern? (I twisted it into "why stern") 7. how are you going to engage with Stern community? 8. anything we haven't covered? 9. questions for the interviewer 18 minutes for the first 7 questions. 25 minutes in total. moved really fast yet conversational and chill."

"1. Tell me about Yourself 2. Why the school? 3. Other schools I’m applying to and what factors I consider when deciding? 4. Specific feedback/criticism I got at work, how I resolved and lessons learned 5. A time I led collaboration/team work 6. How I will be an authentic member of the community 7. Do I have other companies i’m considering asides the one mentioned"

"Kira assessment: I had to redo mine since I had issues the first time but it's one video and one written. 1. Video: A time you faced a major/unexpected setback that seemed impossible to solve. How did you approach and what was the outcome? 2. Video: A time I had to review a well-laid out plan due to some setbacks 3. Written: Do you agree or disagree with the statement "financial success is the sole indicator of business success"? 4. Written: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Please explain the reasoning behind your answer. “All business entities including charitable organizations should be required to pay taxes to sustain a healthy economy”"

"The interview was conversational. The interviewer asked me about my current role, goals post MBA, hobbies, interests, etc. 1. What are your goals post-MBA? 2. Why SDA Bocconi? 3. Who are you apart from your resume? 4. What are your strengths and weaknesses?"

"The interview + Q&A session was short. Total time = 30mins. Blind interview with a current 2nd year student who has only seen your resume + some notes/questions from ad com. 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. How have you prepared yourself to prepare for the academic and quantitative rigor of the MBA program? 3. Why Johnson? Why MBA? Have you reached out to current students? 4. What is your short-term and long-term goal? 5. Why consulting? 6. How have you prepared yourself for intensive recruitment for consulting? 7. Have you participated in any pre-MBA consulting programs? 8. What's your plan B if consulting doesn't work out? I'm not sure how well I did. The questions I got were very different from other interviewees."

"My interview was on 14th February with Adina Bigas. The interview was very conversational and was purely focused on what was written in my resume. 1. Who are you? 2. What did you like more in your university (between two degrees in my double major)? 3. What is your role? Difference in responsibilities in Analyst and Associate within my role (I am at Associate level - promoted from Analyst level)? 4. Your biggest achievement so far? 5. Why did you run a marathon when it is such a brutal thing to do? 6. What is one company that you think will do best (I had mentioned my work around topics of decarbonisation, renewables, electrification, etc)? 7. Which of the mega-trends (mentioned in point 6) do you think will play a major role going forward? 8. How did you secure merit-cum-need scholarship in university? 9. Why did your company select you for internship (I had interned at my firm where I converted it into full time job)? 10. Why SDA? 11. Did you give your GMAT? What was your score? There were a few other questions that I might have missed. The interview last for 45 minutes. Adina made it super comfortable for me and seemed genuinely curious about my current role (she had no idea what I do). Note that the interviewer will only have access to your resume and not your essays."

"Had my interview on 13 March with Mr. Nirav Mehta, Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions. Very conversational, he put me at ease right away. Started off with him asking me to introduce myself starting with education and moving on to my current job. Post that he asked me what I think my biggest work achievement is and to talk about it. Based on our conversation, he asked about the 3 qualities a good leader has as per me. Then we moved on to the goals that I have - both ST and LT This led to him then asking me about the need for an MBA and why I would like to pursue it at Marshall. He kept some time at the end for questions and answered all 3 questions I had patiently. At the end, he told me that the next steps - he would have a meeting with the committee next week and would be reaching out soon with their decisions! Overall a comfortable but short interview. 30-35 minutes in total."

