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

Q: All of Michigan State's accepted applicants complete an interview. Are those interviews conducted on campus or by alumni?
A: Not all of the people who apply are granted an interview. We encourage any candidate that can to come to campus to do an interview, but we also allow for candidates to interview via telephone.

Q: Does one interview carry more weight that the next?
A: Obviously, if somebody's willing to take the time and effort to visit our campus, that will have a little bit of additional emphasis when it comes to the review by the committee. It shows a slightly higher level of professionalism.

That said, we understand the difficulty of coordinating a trip from Beijing to Michigan, and we wouldn't necessarily expect that a candidate do that. So if you are a strongly qualified candidate, a telephone interview is not going to hurt you. At the same time, if you are a candidate that is not meeting our base level criteria, an on-campus interview probably won't help you either.

Q: What's the main reason applicants don't make it to the next round after an interview?
A: There's a sub-segment of that [failed interview] group where English skills are the primary issue.

Sometimes, we see significant team-skill issues. For instance, a candidate that has a much more individual orientation -- if we see some metrics in addition to that, things like letters of recommendation or the essays that also indicate [individual orientation], that could give us a cause for concern.

The biggest thing that would take somebody out at the interview phase would be if they state a set of career goals that we don't think we're well suited to provide.

Q: Teamwork is something Michigan State brochures mention often. How much time should an applicant devote to that topic in the application or interview?
A: We devote one of two [required] essays to teamwork. We assess not only whether they understand what causes a team to not work properly but also if they understand how to take a team that isn't working and move it into a positive direction.

We want to see if they understand the difference between being a team leader and a team member. Often, a lot of candidates applying to the program focus solely on being the team leader, and don't understand that sometimes it's all right to just be a team player. Either position can be effective, depending on the situation. We also dedicate up to a third of our interview on interactions, for instance personal interactions in a business setting, as well as team activities within a business setting.

Q: What are some examples of interview questions an applicant may face?
A: In general, [to get at team issues] we'll probably ask about how they dealt with a difficult coworker or a difficult or successful team setting. Maybe also the kinds of situations that they have been poorly equipped for, but have learned to adjust to.

For the full version of this Q&A

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Comments from Student 1:
As for the interview questions [for the Michigan State admissions interview], they're a bit hazy, but they were along these lines...
1) How do you see yourself applying your MBA degree once you graduate?
2) Tell us about a teamwork situation where there was a problem, and how you overcame it.
3) Tell us about an experience where you had an ethical dilemma, and how you resolved it.
4) What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
5) Tell us about an experience you had as a manger where you had to deal with a problem employee.
6) Tell us about an experience where you had to resolve a conflict with a superior.
7) What student organizations do you see yourself becoming involved with?
8) Why did you choose to apply to Michigan State?