A Chat with UNC's Admissions Director
An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: At Kenan-Flagler, admission interviews are by invitation-only after January. What pre-interview advice do you have for applicants?
A: Understand why you're doing this. What are you trying to achieve? You don't have to have nailed down the name of a company [you want to work at after the MBA]. But you need to have a strong sense of where you see your career going and what gaps there are between where you are now and where you need to be. That gap is what you're trying to fill with the MBA.

Then do a self-assessment, and if you're very clear about what you're trying to accomplish, doing your interview and writing your essays shouldn't be difficult.

Our interviewers are members of the admissions committee, and they're also reading applications. The person you interview with may or may not have read your application, but they're all familiar with the applicant pool. And they are all trying to assess an applicant's leadership, individual accountability, team mentality, and communication skills. An interview lets us see how you think on your feet and present yourself one-on-one.

For the full version of this Q&A

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Comments from Student 1:
Scheduling the interview: On-line

Location of interview: On campus

Preparedness of Interviewer: The interviewer was extremely professional and familiar with my resume. This is the interview in which I felt the interviewer had done the most advance review of my application materials.

Interviewer University affiliation: Associate Dean of Admissions

Atmosphere: The atmosphere was more intense than other interviews. The interviewer asked pointed questions, and there was less of the back and forth dialogue I experienced at other schools. However, he was very friendly and we found common ground with my work with the Navy. He is the only interviewer I met at any school who made it a point of stating how competitive the process is.

Questions asked: In addition to the standard questions about my resume, my goals, and my school choice, the interviewer asked me to describe myself in four words and to summarize in one or two sentences why I should be included in the next class at UNC.

Length of interview: Approximately 40 minutes.

Any Additional comments: This interviewer caught me off guard with several questions-especially describe yourself in four words. I think he got a lot of information out of me, and I believe the interview is a major factor in the admissions process at Kenan-Flagler.

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Comments from Student 2:
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Date: Nov. 26, 2002

Questions asked (not in the order asked); she had an evaluation sheet she completed during the interview:
1. Where is Kenyon College (my alma mater)?
2. Why do you want an MBA?
3. What sort of leadership roles have you had?
4. What did you learn through your leadership roles?
5. How is your current job organized?
6. What are your current job responsibilities?
7. How did you acquire your current job?
8. What sort of job do you want when you graduate with an MBA?
9. Where do you envision yourself in five years?
10. Where do you envision yourself in ten years?
11. Have you participated in any sports?
12. How are bicycling and cross-country team sports (she asked this in reference to my response to question #11).

Impression: My interview was unorthodox. The interviewer and I seemed to be of the same mindset. However, our chance to talk was curtailed by the fact that the interviewer had to deal with a personal problem and take a few calls during our interview. During these moments, I just tried to appear as though I had poise. The interviewer was very gracious and seemed to understand my disappointment at having had such a strange interview, but was not able to extend the interview because of the rigorous interview schedule. In the end, I thought, "Great, I flew here for this interview, and then I don't even get the interview time I had been promised."