Comments from Student 1:
Scheduling the Interview: I scheduled the interview with an alumnus of the school. The admissions committee contacted me to invite me to speak with an alum and gave me his information. Later, I contacted the alum and scheduled a time to speak that worked for both of us.

Location of interview: My interview was at the alum's office in Washington DC (I live in Alexandria, VA and it only took me 10-15 minutes to drive over to his company's DC office).

Preparedness of Interviewer: The interviewer was prepared for me, but I don't think he saw my whole application package. His interview style was such that he didn't bring up specific things in my resume in his questions, but I could tell from his follow-up questions that he'd read over it. If I'm remembering correctly, he said that he didn't have access to my essays, so some of the questions he asked were similar to the essay questions.

Interviewer University affiliation: Alumni -- Dave Boucree, Stanford GSB '93

Atmosphere: The general atmosphere of the interview was very relaxing. We met in the interviewer's office at about 6:30pm, so it was pretty laid back. Plus, he was a cool cat so that put me at ease, as well. I was incredibly nervous when I arrived, so he told me from the beginning that he wasn't going to grill me, which went a long way toward helping me calm down.

Questions asked: The biggest thing that I noticed about him was that he exuded love for Stanford and its MBA program. He asked me a set of really good questions, but none of them were meant to confuse or stump me. He later told me that he was mostly concerned with getting to know who I was as a person. After he asked his questions, he gave me a chance to ask some of my own and this is where the interview got good. His responses to my questions were filled with great testimonials about Stanford's program and life at the school. Overall, he did a good job of keeping me at ease with his questions and made sure that I wasn't intimidated by him and the power that his position wielded.

Length of interview: The interview was scheduled, but the interviewer and I had a lot in common and ended up talking for about 2 1/2 hours.

Any additional comments: Of the five interviews that I did (Stanford, HBS, Kellogg, Fuqua, and the Consortium), the Stanford interview was my favorite. Stanford was my first choice and I was the most nervous about its interview, but, when it was all said and done, I felt like I'd had a strong showing and had left a good impression. Since I'll be heading out to Palo Alto in the Fall, I guess I was right in that interpretation.

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Comments from Student 2:
Scheduling the Interview: Stanford sent me the name, email and phone number of an alumni that I had been matched up with to interview with. I then contacted the alum and we worked out a time that suited us both to interview.

Location of interview: At the alum's office.

Preparedness of Interviewer: Not particularly well prepared but that is because Stanford doesn't give alum the application so there isn't much to review.

Interviewer University affiliation: Alumni

Atmosphere: Awesome, and truly one of the best interviews I've had because we both really connected. Our conversation traversed topics as broad as a specific company we had both worked for, the state of play in investment management (my industry), and the role of your career in creating a happy and meaningful life.

Questions: My interviewer was a sophisticated interviewer who frequently interviews for his job… as such it was more a free flowing conversation than the halting Q&A session that was my other alumni interview… but we did cover Why and MBA, Why Stanford, etc.

Length of interview: 1hr 15 min… we ran a bit over… well… a lot over…

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Comments from Student 3:
Interview: Off-Campus
Interviewer: Local Alumnus

Stanford's interviews are by invitation only, and if selected to interview, applicants will be contacted by the Admissions Committee with the name of their interviewer and his/her contact info. I interviewed with a local alumnus that worked close to my office.

The interview was approximately 45 minutes long, and was extremely informal in nature. During the course of your discussion, you will probably get a chance to ask a lot of questions about Stanford, so make sure that you are prepared to approach this opportunity with well-researched and thoughtful questions. I found the Stanford interview to be a pleasurable and educational experience.

The interview questions themselves were pretty basic - definitely make sure you know your resume well. If possible, you want to use the interview as a venue to provide additional information to the interviewer (and the Admissions Committee) that you didn't highlight in your application. However, it is worth noting that interviewers will not have seen your application materials before the interview.

Questions included: · Tell me about your undergraduate experience.
· Why did you choose [major]?
· What sorts of activities did you participate in outside of class?
· Is there anything you would have changed about your college experience?
· Why do you want to attend Stanford?
· Why did you decide to pursue an MBA this year?
· Tell me about your most recent leadership experience.
· What do you like to do in your time outside of work?
· What accomplishment are you most proud of?