MBA Interviews: Tricky Questions Asked By Top Business Schools - Poets&Quants

It’s only an interview. You’ve done plenty before – and they worked out fine. This won’t be any different. Just be yourself.

That’s what you tell yourself. Deep inside, you carry a little doubt. Everyone does. Over-and-over, you’ve honed those anecdotes that illustrate your biggest selling points. Still, there is an element of unknown in any MBA interview. Sure, you’ve studied and assembled an imposing game plan. Still, there are always curveballs – those questions that knock you off script and expose your shortcomings. They may not cost you a spot, but they can give your interviewer second thoughts.

A SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL LOOK AT THE QUESTIONS TO EXPECT

Every MBA applicant braces for the big three questions: Why an MBA, why here, and why now. Beyond achievements, career goals and strengths and weaknesses, schools are asking increasingly inventive questions to differentiate candidates. They are digging deeper to understand what they value and how they’ll act as much as what they know and where they’re going. These days, every seat is coveted – and every voice is measured. That’s why the questions behind every question are these: How well do you fit…and how much can you contribute?

Looking to gain an edge? Sometimes, it helps to know the questions ahead of time. In recent years, community sites such as GMATClub, BeatTheGMAT, and Clear Admit have helped to do just that. Dangling a $10 Amazon card as an incentive, Clear Admit asks MBA candidates to share information about their interview experience – including interview questions. Not surprisingly, each school offers its own cultural twist to the information gathered by adcoms, alumni, and students.

Wondering what should expect during your admissions interview? Here are the questions that defy the usual standards at the leading MBA programs.

Harvard Business School

Why did you go into X industry? Did you have a long-term plan for your career?

Knowing what you know from your current job, how would you do your first job differently?

If you had 6 months to do two very different things, what would you do?

What is one decision the leadership team at your current company should make?

What’s your 10-year vision for your career?

Tell me about this important extracurricular activity. What have you learned from it? How difficult is it to

balance with work? How has it impacted you? Will you stay involved if you attended business school?

Resume Follow Up: How was this initiative profitable? How much support/instruction did you have on this project?

Did you attend a class?

Did you have any internships while completing your undergraduate degree? Tell me about them.

What do you find most challenging about your current role?

Why did you get a dog?

For addition questions, click here

Stanford GSB

Experience in leading teams and working in groups.

International experience.

Time when I led a team in a difficult/challenging situation.

How would you handle a conflict amongst a team of MBA students?

Which defining principle do you most embody?

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

For addition questions, click here

Northwestern (Kellogg)

What’s your philosophy on team work? What experience made you understand the importance of teamwork?

What do you do outside of work?

What is your leadership style?

Tell me about a time you were in a challenging situation.

What’s your biggest challenge as a leader?

What qualities would you bring to Kellogg to help the community?

Who inspires you?

Give me an example of you taking initiative and leading something. How did it go?

What was the last book you read?

Tell me about a time that you’ve had to deliver bad news or feedback to someone.

Tell me about a time when you’ve had bad news or feedback given to you.

For addition questions, click here

Go to next page to see question lists at the University of Chicago (Booth), MIT (Sloan), U.C.-Berkeley (Haas), Dartmouth (Tuck), Columbia Business School, and Michigan (Ross).

University of Chicago (Booth)

Why Booth, and what special is about it, compared to other schools?

What is your international experience?

Do you have any special course in mind?

What was a time when you failed, and what did you learn from it?

Tell me about a time you received surprising feedback.

Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn, and what would you do differently now?

What motivates you?

Tell me about a time when you received negative feedback.

Tell me about a time when you’ve had to deliver bad news or feedback to a team.

How have you handled situations that you weren’t prepared for in the past?

Tell me about a time you managed ambiguity.

For addition questions, click here

MIT (Sloan)

Is there anything new to your application since you applied?

Tell me about a time you were given feedback. How did you react?

Tell me about a time you had communication difficulty (not language based) with someone.

Tell me about a time when you dealt with conflict.

Tell me about a time you had to deal with uncertainty.

Time when you had to motivate a lagging team.

What do you define as success?

Tell me about a time you influenced someone?

Tell me about a time you motivated a team?

