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2013 London Business School Masters in Management Adcom Interview Available!

February 18, 2013 by 2 Comments
Alex Salter- Recruitment & Admissions Manager

Alex Salter- Recruitment & Admissions Manager

Are you confused about the difference between London Business School’s MBA and its Masters in Management (MiM)? Are you considering applying for the MiM program but have questions about the program’s curriculum, student life, job prospects, etc.? Are you looking for winning tips on how to best present yourself in London’s MiM application?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then you’ll want to check out our recent Q&A with London Business School MiM reps Ivan Anderson, Client Services Manager at the Masters in Management; Alex Salter, Recruitment and Admissions Manager at the Masters in Management at London Business School; and Daniel Lay, Career Services Recruiter Lead for the Masters in Management at London Business School. Read on for an excerpt.

Question: What are the main differences between the MiM program and the conventional MBA program?

Alex Salter: With regards our MiM program, it really is a pre-experience program for more recent graduates in the last couple of years. The MBA at London Business School, I can certainly say you will be required to have a minimum of two years work experience and it’s actually unusual to see students on the program contributing at that level. The average work experience on that program has risen year and year. At the moment it’s just about six years work experience. So we really are filling the gap in the market. People are graduating more recently looking for that practical business experience, whilst they might not have the practical experience themselves. It may only be in a number of internships that they have undertaken.

Ivan Anderson: …Also, I definitely think the differences between the MBA and the Masters in Management specifically is that we equip individuals who come from various different undergraduate disciplines with the skills and the knowledge, as well as, the tools that they need in order to really begin and to make their impact on the business world. Versus the MBA which is slightly different where individuals either use the MBA to shift careers or to move up to the next level within their career. Versus the MiM which is designed to really give young professionals that are just entering the market the extra competitive edge that they need in order to really make an impact.

For the complete conversation, please check out the 2013 London Business School MiM Q&A transcript or listen to the audio file. You can also view our London Business School MiM B-School Zone for more information.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.




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2013 MBA Waitlist Q&A with Linda Abraham Transcript Available

February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
MBA Waitlist Chat

Waitlisted?

Have you been waitlisted to your top choice MBA program? Are you looking for tried and true tools that will help you gain acceptance from the waitlist? Check out the transcript from our recent Q&A, 2013 All You Need to Know About MBA Waitlists Q&A with Linda Abraham, CEO of Accepted.com, for advice on all aspects of the MBA waitlist.

During the Q&A, Linda answered the following questions (and others):

  • What is the ideal frequency of emails to the waitlist manager?
  • Is there strategically a good time when to send my letter, i.e. right away versus waiting until round two responses go out?
  • Is it acceptable to say that you have registered for an online class recently? There won’t be a grade to report back, but would this effort make a difference?
  • Most schools say a visit to campus does not affect decisions because they don’t want to penalize people who cannot make it. But, can a campus visit help show interest and passion that may help a waitlist candidate?
  • Is it true that schools do in fact rank the waitlist? If so, when do they typically begin that ranking?
  • Do you suggest we sit tight for schools like HBS who say to send in nothing?

For the complete conversation, including answers to these questions, please check out the 2013 All You Need to Know About MBA Waitlists Q&A transcript or listen to the audio file.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.


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London Business School MBA Admissions Committee Interview Available Online

January 11, 2013 by 2 Comments
London

“Range of Experience”

We had an excellent Q&A last week with the student and adcom representatives from London Business School. Please read the excerpt below for a sample of what was discussed, and then download the full transcript or listen to the audio file for the full conversation.

Linda Abraham:  How do teams work? Could you share more insight about the study group experience for a student at LBS?

Finnbar Cornwall: So the makeup in my study group is really fascinating. In my study there are six of us in the – for those that don’t know just to start from the outset, there’s 400 in our year. We’re split into five streams of about 80, and then within your stream you are in a study group of six people, sometimes seven. So, my study group is me, there’s an Egyptian girl who worked in marketing for American Express in New York. We have a Chinese guy, former banker, and then he worked in clean tech in business development and clean tech in China, an Italian-Japanese consultant from Italy, an Australian consultant, and an Israeli girl who was formerly in the army and then a journalist. So, that is my study group and that sort of diversity that you can see there is just reflected across my stream of 80 people, and then again across the year of 400.

