Top 10 MBA Interviews: Common Questions and How To Prepare

When you go to your admissions interview for a Top 10 business school, the purpose of it is for the interviewer to figure out who you are and why you want to go to their school.

They are also trying to determine who you hope to be.

If you keep this in mind as you answer the questions, it will guide you in creating honest, focused, consistent answers that will support your application, essays, and letters of reference and give the interviewer a clearer picture of exactly who you are and what you hope for.

One question that I was asked a lot was, “Why did you choose to go to Princeton?” The first time I heard it, I thought, “Well, why wouldn’t I?” That’s not what they want to hear!

Think About How Your Answer Presents You!

Answering this kind of question takes some thought. You have to think about why Princeton was the right choice to take you to the next step in your career path and how that choice has brought you to place you are today.

Here are a few more FAQs:

• Why did you take your first job?
• Why did you transition from one job to another?
• What did you want to do when you graduated from high school?
• Have your goals changed now?
• Why are you applying to business school?
• Do you need an MBA?
• What has been your most exciting experience?
• What sort of things are you passionate about?
• What sort of things do you do outside of work?

Some of these questions will be asked explicitly and some will not. Whether they are, or not, keep in mind that the expectation is that you will really explain the “Who, What, Where, When, Why and How” of the topic rather than just saying you did something because it was required or because you like it (without any explanation).

Remember that the interviewers and alumni have not necessarily seen your application. They may not know anything about you. This is your chance to present yourself to your best advantage.

How will you fit in?

I have talked with some of the alums at Stanford who do the interviews. They say that they are often asking these questions to see if the candidate would be a good fit for the graduate class.

They are trying to determine things like:

• Would this person be someone I would want to be in a study group with?
• Is this someone who will work hard and be dedicated?
• Is this someone who is going to make a positive contribution to the incoming class?

Whether the admissions people are alums or simply people who perform the interview function, they know enough about the school you're considering and the students to be able to determine these things about you from your answers to the interview questions.

Their real goal is to get to the heart of why you're applying to a business school. They want to know who you are as a person, why you've made the choices you have made, how you'll conduct yourself during school, and what you want to be when you've finished.

If you keep in mind that the interviewers are simply trying to see you in a clear light and you give honest answers that are consistent with the information you have given on your application and show that you have some sort of path you are following, you should do well in your admissions interviews.