Looking For Candid MBA Interview Advice?

Hello P&Q readers, and welcome to my advice column! My name is Karen Marks, and I am the Founder and President of North Star Admissions Consulting. I have been helping people get into their dream schools since 2012, and prior to that I was the Associate Director of Admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Today, my goal is to give applicants the accurate, insider information that they need in order to succeed and make good decisions. Want your question answered in a future column? Ask away, no topic is off limits!

This time of year, I am flooded with questions from people about MBA interviews. As with all aspects of the business school admissions process, there is a ton of misinformation out there. For the real scoop about what’s expected and how to prepare for your MBA interviews, read on.

Yes, you need to wear a suit.

Even if it’s a zoom interview and you don’t usually have to wear business formal attire at work, it’s smart to err on the side of formality for your MBA interview. (Unless the school explicitly says otherwise, which is rare.) Although many interviewers might not personally care whether or not you’re formally dressed, some will – and why risk it?

Read your application over beforehand.

Generally speaking, the interviewer likely won’t have access to your whole application. (Most commonly, they will only review your resume beforehand.) However, since the interview report will be read in conjunction with your written application, you need to understand what the committee will already know about you. Think strategically about what you share during the interview, and consider how it will integrate with your essays, recommendations, etc.

Also, reviewing your application will help you remember the names of specific classes, clubs and other opportunities, which are important to mention during the interview. (You had these details in your written application, right?)

But don’t read anything during the conversation.

It’s super critical to be in the moment during your interview. The fastest way to sound canned – thereby undermining your credibility and your ability to connect with the interviewer – is to read from a script. A close second on the list of ways to sound artificial would be to memorize your answers. It’s ok to glance at your resume if you need to but avoid bringing other notes.

Don’t get overconfident.

You know when I get super worried? I worry when a client tells me that they have amazing interview skills, and that they don’t need to prepare for their business school interviews. Just as your resume needs to be tailored for your applications, so do your MBA interview responses. Also, weirdly, some of the most professionally accomplished candidates can be the worst interviewees. There really is an art to this – be sure to prepare, practice, and think strategically about your candidacy. Consider the fact that the schools want to get to know you as a person, not just as a list of accomplishments.

Also, just because you are invited to an interview, don’t assume that you have the offer locked. Business schools interview more people than they plan to admit, sometimes many more, and MBA admissions is an incredibly competitive process.

Remember that your personality matters.

Will you contribute positively to the community? Will you represent the school well in front of recruiters? Do you seem arrogant or hard to get along with? The interviewer will most likely have to answer some version of these questions when evaluating you.

Just like with the essays, don’t listen to too many people.

Again, back to that misinformation. Many of the worst mistakes happen when applicants solicit interview feedback from too many people, many of whom, however well-intentioned, likely have absolutely no idea what your core themes should be, or what the schools are looking for.

Karen has more than 15 years of experience evaluating candidates for admission to Dartmouth College and to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Since founding North Star Admissions Consulting in 2012, she has helped applicants gain admission to the nation’s top schools, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Wharton, MIT, Tuck, Columbia, Kellogg, Booth, Haas, Duke, Johnson, Ross, NYU, UNC, UCLA, Georgetown and more. Clients have been awarded more than $70 million dollars in scholarships, and more than 98% have gotten into one of their top choice schools.