A Chat with UChicago's Admissions Director
An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: Don, since all applicants are interviewed, how important is the opinion of the interviewer among the other items of the application process?
A: Martin: Good question. We interview applicants so we can get to know them in a way that would be more difficult if we only read their application. Part of our evaluation process involves trying to determine a fit between the applicant we are evaluating and our GSB community. I have found that interviews are extremely helpful in this part of the evaluation process.

For the full version of this Q&A

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Comments from Student 1:
Interviewer: Recent Alumni from the IMBA Program / dual degree with Public Policy
Location: At U Chicago
When: Early October
Questions asked: [The interviewer asked] interesting questions. I also felt that since they had my resume ahead of time they tried to match me with someone that had similar interests.
1. So tell me your story (afterwards [the interviewer] told me mine and our backgrounds matched up)
2. How would you rate yourself academically on a scale of 1-10?
3. Why an MBA?
4. Why Chicago?
5. What do you want to do afterwards?
5. Again, [there were more questions] specific to my resume. [The interview] became more of a conversation than an interview. The interviewer was great about giving me objective advice and telling me about himself.

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Comments from Student 2:
I had three interviews (one at each of the following schools: Wharton, MIT (Sloan), and Chicago GSB).

Interview Notification/ Initial Preparation:
Upon receiving notification of my first interview (Chicago GSB) I pulled together a list of generic possible questions from various sources (BusinessWeek Online's B-School Forum threads, Montauk's How to get into a TOP MBA Program, and other MBA Web sites -- i.e. Admissions Edge, etc).

I first prepared generic answers for each school and then when preparing for a specific interview I went through all questions and prepared specific answers that highlighted aspects of my application for that school and the story/persona I was portraying (i.e., For Wharton I highlighted my international experiences, for Sloan my creativity, etc.) Although I had similar stories for each school, I emphasized different aspects for certain schools. I also used some other resources for my school specific interview prep research (i.e., the book The ABCs of Admissions, school Web sites, BusinessWeek Online's Admissions Q&As).

The interviews:
Some interviewing highlights follow. I tried to get face-to-face interviews for all my appointments if schedules permitted.

Chicago:
- Length: About One hour- Location: Phone interview since I could not schedule a face to face in time
- Interview was with a new graduate
- This interview is part of the application (i.e. you are not selected to interview)
- Some prepared questions, some off the cuff questions
- Interview was blind - interviewer had not accessed my application
- My interviewer had a similar background (educational/professional)

MIT (Sloan):
- Length: About 45 min - one hour
- Location: On-campus with an Admissions officer
- The interviewer had previously read my application and asked questions that were very specific to my application
- Questions were tailored to areas of my application where more information was needed
- The interview went very quickly and although it was formal, I felt very much at ease

Wharton:
- Length: 30 minutes
- Location: On-campus with a second-year [student]
- Interviewer already had preset questions that seemed generic, but as the conversation flowed, they were tailored to my background
- I had already visited the campus on a separate occasion and was able to bring that experience into my interview.
- Interview was blind - interviewer had not accessed my application
- Wharton's process of interview notification and scheduling was great!

Here is a list of my generic questions:
General Questions
1. Walk me through your resume, starting with undergrad.
2. Discuss your career progression.
3. Describe an ethical dilemma faced at work.
4. What would you do if not accepted?
5. What are your long- and short-term goals? Why?

Why MBA & Why X Questions
1. Why do you want an MBA?
2. Why School X?
3. Why now?
4. What would X do for you that no other MBA program can?
5. What would you concentrate in at X?
6. What do you want to do after you have an MBA?
7. What clubs and activities would you get involved in at X?
8. What will you contribute to X?
9. Which two qualities would you want me to highlight in the interview report?
10. What would you do at X?

Describe You
1. After your two years at X, what would your classmates remember you by?
2. How would your workmates describe you?
3. How would your friends and family describe your personality?
4. If two managers were discussing you, what would they be saying?

General Questions About You and Your Experiences
1. Tell me about a time you faced conflict and how you resolved it.
2. What role do you usually take in a team setting?
3. Tell me about a time when you exhibited leadership.
4. What do you do for fun?
5. How do you work in teams?
6. How would your coworkers describe your leadership style?
7. What would your colleagues miss least about you?
8. What makes you unique?
9. Tell me about a team experience that was a failure.
10. Tell me about a standout academic experience.
11. Tell me an important thing that you learned from your work and school experiences.
12. Tell me about a specific situation in your professional career where you solved an important problem.
13. What do you do outside of work?
14. What do you want to do in your career?
15. What contributions would you make to a group?
16. Name three words or phrases to describe yourself to others.
17. What do you do to relieve stress?
18. How do you define success?

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