A 8 min read

Business schools have started rolling our interview invites to Round 1 applicants. If you have already received the interview offer, congratulations. You have achieved a significant milestone on your MBA application journey. However, this is not the time to rest easy; instead, it marks the beginning of the next crucial phase: interview preparation. The interview is the final step in your journey to your target school that can make or mar your chances of success. It is an opportunity for the schools to uncover the real you beyond meticulously crafted essays and resumes. To succeed, you’ll need to know your content and anticipate the specific questions your chosen institution might throw your way.

Interview posed by renowned institutions

At MER (myEssayReview), we understand the importance of this pivotal moment. To aid you in your preparations, we reached out to our successful students from last year, and we are grateful that some of them generously shared their interview questions and experiences. In this blog, we have compiled their valuable insights, focusing on the interview questions posed by renowned institutions such as Booth, UCSD, UCLA, McDonough, ISB, Kellogg, CBS, Haas, INSEAD, and Warwick. Alongside these questions, you will also find the candidates’ reflections on their overall interview experience.

Let’s look at the questions:

1. UCLA Anderson

Stephanie Panossian (UCLA, UCSD, UCI, & UCR Admit- (Went to UCLA)- 2022-23

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
3. Why UCLA?
4. What are your short-term and long-term goals? Tell us the names of companies you would like to work for.
5. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
6. Tell us about a time when you solved a conflict in a team.
7. How do you work in a team setting?
8. Do you have any questions for me?

2. UCSD

Stephanie Panossian– UCSD, UCLA, UCI,  & UCR Admit-(Went to UCLA) -2022-23

A member of the admission committee interviewed me for UCSD. Here are the questions.

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why do you want to pursue an MBA? Why Rady?
3. What are your short-term and long-term goals?
4. Tell me about one of the main advancements or trends in your industry/ what is one major change you have seen in the F&B industry (since it was my industry of expertise) throughout your 5 years of employment?
5. Tell me about a project/event you are most proud of. 
6. Tell me about a time you failed.

For UC Riverside, I was interviewed by a computer. There was no human interaction.

3. Chicago Booth

Frank Jin -Booth Admit (2022-23)

I was interviewed by a second-year student. I chose an onsite interview and flew from Cleveland to Chicago for it. The interview was mostly conversational, and I enjoyed my one-hour conversation with him.

Here are the interview questions:

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why do want to pursue an MBA? Why now?
3. Why Booth?
4. What are your short-term and long-term goals?
5. Describe a time when you disagreed with your colleague. How did you move forward?
6. Describe a time when you faced a setback. How did you overcome it?
7. What would you do when your team member is struggling to perform at work?
8. What are your hobbies/ interests? (I talked about tennis)
9.  Who is your favorite tennis player?
10.  Who do you think is the best tennis player?

4. McDonough

Reetvik Roy– McDonough & ISB Admit (Went to McDonough)- 2022-23

1. Please introduce yourself.
2. What do you think your typical day at McDonough would be like?
3. Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
4. What are your short-term and long-term goals? What is your plan B?
5. What is your biggest Weakness?
6. Tell me about a time you faced a problem in a professional capacity.
7. You play football. Who is your favorite player -Ronaldo vs Messi? And why?
8. What questions do you have for me?

5. ISB

Reetvik Roy (McDonough & ISB Admit (Went to McDonough)- 2022-23

1. Walk us through your resume.
2. Why do you want to pursue an MBA? Why now?
3. What are your short-term and long-term goals?
4. Why ISB?
5. Tell me about a time you dealt with personal differences in a professional setting.
6. How will you add value to the community at ISB despite having less experience than most of the batch?
7. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
8. What clubs are you looking to join at ISB?
9. Do you have any questions for us?

6. UCLA

Katherine Shang – UCLA (120 K scholarship, Forte fellowship, Kellogg & UC Davis Admit ) (Went to UCLA)- 2022-23

A second-year student interviewed me. Here are the questions:

1. Please introduce yourself.
2. Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
3. Why UCLA?
4. What are your short-term and long-term career goals?
5. What can you contribute to the Anderson community?

Since we discussed some working experiences during the interview process, he didn’t ask me any additional behavioral questions.

I asked the following questions:

1. I know that students apply to several MBA programs. Could you please share insights into your preference for UCLA?
2. What is one thing different from your expectations after you joined UCLA?
3. Can you share a little bit more information about the public health industry? Since it’s a completely new industry to me, I want to understand more about it.

7. Kellogg

Katherine Shang  – (Kellogg, UCLA ( 120 K scholarship ,Forte fellowship) , & UC Davis Admit) -2022-23

My Kellogg interview was with an admission officer.

     Here are the questions:

1. Walk me through your resume.
2. What are your short-term and long-term career goals?
3. Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
4. Why Kellogg?
5. What do you think you can contribute to Kellogg?
6. Tell me about a time when you met a big challenge? How did you overcome it?
7. Share your most significant leadership experience. 

      I asked the following questions:

• What is the point you like most in Kellogg?
• Can you please give your advice on how to balance academic and networking during MBA program?

