Interview Questions Bank (Class of 2012, Starting Fall 2010)
CHICAGO BOOTH
(Alumni)
Pls. introduce yourself
Why Chicago
Biggest achievement
Area to improve
Why I chose my major
Why does Chicago have to choose you from other applicants
Questions
(Alumni)
Tell me about yourself.
Why this is the best timing to go Booth?
Why your goals both in terms of experience and personal philosophy?
What is your leadership style?
What was your hardest decision?
Describe an ethical dilemma.
What will you contribute to Booth?
What other b-schools are you applying to?
Tell me about a failure.
Describe a teamwork experience when you were not a leader.
What is your study plan?
Do you understand the criticisms against B-schools?
Other questions for the interviewer?
CMU TEPPER
(Admissions)
1. Introduce yourself
2. What will you do after MBA
3. Why Tepper?
4. What is your short term goal and long term goal?
5. What is your teamwork experience and contribution?
6. Hobbies?
7. Any questions?
(Admissions)
1. I see you have many experiences in many fields. Tell me about yourself after high school.
2. Why now?
3. Your goals?
4. Why Tepper?
5. How do you work in a team, when you lead a team?
6. I’m interested in a particular story of yours. Tell me about it.
7. Questions?
8. Do you think you have any weak points in your application?
9. Anything else?
(Admissions)
Tell me about yourself.
Why MBA
Why Tepper School
What is the biggest accomplishment
What is your short-term and long-term goals
Why you chose IT as your career
What is your hobby
How can you contribute to the class and school
Any questions?
(Admissions – R2)
Based on Resume
Please tell me your background.
Why MBA?
Short-term and Long-term goals
Why Tepper?
Leadership experience
Teamwork experience
What is the most important achievement
What is your hobby, what do you do on weekends?
Any questions?
COLUMBIA
Columbia Interview #1 J-term (Starting 2010)
Describe your current job.
Tell me about a time when you faced an ethical dilemma. What did you learn from the experience?
Tell me how you behave working in a team? How many people do you usually work with?
Why did you decide to do an MBA?
What will you be doing in 5 years/10 years?
Tell me about your leadership experience.
How will you contribute to other students at CBS?
How does your college major relate to your current job?
Why Columbia?
NY is very special place. How do you feel about living in NY?
Columbia E.D. Interview #2
Introduce your background
Why MBA? Why Columbia?
(Then she jumped to ask me if I have any questions for her, I prepared 4-5 questions regarding how CBS helped her achieve her career goals, her study at CBS, etc.)
If I met any challenge at work?
Why I chose my current company?
How’s my leading and teamwork style?
Since I had only a few years work experience, she asked me why now?
(Alumni)
Please introduce yourself.
What did you do at your previous job?
What do you do now? How is it different from your previous job?
What do you want to be doing in 5 years? 10 years?
What type of position/role do you want?
Please describe an ethical issue you witnessed/were a part of at your work.
Tell me something you think your colleagues found surprising about you — something he did not expect from you when he saw you on paper during the hiring process.
Questions for the interviewer
CORNELL
(Alumni)
1. Tell me about yourself starting from childhood.
2. Tell about your career progression and about your work in the IT industry and your current project.
3. What was your thought process during your leadership accomplishment.
4. What other schools have you applied to?
5. Why Cornell?
6. How will you market yourself in Cornell? What image do you want to project among your classmates?
7. Tell me about a time you failed.
8. Questions from me.
DUKE FUQUA
1. Walk me through your resume.
2. What is your short term goal?
3. What is your long term goal?
4. When you make a team, what approach do you take?
5. When you take leadership, how do you motivate members?
6. Please tell me your achievement in which you learned some important lessons.
7. You said it’s important to communicate with others a lot. How do you ensure good communication?
8. Please tell me your teamwork experience of outside activities.
9. How do your friends describe you?
10. Please tell me your philosophy (personal motto).
11. Why Fuqua?
12. Why now? Is it OK to leave your work?
13. Do you have any questions? (three times)
(Alumni – R2)
Please introduce yourself.
Why MBA?
Why Fuqua?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What kind of non-work activity do you engage in? What do you do on holidays?
Any Questions?
(Alumni – R2)
Please explain your career progression, and what brought you here today (why Fuqua).
What was your most challenging leadership experience?
What will you bring to the Fuqua community?
How would you lead an inexperienced team member, maybe someone with only 2-years of experience?
How would you manage a situation where your team members happen to include someone who just
wants to party, another one who just cares about his grades, and a third one who is too
busy with job searching to contribute to team projects?
Please let me know about a team experience that was particularly successful.
Anything else that I should be asking you?
Any questions for me?
GEORGETOWN MCDONOUGH
(Admissions – R1)
What kind of activities do you do in your free time?
Why did you start thinking about going to an MBA?