And really one of the most interesting parts of being at LBS is you get a group project…and getting a range of views, seeing the consultant’s comment, to then a banker’s view, and then the sort of marketer…It’s really interesting, very fascinating. And then beyond that within the stream of 80 people we can get some very interesting discussions going within class. If we’re looking at a particular topic somebody, has more than likely been involved in that…and has a perspective when we’re talking about…. So that’s definitely been one of the pluses and it’s one of the reasons why I picked LBS, …is the range of experience that people bring…The average years of experience is slightly more than in some other programs, and you really feel that. You get the benefits of that, sort of the diversity and the range of people.

Alina Vivian:  I’m actually in a group of seven. There are not very many groups of seven. And I’m the only native English speaker in my group. There are five guys and one other girl. One of the guys is from Brazil, and he used to work in finance and consulting. There is another guy originally from Nigeria, and he was previously working for Shell as an engineer, so industry. There’s another guy working in Kuwait, or he’s from Kuwait, and he is an economist. And then, there’s another guy working in consulting in the Netherlands, and another guy who is working for his family business in India, and his family business is actually traded on the public exchange in India. And then the last person in my group is another girl from Russia. She has a PhD in finance, so again, it’s a quite diverse group, but we actually get along really, really well.

Read the rest of the transcript or listen to the MP3 audio file and visit the London Business School zone page for more information on how to create a winning application for this top European b-school!

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.




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Northwestern Kellogg MBA Admissions Committee Interview Available Online

January 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Northwestern Kellogg

“Culture is our strong suit.”

Do you want to learn what makes Northwestern Kellogg so great? We learned all about it (plus lots of other important info and tips) during our recent Kellogg Q&A. Read the excerpt below for more on this:

Linda Abraham: What distinguishes Kellogg from its tier 1 peers such as Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and Chicago?

Kate Smith: If you’re looking at a top-tier program, you’re going to have great options across the board, but what is really important for you to do your homework on is to understand where you think the program is going to best match your goals, needs, and who you are. I think at Kellogg what we pride ourselves on, and I truly feel is a very distinguishing feature for us is our focus on the student experience and that it is truly unmatched in our peer group. We have, historically, always been engaged on maximizing the experience for students. The way that that’s evidenced is across the board we have–Dean Ziegler…and her job is solely focused on mapping the student experience and maximizing that, in partnership with our students.

One of the things that distinguishes Kellogg is we have a history and a culture of kind of what we call “co-creation” and collaboration at the core of what we do. So that co-creation with students is something where students here are involved in every facet of the direction of the Kellogg School. They are engaged with us in leadership positions, on our student leadership teams, in creating the conferences that we host annually, and inviting some of our prestigious alumni and business and thought and industry leaders. So the student experience is something that we are very focused on in terms of helping enable your personal development and growth.

The way that that manifests itself–another thing that I think is a distinguishing feature for Kellogg, is that culture is our strong suit. If you look at our students, they’re known for being very grounded. They have a spirit of boldness, innovation, a passion for collaboration.

We have a history. We sort of put the idea of working in teams on the B-school map and the way that we approach that was that we identified that when you come into an MBA program, in one or two or three years, depending on which degree path you’re pursuing–because we have a dual degree JD MBA program that you can complete in three years, but our full-time options of our one-year program or our two-year program–whichever pathway you choose, we want you to be equipped to go out and, basically, be ready to lead in whatever career pursuit that you are following. So what that represents is the ability to work with others in an environment where the experience that you have here is replicated as what you’re going to experience out in the workplace. And I think that that’s focused on team skills and collaboration in and outside the classroom is another distinguishing feature.

Another element that we are proud of is our global community and that we have a highly diverse international student body with powerful alums all over the world. Our network, our alumni network, is 54,000 strong and growing every year and, as I mentioned earlier, we have 48 countries represented in this year’s class. I think those are some of the features of our program and sort of the cornerstone that I mentioned earlier is our academic faculty being world-renowned and best-in-class in many different areas of focus, so across our nonprofit sector, our public and private interface, obviously strategy. We’re well known for marketing. We have exceptional finance professors. So across the board, I think those are some of the features that really set Kellogg apart.

Read through the full Q&A transcript or listen to the MP3 audio file and visit the Kellogg School of Management B-School Zone for more information on how to create a winning Kellogg application!

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.


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Spotlight On You MBA Admissions Q&A Available Online

December 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
MBA Q&A

“Spotlight On You” MBA Q&A

Thank you to everyone who participated in our recent Spotlight On You MBA Q&A, an open forum during which Linda touched on a wide range of topics. Here are some snippets from Linda’s responses that we thought you’d enjoy.