8. CBS

Katherine Shang – (Interview invite)

I was interviewed with CBS Alum. It was a 30-minute interview, and most of the questions were on my prepared list. The questions cover the following:

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are your post-MBA goals? 
3. Are you open to any other position in the digital transformation area?
4. Do you have any experience in entrepreneurship (follow-up questions)?
5. Why are you interested in CBS?
6. Tell us about the top feedback you have received during work.
7. What questions do you have for me?

9.  Haas

Katherine Shang – (Interview invite)

I had an in-person interview with Haas yesterday. It was an amazing day with wonderful people and interesting activities. Below is the recall for interview questions and my responses:

1. Tell me about yourself. (I introduced my background in China and then jumped into my resume.)
2. Tell me something about the green team you are involved with at work. (I shared my role, general activities we host, and the pilot recycling program.)
3. Why Haas? (I discussed the course setting, team study method, LAUNCH program for startups, and leadership principle. I also mentioned that by attending today’s activities, I realized that people are warm and friendly here, and I love it.)
4. Tell me about a time when you worked with a team of people from different backgrounds. (I shared an experience when my team had three people from different countries, and we had different opinions on how tasks were assigned; we tried everyone’s approach and figured out the best working strategy for us.)
5. How would you contribute to the diversity of Haas? (I talked about three ways I would contribute – the same as in our mock interview session.)
6. When did you convince someone to do something out of their scope? (I shared the story when I found a misstatement and convinced the client’s manager to help me persuade their head officer to accept it.)
7. Any other thing you want to share? (I followed up with the green team that we discussed before and said that I want to build an environment sustainability club at Haas. Also, I mentioned that I’m always willing to get out of my comfort zone and be a game changer; I shared the legal class example here.)
8. What questions do you have for us?

I asked the following questions:

• What is one thing that surprised you when you first came to Haas?
• What are your suggestions for prospective Haas students?

10. INSEAD

Rafal Ogrodnik (INSEAD & IMD Admit) 2022-23

The interview took about an hour, and I found it to be conversational. Here are the questions:

1. Why do you want to pursue EMBA?
2. Why INSEAD?
3. What do you want to accomplish during the program and after?
4. What are your strengths?
5. What are your weaknesses? (3 weaknesses that made me think on the spot)       
6. How do you manage those weaknesses while working with people of different backgrounds and cultures? (This follow-up question was probably the trickiest question.)
7. What do you bring to the program? How will you manage your weakness to ensure you succeed in the program?
8. What do you see in the current macro landscape of procurement? (This was a high-level question to gauge if I could speak about industry insights.)
9. What are your post-INSEAD career goals?
10. Do you have any questions for me?

I asked the following questions:

• Can you please tell me about the entrepreneurship course you took? (He shared candid feedback about the course and what he learned).
• Why did you choose INSEAD?
• Do you feel it helped you achieve your goals?
• What is your opinion about the INSEAD alumni network?

Overall, I feel that all the groundwork we have done together to apply for the program actually prepared me indirectly for the interview. I advise candidates to re-read the essays before the interview to be consistent with the answers and remember them, as some time may have lapsed between application submission and interviews. I also would advise candidates to attend the ‘open house’ at INSEAD as I feel it is favorably looked upon by Ad Com and allows you to bring this angle about what you learned into the final interview.

11.Warwick

Ayalenesh – Warwick Admit- 2022-23

It was a pre-recorded video interview for which I got the practice questions followed by interview questions 30 minutes before recording. There were 5 questions for which I got 2-3 minutes to prepare and 3- 4 minutes (depending on the question) to respond. Here are the questions:

1. What did you do to challenge the norm at work? How did it impact your organization?
2. How would you contribute to the Warwick cohort and the school at large?
3. What is your post-MBA goal? How will the Warwick MBA help you achieve that?
4. How would you describe your leadership style? Provide an example of that.
5. Tell us about the scary decision you had to make? What did you learn from it?

12. INSEAD

Dr. Blaise Umoren (INSEAD Admit with scholarship) 2022-23

The interview lasted about an hour, and my interviewer also talked about his personal life, career choices, and how INSEAD changed his life. He asked me the following questions:

1. Kindly walk me through your resume and talk about your career progression. (He had not gone through my CV beforehand)
2. Why do you need an MBA at this point in your career?
3. Why INSEAD?
4. What does leadership mean to you?
5. Who do you look up to as a source of motivation/inspiration?
6. How would you contribute to the programme/INSEAD?
7. Are there any questions you would like to ask me?

I asked the following questions.

• Please tell me about INSEAD’s Leadership Development Programme and how it impacts your personal life and career choices?
• How involved you are with the Alumni Community?

About MER (myEssayReview)

Poonam Tandon, the founder of MER (myEssayReview), is a Ph.D. in English with 12 years of MBA consulting experience and three decades of teaching experience in India and the US. A master storyteller, Poonam has successfully guided hundreds of students from around the world to gain admission into the esteemed MBA, EMBA, and specialized master’s programs in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Throughout her four-decade-long professional career, she has reviewed 10,000+ essays written by applicants worldwide. Poonam is recognized as one of the top 5 most reviewed consultants on the GMAT Club (143 reviews).

You may email Poonam at poonam@myessayreview.com with questions about your interview prep or sign up here for a free consultation.