How do you lead a team when you are in a leader position?
How do you work for the team not as leader, especially when the team is in a difficult situation?
Any questions?
(Current Student – R2)
My background.
What do I do in free time?
What made me apply to McDonough?
How would my friends describe me?
How do I manage situations when each member has different opinions?
What are my goals?
Questions?
(Current Student – R3)
Please let me know about your background.
Why Georgetown?
What is your short-term, and long-term goal?
What is your weakness in your application?
Any questions for me?
Anything else that I should be asking you?
How would your subordinate and supervisor describe you?
What other schools are you applying to if you don’t mind sharing with me? Will you come to Georgetown if accepted?
(Admissions – R3)
Walk me through your resume.
Why your major?
Why did you join your company?
Why MBA and short-term and long-term goals?
Difficult situation you faced at work
Leadership experience
Why McDonough
What is the most important program for you at McDonough?
Any questions?
HBS
(Admissions)
How is your work?
Why did you leave your former job?
Is there any specific reason that you chose XXX company and not another company?
Tell me your post MBA career plan.
Except for your failure essay, please describe your failure experience.
What do people misperceive about you?
Among nationally famous people, who do you admire most and why?
Have you ever lived abroad?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
How do people in your company see you?
What country did you like best so far? What country would you want to visit if you had vacation tomorrow？
INSEAD (Starting January 2010)
Insead Interview #1/2 (ACCEPTED)
Briefly introduce yourself.
Describe your working environment, who are you working with, who are
you reporting to, how many people in your division and what is your
basic role.
Tell me about your leadership experience inside or outside of work.
Why MBA & Why INSEAD.
You already know accounting, finance, group dynamics.What areas do you want to study more?
Tell me about your role on your sports team.
What aspects of leadership are required to handle different opinions?
–
He asked a lot of counter-questions about leadership and sports
stories, mentioning his own analysis on my story, so we discussed more
deeply on each topic than our usual practice.
He also mentioned group dynamics from my undergraduate study, and cast questions about how I analysed these situations
in terms of group dynamics. The whole interview was really
conversational style.
Insead Interview #2/2
It was really conversational style, so it is difficult to list up all
the questions. But topics are mainly about typical things, like my
career progress, future goals, why MBA, why INSEAD.
In the end, he asked how I will survive the diversified environment at
INSEAD, saying that diversity sometimes decreases the productivity.
KELLOGG
(Alumni – R1)
Please go through your resume.
Why MBA? Why Kellogg?
Questions about career change and differences between two positions.
Please define leadership, in each component you described please tell me the your strength and weakness.
Why do you think you would fit in Kellogg’s culture?
Any questions?
(Alumni – R1)
Please read through your resume. (He asked follow up questions)
Your teamwork experience.
What kinds of conflict you faced and what solutions you provided?
Why MBA?
What kinds of activities at Kellogg?
What is your edge in business competitions?
Why did you join XXX organization?
What will you contribute to Kellogg?
Questions?
(Alumni – R2)
1. Briefly describe your career to date in 2-3 minutes.
2. Why did you choose your former/current job?
3. What is your goal?
4. Why MBA?
5. Describe your leadership style.
6. Describe a time you made a tough decision.
7. How do you spend your time in the weekend?
8. What do you want to do in extracurricular activities?
9. Why Kellogg?
10. Anything you want to add?
(Alumni – R2)
Tell me about yourself.
Why Kellogg?
What programs are you interested in?
What do you usually do other than business?
What are your future career goals?
(Several follow up questions about goals)
How will you contribute to others at Kellogg?
Explain your difficult leadership experiences.
Explain your teamwork experience.
(Alumni – R2, off-campus)
Tell me about yourself.
What are your future career goals?
Why Kellogg?
What kinds of activities will you participate in at Kellogg?
How will you contribute to others at Kellogg?
Explain your teamwork experience.
Questions?
(Admissions – R2, on-campus)
Interview was based on my resume.
How did you enter your company?
What did you do for the first 3 years?
Did you apply to move to your next division? What did you do as a manager there?
Among your accomplishments throughout my career, what is the most significant one?
Was it a transfer or promotion to your current position?
What affects your decision to apply to an MBA?
Why Kellogg?
What do you do for leisure?
LBS
(Alumni – R2)
Why LBS? Will you really come if you were admitted?
Previous team work experiences.
What is the business model of my firm and how does it make money?
Failure experience?
Why b-school now?
What do you want to do after graduation?
(Alumni – R2)
Briefly introduce yourself (several questions about my job and company followed).
Why LBS?
What will you do in extracurricular activities?
Leadership experience?
International experience?
Most important accomplishment?
Which schools did you apply to and why?
Leadership experience in extracurricular activities?