  • 1-Year Programs vs. 2-Year Programs

“In general, for career changers, internships really, really facilitate that career change. Now, if you take, let’s say, INSEAD’s one-year program and you start it in January, there is time for a six-week internship in the middle of that program. So it also depends on how the program is structured whether you can get that internship in…So an internship is very important for career changers, but I’ve interviewed many of the European one-year programs in particular, and they say that they facilitate career change just like two-year programs do, just with much lower opportunity cost, and I think lower tuition cost also.”

  • Older Applicants

“First of all, when we talk about older applicants, realize that most MBA programs, there are some differences among the programs, Stanford tends a little big younger, for example, Kellogg, INSEAD, IMD tend to older. So you want to look at the school’s average amount of work experience in particular and average age of matriculation and see what the range is, especially, again, that 80% range…If you’re above the 80% range, then you are getting in that area of experience–it’s more experience level than age – where the schools will question whether you can benefit from the program and benefit from the career placement.
…If you really want the traditional MBA program, then one thing you can do is let the school know that while you need the education provided by the MBA, you have the career contacts and connections to get a job afterwards or maybe you even already have a job…The other thing you can do is apply to programs that are friendlier to older applicants and more experienced applicants. Apply to those programs that have higher average ages of matriculation because those program tend to value experience more.

See if those programs, which are aimed at older applicants…may just be a much, much better fit for you. You would be taking classes with people at your level of experience who it would be easier for you to learn from. The classes would be geared for people at your more experienced applicants and you would simply belong much better.”

  • Jargon in Essays

“In general, you want to minimize use of technical jargon…So if your mother understands it, it’s probably okay for a general audience. But if your mother is technically minded, then try your grandmother or your aunt or your father or somebody who is not technically minded and see if the jargon is such that they understand it or don’t. If they don’t…you should get rid of it… You want to talk in terms that your reader will understand…if you can’t express it without jargon or without very technical terms that lay people are unlikely to understand, then my suspicion is that you are writing an essay that is not going to be effective in a business school context because you’re talking about technical achievements, and not the kind of leadership management, teamwork skills that business schools value. So big warning there on jargon.”

  • Reapplicants

“If it didn’t work last time, you have very little reason to believe it will work this time….No, reapplicants are not at a disadvantage as long as they can show improvement and growth since their last application. In general, reapplicants are actually at a slight advantage provided they can show growth and improvement in their applications.”

Read the rest of the Spotlight On You MBA Q&A transcript or listen to the MP3 audio file for more info on choosing schools, mitigating weaknesses, displaying leadership experiences, and much more!

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.


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Toronto Rotman MBA Admissions Committee Interview Available Online

December 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Toronto Rotman

“We want to see…personality.”

Thank you to Niki da Silva, Director of Recruitment and Admissions, and Leigh Gauthier, Director of the Career Center at Rotman, for joining us for our first ever Toronto Rotman Q&A! The chat offered MBA applicants an excellent window into the Rotman admissions process – see the below excerpt for more on that.

Linda Abraham:  Can you speak a minute about the video question, what to expect? I’m sure that’s one of the more innovative aspects of the application process.

Niki da Silva: Yes, absolutely. It’s certainly something that we were getting lots of question on. We really looked pretty carefully at what our process had been in the past, and historically had four relatively lengthy essays, and really felt as the MBA landscape has changed, and of course the Internet and chat rooms, and all of that has existed and created this culture or feeling that there was a right answer to those questions, or there was a marking guide. We wanted to do something that would be beneficial for us as an admissions committee in actually cutting through and cutting to the core of what makes candidates different and distinct and allow them an opportunity to speak to that in a pseudo-live way.

So there’s no pressure to research and rewrite and edit. And certainly, we still do have two essays, but wanted to give a new medium, create a new medium for candidates to really present who they are, what they’re all about. We want to see their personality. We want to see their passions and their interests, and how they answer what really are first-date type questions. We’re asking people to reflect on how their colleagues might describe them, or someone who really inspires them, and to do so in a way that is, essentially, live.

The expectation is, as part of the admissions process, the third essay question is this video response where candidates create a profile, log on, can go through as many times as they want, sample questions that are not recorded, so they get comfortable with the technology. They get comfortable with their responses. You [calm] any nerves, you quell any fears that you have about the technology.

And we did feel that so many of our candidates – and we do Skype video interviews for anyone that we can’t see face-to-face – that our candidate pool, they’re comfortable with the technology, so we provided a platform to talk to us. So you log in, you get to practice as many times as you want, and then you get two questions. One is a question that goes to everybody, and then the second question is chosen from a random bank of at least 20 questions.

