A Talk with Texas' Admissions Director
An Excerpt from the Q&A

Q: What percent of applicants do an interview?
A: Last year we did 819 interviews out of about 2,900 applications, or about 30%, vs. 14% the year before. Of the admitted students this year, 46% have been interviewed, vs. 22% the year before. The message is out that you probably ought to do this. So far this year, about 57% of applicants have done one. This year, I'm hoping that 60% or 70% of the first-year class will be interviewed.

Q: Are interviews done on-campus or off-campus?
A: Both. Once applicants apply and submit the application fee, they have a three-week window to schedule an interview -- not to have one, just to schedule it. They go online [and choose] either an on-campus or off-campus interview. If they choose off-campus, the computer will search for an alumnus in the applicant's area. It's very user-friendly.

A lot of people choose to do the on-campus one, because they're going to visit here anyway. They may think an on-campus interview is better, but that's rubbish. The staff doesn't do the interviews. Students and the alumni do them. Students can sell the program better than the staff can.

For the full version of this Q&A

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Comments from Student 1:
Scheduling the Interview: Online

Location of interview: On Campus. An off-campus option was available with area alumni as well.

Preparedness of Interviewer: None. Did not review materials beforehand.

Interviewer University affiliation: A second-year MBA student employed by the admissions office interviewed me. He was also a member of the admissions committee and had a say in the acceptance process. Amit Vedhwa was his name.

Atmosphere: Interview conducted in a small, stuffy interview room in the upstairs annex.

Questions asked: The first five questions came from a script and were general in nature:

1) Why McCombs?
2) What interests you about the school?
3) What is your biggest success?
4) What is your biggest disappointment?
5) What is your greatest weakness? If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?

Length of the interview: Q&A was about 30-40 minutes. Conversation after about 20. One hour total.

Additional information: McCombs gives an interview to all its domestic applicants, so receiving an interview is no sign that your application is stronger than the others. It's best to fly to campus to conduct the interview, even though the school tells you that they give equal weight to off-campus interviews. Also take the tour of the school to show interest in the program. McCombs is a small MBA program that only accepts about 300 full-time students a year, so they are selective. Once the in-state student quota is filled, they give preference to out-of-state applicants because they pay two times the amount in tuition of an in-state student. Apply in the first round if you are an in-state student. Later round in-state applicants have a smaller chance of acceptance than out-of-state applicants due to the tuition disparity.

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Comments from Student 2:
Scheduling the Interview: McCombs sent me a request to schedule an interview after they went through my application. I scheduled the interview with an alumni in San Diego, CA (I just choose the first name I found in the available interviewer list).

Location of interview: Alumni's workplace

Preparedness of Interviewer: The interviewer thoroughly reviewed my resume, and it was evident from his questions that he had gone through the resume and application quite a few times.

Interviewer University affiliation: Alumni

Atmosphere: Very relaxed and friendly

Questions asked:
- why MBA?
- why McCombs school of business?
- why MBA now?
- Lets say you are working in a group project (in the school), and one of the team members is not cooperating. Your project is due day after tomorrow, and he has not yet started his part, what should you do both as a team member and as a group.

Length of interview: 45 minutes Any additional comments: Be ready for some unexpected questions. Always try to deliver an uniform message. That is what the interviewer is looking for.