A Chat with Columbia's Admissions Director

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q:Interviews are by invitation only at Columbia. Some 86% of the people who are eventually admitted interview. What does the admissions team want to learn from an interview?
A: The interview can serve a lot of different functions. The basic one is to answer questions people haven't elaborated enough on in their application.

Interviewers will also be looking at how interviewees present themselves. Are they professional in their demeanor? Are they articulate? If English is a second language, how well do they speak it? We'll also be assessing an applicant's goals. Sometimes in an interview it becomes much clearer where the person is headed, and that's very helpful to the committee.

Applicants are being assessed as if they were in a professional interview. Is this somebody you would like to hire? Is this someone you would like to go to school with and have a member of your cluster or your class? Almost all of our interviews are done either by alumni or our Hermes students, who are selected students trained by the admissions office.

For the full version of this Q&A

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Comments from Student 1:
Scheduling the Interview: I received an email from the interview office inviting me for an interview. Included was a list of three alumni in my area. They suggested I contact all three alumni and take the first interview available. I scheduled the earliest available interview and informed the admissions office per their request.

Location of Interview: I interviewed with an alumna in a coffee shop in NYC.

Preparedness of Interviewer: The interviewer had not seen my application.

Interviewer University affiliation: An alumna, Indu Sanwal.

Atmosphere: I found the interview to be relaxed, but I'm very comfortable with interviewing so it may just be my attitude toward such events.

Questions asked: She had a set of guidelines given to her by the school as to what to ask, but she was good about keeping it conversational rather than a list of questions. We covered the basics such as what my goals are, why business school, why Columbia, why now. I had the opportunity to ask her many questions about her experience at business school. This allowed me to demonstrate my interest in and enthusiasm for the program. She also asked me about my leadership and team playing experiences. She asked me what types of extra curricular activities I was interested in on campus.

Length of Interview: One hour. We could have talked much longer, but the coffee shop was closing.

Any additional comments: If any of the alumni interviewer's contact information is out of date, inform the admissions office immediately so they can offer you more names.

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Comments from Student 2:
Scheduling the Interview: After an initial paper screening of my application, the admissions office forwarded me contact details of three alumni geographically closest to me. I then contacted them through email and chose the one who's availability fit mine the best.

Location of Interview: At his office, in the Philippines.

Preparedness of Interviewer: He probably went through my resume 10 minutes prior to the interview.

Interviewer University affiliation: Alumni

Atmosphere: This interview had a more formal feel, as it was during working hours at his office. I was seated across his desk like an eager job applicant. He didn't even offer me coffee.

Questions asked: The questions were similar to those in the application essays. Unfortunately, I did not review my essays and found myself thinking more than talking.

Length of Interview: 30 Minutes.

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Comments from Student 3:
The Columbia interview was an alumni interview arranged through e-mail. The Columbia interview was not conducted in a professional manner. The interview began 20 minutes late, [and] was held at a local bar where the interviewer drank two pints of beer. Inexperienced and disinterested, the interviewer made small talk. At one point, during a break in the conversation, the interviewer said, "So, tell me a joke." This made me very uncomfortable because I did not think this was an appropriate request. After I received a negative decision from Columbia, I wrote a personal letter to the Director of Admissions requesting a replacement interview and a reevaluation of my candidacy. I ended up speaking on the phone to the Director of Admissions about this, and while she acknowledged "poor judgment" on the part of the interviewer, was unwilling to grant my requests.

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Comments from Student 4:
I'm pretty sure Columbia alumni interviewers receive a list of questions from the school, and although I don't have an exact list, they go something like this:

Tell me about your job.
Why are you applying to business school?
Tell me what you know about Columbia and why it is the right school for you.
What do you plan to do after you graduate from business school?

There were no suprises, no hard questions, and it was completely non-confrontational. My interviewer only asked me questions for about 15 minutes and then I asked her questions for the remaining 45 minutes. This interview took place in a hotel lobby, which I would highly recommend over a coffee shop. It was easy to find a quiet space to talk and there were no distractions.

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Comments from Student 5:
Interview length: 30-60 minutes. Alumni [interviews] definitely go longer.

As a whole, I thought the interviews were very relaxed and congenial - no high-pressure tactics or "grillings". Second-year students are not as schooled in interviewing techniques and, therefore, more likely to ask scripted questions and not interact as much. All of the schools asked the expected questions: "Why B-school?" "Why our B-school?" "What will you do with an MBA?" "Long and short-term goals?" Candidates should definitely be able to answer those questions. Although I'm not a big believer in interview preparation, I would recommend at least thinking through answers to those questions.

My biggest recommendation is to show enthusiasm for the school. I believe the interviewers want to form some sort of bond with the candidate, and they want students excited about going to their university. The worst thing a candidate can do is show no emotion or personality. They have all of your essays and application info., so interviews are the opportunity to show your personality and that you are not a one-dimensional, driven to succeed, boring person. Make sure the interviewer knows you want to go to that B-school. Simple as that sounds, I think it is important that they see your desire to attend that particular school. I think many candidates can give off the air of indifference, probably unintentionally, which will kill an interview. Interview with the same emotion for your third choice school as your first choice school.