And I think, in terms of what to expect, it’s just an opportunity, and I would encourage candidates to take it as an opportunity to be comfortable in your own skin and show us who you are, and feel that you’ll have an opportunity to actually differentiate yourself as a candidate and be admitted based on your unique story.

Linda Abraham: And when you say that candidates can practice, they just practice using the technology, they don’t really practice their responses? Or they can also practice their responses to the questions?

Niki da Silva: Yes, that’s a good point to clarify. They get a sample question so they can practice that particular sample question multiple times as they get comfortable. It doesn’t count; it’s not recorded, but it is an accurate reflection of how the video pops up, they get the question, their screen starts counting down in terms of 45 seconds, and 30 seconds left, and then their webcam starts recording, and then they get to also see, there’s a timed count down for when their response should be completed by.

Every candidate I know who has submitted the video essays so far has done at least one or two rounds of the sample question, just to get comfortable with it and figure out how it all works, and ensure that their webcam is positioned as they want it, and the volume and everything is all working. So we really wanted to ensure that we included that, to alleviate any anxiety. And we really wanted to pilot it this year, and position it as a pilot and see what we would learn from it.

So far it’s been fascinating. It’s been really telling that the content in some of those answers actually does give you a different perspective that you didn’t yet see in the application. So far it’s been a successful pilot, I would say.

You can also learn more about the Rotman admissions process and its design approach by viewing the Toronto Rotman MBA transcript or listening to the audio file. Visit our Toronto Rotman B-School Zone for more information on this top Canadian MBA program.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.

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Consortium MBA Admissions Committee Interview #2 Available Online

December 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Consortium

“…there’s definitely a great community just among all of us.”

Thank you to Consortium representatives for another outstanding Q&A! As always, the Consortium team and partnering school reps offered loads of insight into the Consortium admissions process and the ways in which the individual programs support the Consortium mission. See the below excerpt for more on this:

Linda Abraham: Elva asks, “What percentage of your students in each of your programs are Consortium students? How does your program help candidates live up to the mission of the Consortium?”

Allison Jesse: Okay, I’d like to start with the mission part because I think in terms of the Consortium’s mission, we have core values at our particular school, UNC Kenan-Flagler, and I’m sure many of my colleagues can also speak to something similar at their business school. Leadership, integrity, teamwork, excellence, all of these things mirror what the Consortium is all about….in terms of Consortium members, it’s about 7%.

Cindy Jennings Millette: Well, I certainly agree with what Allison said. The culture in business school, definitely being able to kind of give back in that leadership experience and team skills and all that, definitely melds really well with what the Consortium has. And we also have a culture at Berkeley, we have four defining principles, one being, “Beyond Yourself” and “Student Always,” and I think both of those really do mirror what the Consortium mission is. Right now, we have 20 students in each class that are Consortium members, and I do think that what’s really great is we see a lot of these people in different roles throughout the leadership on campus, including in our MBA association, so that’s someone who’s a Vice President of, Admissions, and Student Services, and all of that. And then also in the different clubs, the industry-focused clubs, you just see students being very involved, as we see a lot of our students being involved, and that kind of drive to give back you definitely see throughout the community.

Jon Fuller: So, our MBA class each year is about 500 students, give or take. And this year, we have about 45 Consortium students….So not quite 10%, 8 — 9%…So it’s a very healthy number, and it’s definitely a presence that’s well-known and well-regarded on campus, and very similar to what Cindy was saying. Instead of…”How does your program help candidates?” It’s really how do our students help candidates live up to the mission? Because they really hold one another accountable. We have a really strong and connected culture between MBA 1s and MBA 2s, which I won’t go so far as to say is unique to Ross, but it always surprises me as to just how well-enmeshed they are with one another.
And so the MBA 2s really take the role, in saying, “Hey, you know, we have this fine tradition here at Ross of not being passive individuals in our MBA experience, and taking on those leadership roles, and really stepping up to the opportunity.” And sort of demonstrate the mission by living it, and demonstrating it to others by their actions and the ways that they’re involved and the ways that they try to educate their classmates who come from, not just other U.S. backgrounds where they may have had more or less engagement, or opportunity to experience a diverse environment, but also with our international students where you really might have a monolithic culture, which is really kind of the antithesis of what you find here in the United States. So they’re not just engaged with the U.S. students, but also, it’s a great opportunity to demonstrate that activity or that perspective to our international students as well.

