Welcome to February’s first installment of Wiki Wednesdays, in which we feature the latest additions to the Clear Admit Wiki, an online repository where MBA applicants can share their admissions interview experiences. Round 2 interviews are well under way now and over the past week we’ve received interview reports from schools including INSEAD, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU / Stern, USC / Marshall, and UT Austin / McCombs. Recently, a candidate for Duke / Fuqua shared this account of a Round 1 interview with an alum:
“I interviewed in the beginning of January at a local coffee shop with an alum who had done quite a few business-school interviews for Duke. The conversation lasted an hour, was conversational but on-point with little chit-chat in between. The questions were standard and straight-forward, a mix between behavioral and personal; no trick questions or curveballs (such as: define success). The most important question for my interviewer was why Duke, specifically, as opposed to any other top school. I had read earlier that if you can answer this question successfully, it increases greatly your chances of getting in, b/c Duke is usually seen as a backup school to other top-tier schools despite being top ten in rankings. (Hence their early admission program.)
Questions were:
- Walk me through your resume.
- Why MBA? / Why Duke? Why Duke as opposed to the other schools you applied to?
- What are your career goals and how will Duke get you there?
- What can you contribute to Duke?
- Strengths and weaknesses (3 strengths, 2 weaknesses)
- What would your colleagues say about you?
- Think about your favourite boss. What are some of the qualities you liked about him/her?
- Tell me about a time where you worked in a team but someone wasn’t pulling their weight.
- Tell me about a time where there was conflict in a team.
My interviewer mentioned that learning how to work in a team was the most important skill he’d learned at Duke. I’d suggest framing your responses about teamwork and emphasizing those skills, if applicable to you.”
Thank you to everyone who has sent in their interview reports! If you’re interested in sharing your experience, we’ll be awarding a $10 Amazon gift certificate to applicants that submit interview reports for UVA / Darden, Dartmouth / Tuck or IESE through next Tuesday, February 8th! All you have to do is send us your interview field report for the selected schools for inclusion in the Wiki and we’ll send you a $10 Amazon gift certificate. You must send your interview report to wiki@clearadmit.com to be eligible; we’ll post it to the Wiki and notify the winners by e-mail (Limit: one gift card per person).
The most helpful and informative reports usually include the following information:
- Date/Admissions Round
- Description of visit and/or interview atmosphere
- Type of interview (alum vs. adcom, blind vs. application-based)
- List of nterview questions
- Commentary (What did you think of the interview? What surprised you? What didn’t surprise you? What might you conclude about the school based on this experience?)
Applicants who would like to supplement the information available on the Wiki can check out our Clear Admit Interview Guides, which provide school-specific insight about admissions interviews. Best of luck to all Round 2 interviewees!
Read the full article: Wiki Wednesdays: Submit an MBA Interview Report from UVA / Darden, Dartmouth / Tuck, or IESE and Win a $10 Amazon Gift Card!