"Entered the breakout room and greeted them both pleasantly. After basic niceties were exchanged, they went on with an introduction round. Let's start with a quick introduction. - Mentioned where I was based from - SRCC, participation in The Dramatics Society, Gold Medalist - Both jobs and one highlight from each - Trained classical dancer and writer They were quite happy with the introduction, "You gave a very good summary of your profile, we don't feel like we need to read it now" verbatim. One thing that stood out was your experience with the Ritva Foundation. Tell us more about that, one highlight, and what challenges you faced. - Explained in detail using CAR - Mentioned how I got the opportunity and our main aim distributed into two aspects. - Mentioned three challenges and how we overcame them with online campaigns, one highlight each That's very elaborate and interesting - thank you for that. What's the one lesson you took from the experience in your personal or professional life? - Mentioned how Ritva was my first team management experience - Learned how to lead a team and how to face problems - mentioned two things specifically I learned - to always have a backup with you that you can employ and to talk to your team and help them out - I currently employ these lessons as I lead content production at TTT Tell us more about TTT, about the company, and what is your role there. - Explained the two branches in detail and how I work in the ed-tech space. - Distributed my role into three parts - content strategy, production, and analysis - and described in detail. That sounds interesting - tell us more about your ed-tech platform and the type of courses you offer. - Explained 3 courses in detail and how every course has a different aim - Live courses so the duration differs You have mentioned being a feminist in your essay. Elaborate on your journey and how did you come to this realisation? If you have any role models that you follow, mention that as well. - Answered with honesty, reflecting on my journey as a feminist - Mentioned being in a small city and how my college experience pushed my journey, described my view of feminism in one line as well. - Mentioned Emma Watson and her HeforShe campaign and how it was unique since it considers male experiences as well. (Had a short conversation on this with both that there is no right or wrong answer here since everyone's experience is different and it's an evolving journey). Interviewer also pitched in and said that he really liked my unique take.) Thank you for elaborating. If we talk about immediately post-ISB, what does that look like for Pranjali? - Mentioned by short-term and long-term goals and the skills I need for that. - Mentioned three points as to what I plan to do at ISB and how ISB will help me. That's a good answer. But what is one specific thing that you currently are lacking in which you hope to gain after your one year? - Elaborated my weakness in self-confidence and doubt. - Explained the situation and my past examples - Mentioned how I am working on it currently and how ISB will help me inside and outside the classroom. Any questions for us? - Asked the two prepared questions on ELP and Dance Soc - On the ELP question, they were smiling since they apparently discussed it right before my interview. Answered quite in detail as to the number of opportunities and how you will find something for sure. - Similar answer on Dance Soc, that something or the other is always happening. - In both the answers, they said they got excited even talking about it, and answered very enthusiastically. Exchanged pleasantries and left the room. Overall, the interviewers seemed quite pleased by the end. We talked openly, and the vibe was positive."

"I was interviewed by Vijendra Tiwari, It was a very friendly and casual interaction 1.How was your week as we are almost at the end of this week? 2.Why MBA ?Why Now and Why Schulich? 3.How did you get into your current tole? 4.What is your leadership style? 5.Describe your work profile 6.What skills kept you going in such a challenging field 7.Do you want to be consider for the India or Canada Program? If Canada why Canada? 8.Do you have any questions for me""

"Interview Experience Background - Engineer with some PM and startup experience - post-MBA Goal - starting up GRE - 326 Duration - 40 minutes Started with - it is quite early in UK time. Thank you for joining so early 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Can we know about your work experience - some projects you are proud of? 3. Do you think what you do is important? 4. Tell me more about big data 5. Who uses the data you handle 6. Why do you want to be an entrepreneur 7. How has your father inspired you 8. Tell me about your experience of starting up with your friend earlier 9. How will you do things differently with your startup 10. You mentioned your mistake with trying to Startup earlier was to try and do everything yourself - now you are saying your motivation to Startup is learning about many things - how do you reconcile these points? 11. Tell us about your business idea 12. Who is the target market 13. What is your business plan? 14. Why ISB 15. Why not work under a fashion designer or take an online course 16. When will you start 17. Will you start in India or the UK? 18. What will you do if the startup does not work out? What is the plan B? 19. Will you opt out of placements 20. Does anyone report to you? Who do you work with? Are you an individual contributor? 21. Any questions for us? Overall, quite warm and friendly."

"Interview lasted about 35mins. Interview was very pleasant and I really enjoyed the conversation with the (adcom) interviewer. For context, I am looking to pivot from semiconductor manufacturing into cleantech industry. I might be missing couple of questions in the list below. 1) How did you get to know about Stanford MSx program? 2) What specifically did you like about the MSx program? 3) Why is this the right time for you to pursue Stanford MSx program? 4) Why do you want to give up your well-established career/job and pursue a new path? 5) Are you open to working in larger organizations post MSx? (My short-term goal is to work in a cleantech startup) 6) Where do you plan to work geographically post MSx? Do you have a geography preference post MSx? 7) Tell me some of the challenges in your industry/company? 8) Describe your org structure and how you and your role fits in the org? 9) How many people do you have reporting to you? Are they all direct reports or do you have people managers reporting to you? 10) Tell me about your experience with a challenging situation? 11) How would you show up to a group study? 12) How do you plan to contribute to the MSx community? 13) How would you introduce yourself in 30 seconds to your future class? 14) Do you have any doubts or concerns about the MSx program?"