ROCHESTER SIMON
1. Tell me about your background.
2. Why MBA?
3. Short-term and long-term goals.
4. Most difficult work experience and what did you learn in that situation.
5. International experience.
6. Why Simon?
7. What is your specific interest in Simon?
TUCK
(Current Student)
1. Please introduce yourself, briefly going over your resume.
2. Please let me know in detail about your current position.
3. What is your role on a team, and please provide 2 or 3 points your teammates would mention about you.
4. What are your career goals?
5. Why Tuck?
6. How would you contribute to Tuck?
7. Any questions for me?
(Alumni R2 – off campus)
Please walk me through your resume. Very brief. He interrupted me a lot to ask questions.
Career goals after MBA?/Why MBA?
Why Tuck?
My answers were clear and genuine. This part lasted 30 minutes. Then we had a very long conversation on the program and life in Hanover. The guy really loved his school. His eyes shone when he was speaking about his experience out there. He made a very strong impression. He was interested in 1) checking if I would be a good fit (Tuck has a very specific culture) 2) I would really go if accepted.
Advice: know the school/be clear why Tuck is a natural pick for you. Don’t be arrogant and do not appear like a young “metro sexual”/party guy. He told me that if I had told him that I was interested in having beers and going to the movies with friends every night, he would have told me to go to Columbia and not Tuck.
So I guess that for Tuck, it is really about knowing the school and displaying a genuine interest in the program and location. I would really recommend visiting the school before the interview if possible, but do the interview only after being invited because the interviewer knows you are good and will treat you like a potential student/alumnus and not like a “lambda” applicant.
UC BERKELEY/HAAS
(On-campus, current student)
Please let me know your background.
What is your short term goal?
Why MBA?
Why Haas?
Why now?
Please let me know your leadership experience.
Do you work autonomously or in a team? Have subordinates?
How will you contribute to the community?
Any questions for me?
UCLA ANDERSON
(Alumni)
Brief explanation of my background, starting from university experience
What is difficult in your current job?
Why MBA? Why Anderson?
How do you define your style of cooperation with others?
What are my free-time hobbies or activities?
Any questions about Anderson and/or the interviewer
(Alumni – R2)
Tell me about yourself.
Why UCLA?
Do you know if the stock market is up or down today?
Do you own any stock?
What would you do if you didn’t get accepted?
Is UCLA your first choice?
What do you want to do immediately after graduation?
Is there anything else you want me to let admissions know about?
(Alumni – R2)
Introduce yourself
Goals?
Why MBA?
Why Anderson?
Leadership examples?
Contribution to the community?
Questions?
USC MARSHALL
Small talk.
What aspects of Marshall are most attractive for you?
What are your future goals?
Why do you plan to leave your company now?
What do you do as your outside activities?
What can you contribute to your future students?
Questions?
UT AUSTIN MCCOMBS
(Alumni R2 – off campus)
1. Why are you applying now? How is an MBA linked to your future goal?
2. Why McCombs? How will McCombs contribute to your goal?
3. What do you want to do at McCombs outside the curriculum?
4. What will you contribute during and after the MBA?
5. Please describe your specific leadership experience.
WHARTON
(Alumni)
Please tell me your career background.
Short term/Long term goal.
Why MBA, Why Wharton.
Describe your leadership experience.
Questions about career change and difference between two positions.
Any questions?
(Admissions)
1. Please explain your background and most challenging experiences.
2. Your teamwork experience. Wharton values teamwork.
3. Why you have XXX goal?
4. What commitment will you make to Wharton during and after your MBA?
5. How did you overcome XXX weakness?
6. If you have any question and specific details, do not hesitate to send me an e-mail.
(Alumni)
Please introduce yourself.
Why MBA?
Questions about my company.
Anything else?
My Questions.
He was very nice, insightful and intelligent, so his questions about my company were really difficult to answer well.
(Admissions)
1. Why did you change your career?
2. How difficult was the transition?
3. What do you do at your current company?
4. I imagine XX was really difficult. How did you accomplish XX?
5. What is your leadership style?
6. Do you have another example of your creativity?
7. Why MBA? Why now?
8. Why Wharton?
9. How about outside activities at Wharton?
10. After MBA, will you go back to your current company? Or do you want to do any other job?
11. Any questions?
12. Do you have anything to add?
(R2 – Admissions)
Please walk me through your resume.
Describe a disagreement w/ your superior.
What was the biggest risk you’ve taken either personal or professional.
Describe a significant learning experience.
How would you contribute to your learning team?
What is your long term goal and how would Wharton help you?
How would you contribute to the Wharton community in extracurricular activities?
Any questions for me?
YALE
1) Why did you choose your undergrad school?
2) Why your major?
3) Tell me about an interesting event you led as an undergraduate.
4) Where did your motivation to do well in both studies and extra-curriculars come from?
5) Why did you choose your current company?
6) What are the challenges you face while leading a group of peers?
7) Any questions for me?
