MBA Interview Mythbusters And Other Things You Need To Know

The final wave of Round 2 interview invitations have gone out. Shortly after posting the interview schedule, nearly all of our on-campus slots filled up. So we’ve reached out to our student interviewers to volunteer more time and opened up more slots. Those, too, filled up. Please don’t despair if you weren’t able to get an on-campus interview slot; interviews with alumni hold the same weight, and you’ll have more opportunities to visit us here in person.

If you didn’t receive an interview invitation, the AdCom will do another review of your application to determine whether to waitlist or deny. Then on Friday, Feb 9, we will be releasing a batch of early denies.

If you have not heard from us on that date, you will receive your decision on March 16.
 

Interviews

Whether for admission to school or selection for a job, interviews can be a source of anxiety. You don’t know what’s going to be asked or how you’ll be evaluated. Below are some tips and mythbusters to help you feel more prepared for your Ross interview.

“If I can’t make it to a team exercise, I’ll probably get dinged.”

Not true. On-campus and off-campus interviews are weighted equally. While participating in the team exercise does provide us another opportunity to get to know you, you can still be admitted without participating in the team exercise if your app and one-on-one interview are strong.
 

“It’s better to interview in-person with an alum than via Skype with a student.”

False. These, too, are weighted equally. We're more interested in what you have to share with us than the medium through which you share it.

“I’ve cracked the code to Ross admissions: They only interview and admit students with GMAT scores over 700.”

No. As I said in a recent podcast interview, we have a wide range of GMAT scores among interviewees and admits. We look at an applicant’s entire profile to determine who to invite, not just a test score. Moreover, interviewers don’t see your score or anything else in your application except for your resume. All interviewees are on a level playing field during the interview process.

“I got an interview invite! I’m making every member of my family practice with me so my answers are well-rehearsed.”

If your friends and family are willing to sit and listen to you talk about yourself for an hour, great. If not, here are some questions guaranteed to be asked in your interview, so make sure to prepare for these: (1) Why do you want an MBA? (2) Why Ross? (3) Tell us about your pre-MBA career path and post-MBA career goals.

Your path and/or goals may be similar to others in the pool. But the reasons for choosing your path and goal are bound to be different. That’s what we want to know: What drives you? What interests you?

“I got an interview and I signed up for the team exercise. I’m so fired up I want to organize other applicants for a mock team exercise.”

Fight this urge. There is no need to prepare for the team exercise. We’re not looking to see if you can throw out clever responses on the fly. We want to see how you interact with new people, in a new situation, on an activity that requires listening, contributing and collaborating, because that’s what you’ll do at Ross and in pretty much any post-MBA job.

“Soojin, I’m still stressed out. Help me feel better.”

The best thing you can do is to be yourself. You know yourself better than anyone else -- why you made the choices you did, what you learned from the experiences you’ve had, and what you’re looking for in an MBA program and in your future career. That’s what we’re trying to get to know — you.

For more tips on the interview process, check out my video on How to Ace the Michigan Ross MBA Interview.