Meet Rotman's Admissions Director
An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: What attributes are you looking to pick up on during an interview?
A: Good communication skills and demonstrated leadership and teamwork. We may give the applicant a scenario and ask, "What would you do in this case?" We're looking for people who can market themselves to us. That's something that employers are looking for as well.

Q:Can an interview make it or break it?
A: It can.

Q: Who flunks a Rotman interview?
A: People who give one-word answers, such as no, yes, or maybe. We have a few folks who come in very confident, and that confidence turns into cockiness. If we try to telegraph two years forward, when the applicant is interviewing with an employer, that attitude won't come across well. Or people who have a low proficiency in English.

For the full version of this Q&A

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Comments from Student 1:
I submitted my application package to the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, on January 2, 2003. On the morning of January 28th, I was at work, when I received a surprise call from a staff member (as far as I can remember, his first name was Alverro) of Rotman's MBA Admissions Department. Alverro told me that he was reviewing my application and that he had a few questions for me. At that point of time, I was in a hurry as I had an important project meeting to attend, so I offered to call him back in an hour. Alverro agreed and asked me to call him at 11:00 a.m. I called him at the said time and we talked for about 15 minutes. At the end of the session, something struck me and I just asked him if that was the "B-school admissions interview". Alverro quickly replied, "Yes". That was quite a surprise for me! Here, I was just thinking of getting myself prepared for that 'big day', and there, even before I could realize that I was being interviewed, my 'interview' was over! This was certainly not what I had expected a "B-school admissions interview" to be!

After going through a pile of books on B-school admissions, I had developed a very different idea about the B-school admissions interview. I had thought that it would be a very formal event -- I would be asked to appear in front of some of the key members of the MBA Admissions Committee; I would have to show up for the occasion wearing a gray suit and tie, carrying a briefcase with my resume and samples of my work (the so-called "personal portfolio"). I was even thinking of buying a new suit for the interview. And the most important thing is that I was eagerly looking forward to a few grueling weeks of groundwork ahead that would fully prepare me for what I thought would be 'the big day'.

Even the questions in my so-called interview were simple, straightforward, and quite bookish. "Why do you want to do a part-time MBA at this point in your career?" "Why are you interested in Rotman?" -- these were some of the questions, which I had already answered as part of my application essays. I wonder why Rotman would ask an applicant the exact questions that were present in the application. Did they have any doubt about the authorship of my application essays? Was Rotman trying to determine whether the opinions expressed in the application essays were truly mine? Maybe Rotman just wanted to validate the originality of the information I had provided.

I have to admit that my experience with MBA admission interviews is very limited (I had applied to two schools -- University of Toronto (Rotman) and York University (Schulich). Schulich sent me a letter of acceptance without even calling me for an interview, within a week of submitting my application. And a few weeks after the 'interview' over the phone, I received an acceptance letter from Rotman as well). Hence, I have come to believe that the application essays are, perhaps, the most vital part of the MBA application package, and they have a very important role to play in the admission interview process. The essays give the applicant an opportunity to paint a true picture of him or her in front of the admissions committee. It is extremely important (and I cannot emphasize this enough!) that the essays be original works of writing; you should try to portray as honest, credible and complete a picture of yourself as possible in the essays so that they really stand out, helping the admissions committee to uniquely identify you among thousands of other applicants. And do not forget to edit your essays (or, as professional editors would normally say, "polish your essays"). Think of the application essays as your journey towards self-discovery. That would not only strengthen your application package, but would also help you understand why exactly you are willing to spend incredible amounts of money, give up a job and spend endless number of hours for an MBA, and thus, would help you better prepare for the B-school admission interview.