Rabia Ahmed: Sure, so I think one of the really nice things about the Consortium, in general, is that during OP, as Rebecca mentioned, the entire Consortium family gets to come together, and so you meet not only the students that are going to be in your class, but also in all of the other Consortium schools, and you spend the whole week together. And I think through that, and just being part of that, and knowing that all of these students are agreeing to meet the mission of the Consortium, as a requisite to become a member of the organization, there really is such a strong sense of community among that group and population, and I know a number of our students, the students at Stern always talk about how they met with Consortium students at other schools, and went on ski trips with them or vacations, or met them at case competitions. So as a student in any of the Consortium schools, there’s definitely a great community just among all of us. And that’s why we enjoy doing these chats together, and recruiting together on the road….But at Stern part of our core values really is the idea of a collaborative community, and then also this idea of IQ plus EQ that really enables students to hold each other accountable to what the mission of our school is as it relates to their own personal mission. And the clubs we have on campus, not only do they help build the community, but also bring in other members of the broader Stern community – the second-year students, alumni, undergraduate students – to work on a number of different projects, whether they’re service projects, giving back to the community, just broadening the mission of business education across New York City. There really is just a very strong culture of that within our program. And our alumni are a really big part of that, we have an association of Hispanic and Black business students, which most, if not all, Consortium students are very actively involved in. The alumni group also helps support the community while they’re prospective students, current students, and then when they join the broader alumni community. And the last question about the percentage of students, or the number of students on our campus that are part of the Consortium, for Stern, I believe this year, it was 12%.

For the full Q&A, please view the “Ask Consortium Adcom” MBA transcript or listen to the audio file. You can also learn more about the Consortium program by visiting our Consortium B-School Zone.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.

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Indian School of Business MBA Admissions Committee Interview Available Online

November 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment
ISB

“300 to 400 companies would come and recruit.”

Did you miss our recent ISB MBA Q&A? No problem! Read the excerpt below on the Indian job market for ISB MBAs and then check out the full transcript for more details. Thank you VK Menon, Senior Director of Placements at the Indian School of Business, for an insightful conversation about ISB! (P.S. We invite you to read the Q&A transcript even if you DID attend the event – an excellent review for those planning on applying to ISB!)

Linda Abraham: “How does the Indian job market look for a person graduating in 2014 from ISB?” Probably a question of interest to a lot of people on the call.

VK Menon: Okay. Actually, this is my personal take – but I have a very different take on this whole thing. I don’t think we should confuse the macro with the micro. That is, I’m not so concerned about how the economy is doing, or how certain sectors are doing, or how the global economy is, or whether we are in a recession, or whether we are in a buoyant mood. Yes, those are all factors. But end of the day, when you graduate out of a premium b-school like the ISB, it is what happens to you that’s important.

For a small group of people, (700 is not a very large number in a collective world landscape), so in a small group it all depends on how you prepare for the job you want to join, and given that over the years the reputation that is built by premium schools is strong, and close to 300 to 400 companies would come and recruit. Your chance of getting a job which you want is high, subject to your preparations levels being strong and your commitment levels being strong.

So I really don’t bother too much about the macro-environment, or how the environment might go. Wherever it goes, the war for talent will be there. Good students will get lapped up, so, those are all reality….over the last ten years I have seen various ups and downs of the economy, but always the demand for talent and the demand for the right talent, and good talent has been constant.

For the complete conversation, please check out the Indian School of Business MBA transcript or listen to the audio file. For additional tips on how to ace the ISB application, visit our Indian School of Business B-School Zone.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.



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Michigan Ross MBA Admissions Committee Interview Available Online

November 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
MIchigan Ross Chat Transcript

“We want you to be involved.”

Thank you to Jon Fuller, Senior Associate Director Admissions, and Diana Economy, Associate Director of Admissions at Michigan Ross for an outstanding Q&A!

In the following excerpt you’ll read about Ross’s strengths and what distinguishes Ross from other top MBA programs:

Linda Abraham:  ”How is Ross’ program different from other top programs? Is there anything in particular?” Now, I know that you know the Ross program best, so let me rephrase that question if I could and say “What do you think Ross is particularly strong at?”

Jon Fuller: Not that we’re a one-trick pony with the action-based learning component, but that is definitely something that I think is a big differentiating factor to our students’ experience within our program; is that, again, through MAP and a lot of other experiences, such as through our institutes and centers, through student life experience, and the clubs and organizations that our students lead and develop, there are many, many opportunities to take theory and put it into practice, and to put it in practice in a context that actually has significant impact and significant weight to it.

