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

Q: What questions can applicants expect during an Owen interview?
A: We're going to reevaluate [our] questions, based on my analysis of what companies are looking for. You may see a slant to more situational questions in behavioral interviews: "Tell me about a time when..."

Q: What are companies looking for?
A: You have to have a baseline business acumen. But you also need to show initiative and drive, and an ability to effect change in a team-oriented manner. In interviews, we want to learn about the times you showed initiative. Tell me about a time when you saw something to be done and did it.

For the full version of this Q&A

---

Comments from Student 1:
I started the application process late (for an international student). I decided to apply in December. Considering that the most of international student deadlines are at the end of March, this is VERY late. Hence, I couldn't benefit much from the interviews. Most of the schools have optional interviews until a certain date, after that [they are] by invitation only. I submitted my applications when the invitation-only period was already over. This, to me, was [one of the] greatest disadvantages of my late decision [to apply].

I was invited to interview with Vanderbilt (Owen) and Washington University in St. Louis (Olin). All contact, from and to the school, happened through the Internet, with the online application site and emails. Again, because of the late period, I only had two options: a campus interview or a phone [interview]. All recruiting events in my area had passed. So, [there was] no other way to meet the admission staff in person than to go to the campus. And with my English concerns, the telephone option was not an option at all!

The two schools have very different interview styles. Vanderbilt conducted a single interview only, with one admissions director. Though the style was formal, the interviewer tried her best to conduct an informal and relaxing interview, trying to [make] the candidate comfortable. She was also very well informed about my resume, though at the beginning she didn't immediately show this fact. [The interview was a] different story at Wash U. Wash. U consisted of a one-day visit, with one interview with an admissions director, one [interview] with a student, and a tour of the campus (lesson participation included) with another student. [The interview was] pretty informal, but with a different style - forget about [having] fun and relaxing during the interview here! Everybody knows everything about your application, even the student that [took you on a] tour of the campus. So be prepared.

The interview questions were exactly ones that you can find on most of the MBA Web sites. [There are questions] about your resume. [Interviewers] might try to go deeper into some experiences you have described, or be sure they understand the difference in the education system of your country. No one posed any current event related questions - which I was told is always [part of the interview] for international students.