"Walk me through your resume Your day-to-day at your current work Challenges at work Strengths and weaknesses Why now and why GW Highlight in your resume"

"Walk me though your resume Speficic companies for post-MBA Why MBA and why now Specific clubs Specific classes Why Gabelli Extra curricular activities to contribute in a supportive community Any other questions"

"- Walk me through your resume - Why MBA - Why this program - TMAT you didn’t work well and how did you tackle it - TMAT when you need to decide without enough information - TMAT you had to deal with conflicts - Societal impacts you made"

"Interview Debrief I had my interview with Kate Piasecki. Overall pretty chill and straightforward. A lot of focus on why I chose what I did in my professional life. Also, plenty of questions were around Goizueta. Know about the courses and electives you wish to take. No tell me about yourself Why did you do Civil engineering? Why did you go to analytics from Civil engineering? About the company and my role in all organizations I was a part of. Why business? Tell me about your business? How did you come to know about Goizueta? What events of Goizueta did you attend? Short term goals? Long term goals? What are your values in a team? What values would you want from your team? Why MBA? What electives do you plan to take to reach your goals? Anything you would like to add? Any questions for me?"

"Honestly, I had such a wonderful interview experience-- I'd argue that was the best interview experience I've had, and I interviewed with 5 other schools. It was such a warm conversation and he asked follow-up questions about topics I wasn't expecting him to (like he asked me how my mom is doing after I told him a story about my family). I have a consulting background and he as previously a partner for a competitor consulting firm so when he asked about my work experience, he was pretty targeted with the follow up questions. For example, he asked something specific about the workstreams that I managed that I knew he could only ask because he understands how case teams are set up. I wouldn't say the follow up questions are hard; it's just stuff you would know how to answer if what you're saying is true. For the follow up questions we had an in-depth conversation about some formative life experiences he had at GSB, so he seemed super willing to open up about himself as well. Here are the questions I can remember him asking me: What is your proudest accomplishment? (this is where I spoke about my family) Tell me about a time when you developed someone or a team. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond. Tell me about an obstacle in your professional life and how you overcame it. Tell me about a time when you were effective. Why do you want to go to Stanford? Tell me about a time you developed a business insight and how it changed the course of your project."

"Interview with a member of the admissions team, in San Francisco. General why MBA why now questions. Asked me more of why Oxford stands out and how it aligns with my goals. 1. When you meet someone for the first time, what could leave a bad impression with you? 2. What do you like about the culture at your current job? 3. What kinds of people do you think there are in the world? They had some more out there questions that made me think, and it was overall a super fun conversation. It did last about 50 minutes but time honestly flew by."

"I was interviewed by an adcom member and a second year student. Interview went on for about 40 mins including the three questions I asked. It was conversational although they were peppering me with questions. 1. Started with an intro. They asked to not mention my work experience details as they had already gone through my resume and essays 2. Why Scheller? Why now? 3. You will be added to a team right away. How would you contribute to the group assignments and projects? 4. Talk about a time when you gave a presentation. Provide some context and how it went. 5. Getting visa sponsorship is tough. What would you do to position yourself to secure a sponsorship from your company. 6. How would your colleagues/peers describe you? 7. What do you look for in a teammate? 8. How would you contribute to the class and to the community? 9. Any question you wish you were asked? 10. I was given time to ask questions which they responded to very warmly."

"It was a very positive experience overall. At the outset of my interview, I encountered difficulties joining the Google Meet session and later faced persistent internet connectivity issues, unfortunately. However, my interviewer demonstrated great understanding throughout. We managed to proceed partially with the interview despite the challenges, but she eventually had to conclude due to a prior commitment. She kindly suggested rescheduling to delve deeper into our discussion. Her friendly demeanor and reassurance that such hiccups are common made me feel at ease. Subsequently, we reconvened, seamlessly picking up where we had left off, and successfully concluded the interview. Here are the questions that were posed during the interview: - Introduction - Long-term and Short-term Goals? - Why Haas / Why MBA / Why now? - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Experience? - Tell me about a time when you had a heated argument/discussion and were proven wrong. How did you react? What actions did you take? How did you feel? - Tell me about a time when you influenced someone to collaborate on a project outside of their scope. - Describe a moment when you took a risk in your professional career. - Any Questions for me? Towards the end of the conversation, after she answered my questions, she inquired about the other schools to which I had applied. I provided an honest response that I have applied to 5 schools including Haas and named them. I also emphasized the rationale behind my choices and highlighted that they were not arbitrary selections or solely based on prestige. Additionally, she asked if I had received interviews from any of the other four schools. I openly shared that I had interviewed at one additional institution, specifying its name, and mentioned that I am currently awaiting responses from the other schools. Although this conversation occurred more informally towards the end, it may have been part of the interview process."