…Our philosophy is “Why should you wait until you graduate from your MBA program to actually try some of these things out, to try some of these learnings out and apply them to the real world?” There’s a safety net in some ways for you to test yourself, to test your boundaries, and to experiment, but at the same time, there are real stakes involved…

… I’m always struck by is the engagement of our student body in terms of actually making the Ross experience their own, and really shaping and having a significant role and actually providing direction to the school. We have over seventy different student organizations and clubs. All of them are student run. Of course, there may be a faculty advisor and there is staff support to these organizations, but the students have ultimate say in terms of what the programming is…We tell people, we want you to be involved…and if you don’t see something here that exists that is of interest to you, then make it happen.

…So students are very active. It is not a passive existence, or a passive experience that they have, and I think that’s a real distinguishing feature to the extent that that happens, at the Ross school.

Diana Economy: I think our alumni base is very much a distinguishing factor. I noticed that both as a student as well as an alum. I think to further Jon’s point about the connection that students have with one another through their experience here and co-creating this great experience that develops these very strong bonds that they continue on as alum.

I think our alumni feel very strongly about giving back. Of course, University of Michigan’s got one of the largest living alumni bases anywhere. And as a Ross graduate, you’re not just a part of the Ross school of business graduate community; you’re part of a larger University of Michigan community. You could pick up the phone anywhere in the world and call somebody who was a law school alum or an undergraduate alum or a med school alum, and you’re part of that broader network. Which of course, when you go to business school, you’re not just preparing for that first job out of business school, but essentially for your whole career. Having that strong alumni base is something that we feel is very strong here.

For the full Q&A, please view the Michigan Ross MBA transcript or listen to the audio file. You can also boost your Ross IQ by visiting our Michigan Ross B-School Zone.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.





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Cornell MBA Admissions Committee Gives MBA Interview Advice

November 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Cornell Johnson

“Be prepared!”

We had an excellent Q&A last week with admissions members from Cornell Johnson. We hope you enjoyed it! In the following excerpt, Cornell adcom members, Christine Sneva, Ann Richards, and Eddie Asby talk about their interview pet peeves. Read on for valuable advice about what NOT to do:

Linda Abraham: What are your greatest pet peeves during an interview? In other words, what mistakes do applicants make?

Christine Sneva: In terms of preparation, treat the interview as if it was a job interview. Dress professionally, prepare, and remember what you’re going into. This is an interview that is assessing your fit with our program, that we know. You don’t need to know everything about the program, but we really want to know, genuinely, why you want to be here, how you see yourself being a part of the community, how you came to that conclusion.

In an interview, you really also get a true sense of someone’s goal clarity. So we’ll ask you other schools that you may be applying to. We’ll also ask what it is that you want to do, how you’ve prepared for that career. These are all questions that, through resources like Accepted.com and other ways, that really push you on these questions, not so you anticipate them and know this question, but really know why you want to get an MBA, and why is it important that you do this at this point in your life…But also, remember, it’s only 30, maybe 40 minutes, so we can’t have a two-hour interview or a day’s worth of interviews where you want to really try to get to know someone. So that’s where other pieces in the application really come in and are really also very important

Ann Richards: I would just add that really take the time to be prepared. I think the thing that bothers me the most, or my pet peeve regarding interviews, is we’ve read your application, we’ve put in this time, and we’ve identified you as somebody that we think has real potential at this school, and invited you to interview. And if you show up here, and you don’t know about the school or you seem disinterested or you’re not taking this seriously, I feel like we’ve wasted our time, and you may have wasted your time.

So be prepared, as Christine said, it’s not hard to find out what kind of questions we’re going to ask in the interview, and make the most of your visit here. Don’t ask us questions that are easily answered by just visiting our website.

Eddie Asbie: I have just one piece of advice. I always just want to make sure the prospective students remember that the minute that you walk through the door, it’s like you’re being interviewed. Or if you are reaching out to current students, alums, just remember to keep yourself in a professional manner at all times….[Y]ou never know if that receptionist is part of the admissions committee. But then, also if you’re walking with current students, [they] will even kind of look at you to see if you are going to be the best candidate to represent our school. Being a part of a business school, this is something that you’re investing your time, your money, but also this is a lifelong affiliation that you will have from the minute that you walk in, [if you have] any kind of communications, keep it in a professional manner.

For the full Q&A, please view the Cornell Johnson transcript or listen to the audio file. Boost your MBA interview IQ by reading up on the resources on our Business School Interview Prep 101.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.





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