For addition questions, click here

U.C.-Berkeley (Haas)

Why did you choose these positions?

Tell me about a challenging situation and how you dealt with it.

What would I do in a hypothetical situation in which team is not performing well?

What kind of people annoy me the most and why.

For addition questions, click here

Columbia Business School

What is your backup plan if you do not get in to Columbia?

What will you get involved in if you get accepted?

You have led a large team. Tell me what do you enjoy the most about leading a team?

We have a very collaborative community at CBS. You will be working largely in teams. What role do you tend to take on when working in a team?

What is your dream job in long term?

What drives you?

What leadership roles would I take outside classroom?

For addition questions, click here

Dartmouth (Tuck)

Tell me about a time you had to deliver hard news to someone.

How will Tuck help you achieve your goals?

What did you learn about Tuck today?

What is plan B?

What role do you generally play in a team? What are the characteristics that you exhibit in a team and what are the techniques you use to bring the team together?

What was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?

Tell me about a time where you solved a problem at work.

Tell me about a time you had a solve a complex problem at work. Walk me through how you tackled the problem.

You’ll be in a very diverse group, and work against tight deadlines. It’s the night before a deadline, and you’re all in a room together. How do you work within the group?

Tell me about a time you had to work with people across various departments/disciplines.

For addition questions, click here

University of Michigan (Ross)

Tell me about a time you led a team

Tell me about a difficult teammate and how you handled that situation?

Tell me about a time you had to deal with ambiguity.

What is the most diverse or multicultural environment you’ve immersed in and how did you adapt? (Follow-up question – How did you deal with the cultural difference?)

Describe a time when you worked with a diverse team toward a common goal.

Describe a time when you needed to mentor others.

Talk about a mistake/failure you made or experienced.

For addition questions, click here

Go to next page to see question lists at Yale SOM, Duke (Fuqua), University of Virginia (Darden), NYU (Stern), Cornell (Johnson), and UCLA (Anderson)

Yale SOM

What do you think your biggest contribution to SOM will be?

What can you contribute to the class?

What would you want to get involved in on-campus?

Tell me about a time you failed at work.

Tell us about a time when you had to maintain your calm. Describe the situation and how you handled it?

Globalization can be effective only when companies do not have to worry about health, environment, and employees”. Agree or Disagree?

Tell me something you did well or are proud of.

For addition questions, click here

Duke (Fuqua)

Tell me about a time when you got out of your comfort zone.

How do you seek feedback and how have you worked on it so far?

Under the consideration of team Fuqua, what do you think what makes a team work efficiently?

My definition of leadership.

Time I had to convince someone of something.

What Team Fuqua means to me?

Who is your role model and why?

Tell me about a time when you had a teammate, who was very quiet and feeling low in the team.

How did you handle the situation?

For addition questions, click here

University of Virginia (Darden)

How did you get interested in business to know that’s what you wanted to go into?

Tell me about a situation in which you were very different from the people you interacted with.

Tell me about a time you were a leader?

For addition questions, click here

New York University (Stern)

How will you take advantage of the resources?

Tell me about a time when something totally opposite of what you expected happened.

Tell me about a typical work day.

Why you picked your specific undergrad major?

What would current team members say they like about working with you? What is a weakness?

For addition questions, click here

Cornell (Johnson)

What alternate career will you consider in case you do not get into consulting?

Tell me about three values that you follow in your life.

What is your leadership style? Please describe a situation where you were a leader.

Did you have any conflicts during this leadership experience? If so, how did you solve them?

What is the one feature that is not mentioned in your application that you would like me to convey to the adcom?

In what company would you like to work?

What do you do in your free time?

What leisure (non-professional) clubs would you be a member of while at Johnson? Why?

What is your leadership style?

For addition questions, click here

UCLA (Anderson)

How can you contribute to Anderson’s community, and which clubs would you join?

Tell me about an innovative lasting contribution you made in your current job?

Short and Long Term Goals

Why I chose a past job.

How I address conflicts at work.

Alternate career plan?

For addition questions, click here

DON’T MISS: THE PIONEERING MBAs IN THE CLASS OF 2019 or 6 TIPS FOR ACING THE MBA INTERVIEW

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