Talking passionately about oneself doesn’t come naturally to us unless you are in Sales. MBA Applicants are not happy with their current responsibilities. They want a change in career or career progression in alignment with their potential and talents.

Q) How should I answer the ‘biggest risk taken’ MBA Admissions interview question?

Q) How much time should I spend talking about my family in Interviews when the question is “Tell me about yourself”?

1) Use a Good Camera

We have picked three video cameras for the MBA Application Video recording/interviews. Borrow it from your friend if you don’t have one:

We rarely have the time or attention span to sit and read 2-hour a day for a week to complete a standard 250-300 page book. The admission team realizes that to succeed in an MBA program, you must be a voracious reader. On average, a top MBA candidate reads close to 25000 words per day – close to 50 pages of a standard book. During the test season, it would climb up to 50000 to 75000 words per day or 100 to 125 pages per day.

Tell me a time when you made a Mistake. What did you learn from it?

You might have written, re-written and edited the creases out of the failure essay. So when the admission team asks you again about failure, it might not come in a straightforward manner. Most Alumnus would rephrase the question to - what would be the biggest mistake you have made. Don’t get fooled by the wording. We all make mistakes, every day. That is part of learning. The question is not that.

It doesn’t matter whether you believe the interview would be conversational or formal, around 75% of the interviewer will switch from friendly to part confrontational in a role that we have all known as the Devil’s advocate. The interviewer might believe in your achievements, goals or even ambition to change the culture, but they want to see how you respond to skepticism.

Often, after the initial introduction, MBA candidates tend to relax and slouch in the chair. Consciously make sure that you don’t do this. It not only reflects your attitude towards the interview but would also impact how you sound.

When you have done the research and learned about the admission Manager’s passion, achievements or position on Global issues, write down an outline on what you will cover in the first 2 minutes of the interview. Agreeability leaves a far better impression over challenging the admission manager’s worldview. Find common ground and start the conversation or ask questions on topics that you both agree.

Business Schools might have obsessively evaluated your motivation to do an MBA, but don’t forget schools, and admissions team have motivations too. Selecting the best candidate is a goal not the motivation behind the evaluation. When an MBA Admission Interviewer - an Alumnus, takes time away from their schedule to meet you and discuss your plans, she is not getting paid by the hour as a consultant. For MBA Admission team, the interaction is much more focused. They cannot give excuses like “I was busy last week”. It’s their job.


Find out what motivates an MBA Admission Interviewer

There’s no substitute for preparation when it comes to feeling more relaxed and comfortable in the interview.  Many applicants underestimate how much preparation it actually takes to have polished and compelling answers.  When you feel confident in your answers, this helps to lower your nervousness.  Another reason applicants get a case of the nerves before and during the interview is because there are elements of the interview that they can’t prepare for.

Build in plenty of time to arrive on time, which means 10-15 minutes before your in-person interview or to be settled in a quiet place to conduct a phone interview. Remember that interviewers get annoyed with bad connections during phone interviews.  For phone interviews, make sure you know who is calling whom and that you know when the interview time is, especially if the interviewer is in a different time zone.

When Booth’s Admission team started asking this question consistently over the past years, candidates were wondering whether they should cite the $275,000 (highest post-MBA salary for 2013-14) post-MBA salary as success or give some profound statements like “the purpose of life is the life of purpose.” It is too deep, and MBA Admission interviewer will give that dreaded blank look.

Save the Robin Sharma quote for some other time.

Find out how to answer "How Do you Define Success?" (MBA Admission Interview Question)

As part of the HBS MBA Admission Interview process, you will have to fill up a post-interview reflection in the ‘Application Status’ page, within 24 hours of the interview. We hope you have crushed the interview, but here are five points worth considering for your post-interview reflection.

When MBA Admission interviewer asks this question, a candidate’s natural tendency is to answer the question from the narrow scope of creation, but if you pay close attention, the interviewer is looking for evidence of self-expression.

The definition of Creativity has become so intertwined with Original Thought that no matter how much you try to redefine it, the definition persists in the common psyche of our society. So don’t redefine it, relish the definition by offering evidence that you came up with an original thought, or in the context of your work – an original solution.


Here is how to answer: Are you Creative (For MBA Admission Interview)

Before answering this question, you should know the other commonly asked MBA Admission Interview Questions. Based on the distribution of questions – professional or personal, you should plan for this question. We recommend that you include a personal account; something inspiring that led you to develop your principal personality trait. It can be persistence, communication, or leadership.

Find out how to answer the Most Difficult Obstacle Question

For someone from a consulting background, the greatest professional achievement is when the consultant brings organizational changes that generate substantial cash flow, gives the client a competitive edge, and sparks a cycle of innovation. For investment bankers, raising millions of funds through cold calling, and for a technologist - creating a stable, secure system that serves millions of users are examples of greatest accomplishments.

Here is how you answer the question