Interviewing At Chicago Booth and Wharton

Who knows? It might just be something that makes you feel better because you got to express yourself; like an application with a high essay word count  allowance (i.e. Stanford, comparatively at least) or a PowerPoint (Booth) or video (MIT Sloan) essay option. It might not increase one’s chances even one bit; however, for a person like me who presents better in person than on paper, its a dream.

Wharton’s New Team-Based Discussion is a Hit

It’s also very smart on Wharton’s part. The whole point of the admissions process is supposed to be to build a class of students who will contribute the most to the intellectual richness of the environment for their classmates, right? Well, this team-based discussion cuts right to the chase. The adcom really gets to see how you ACTUALLY behave in a group environment.

I was very pleased with both my team-based discussion and my one-on-one interview with the adcom. While I know that there will be many people who have strong interviews who WON’T be admitted (the interview is just an additional data point that is taken into consideration along with the rest of your written application) I always feel that my chances will go up just slightly when I get the opportunity to present myself in person.

I ended up making it back to San Francisco airport in just enough time to board my plane and land safely back in Long Beach later that night. My plane did, however, have to circle the Long Beach airport for an extra 40 minutes waiting for a ridiculously thick, low fog to clear. That was no fun in a suit and tie.

SIDEBAR: I had not worn a tie in so long that I had to watch a YouTube video early that morning to relearn how to get my full Windsor knot correct–oh, and I forgot to put on a belt; no one noticed, and I forgot.

Alas, my fate at these two schools is yet a mystery. One interview went well but could have gone better and the other definitely went well. Regardless of how good or bad your interview goes for a given program, however, there simply is no way to know where you stood on the continuum of applicants going INTO your interview.

If you were already at the bottom of the barrel, then a great interview still might not be enough to have you make the final cut. In contrast, if the school had already decided that they really, really, really wanted you then a substandard interview isn’t likely to send you packing–unless, of course, you vomit on an alumnus or an adcom (SO glad I didn’t do that!).