Advice Column: Invited To A Business School Interview? Here’s What It Means.

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!

Happy 2025! It’s January, and many Round 2 applicants are waiting for business school interview invites. I am frequently asked what it means if you are offered a business school interview – and what it means if you aren’t.

• Business School Interview Invite = Good Sign

A few schools, like Kellogg, automatically interview the majority of applicants. A handful of others guarantee you an interview if you apply by a certain deadline. If you’re invited to interview at one of these programs, you can’t read anything into it. 

At most business schools, however, being invited to interview IS an indication that the committee has done an initial review, and that they see potential in your application. Business schools don’t waste time interviewing candidates who they can’t envision admitting.

• Understand the Context

However, being invited to interview does NOT mean that you will automatically get in, even if the conversation goes well. You can have the world’s best interview and still get denied, if other aspects of your candidacy don’t ultimately fit into the class profile. The admissions committee is constantly monitoring their pool, including their deposited students, and they need to balance the class against a variety of institutional targets. It’s also impossible to estimate what your odds are at this point, since it’s a dynamic process. Bottom line: the interview is a good sign, but don’t get overconfident.

• Make Sure You’re Prepared

You might be surprised to hear that many people don’t do any special preparation for their business school interviews, especially if they are comfortable with professional interviews. Business school interviews, however, are different. Yes, your work experience is relevant and will be discussed, but you also need to sell your interest in the school, your potential to contribute, and your sparkling personality. This is harder than it sounds – don’t underestimate the need to prepare.

• Not Invited? Don’t Panic 

Look, it’s not a GREAT sign if you aren’t invited to interview, as you won’t ultimately be admitted to business school without one. However, many programs issue invitations right up until the decision date. (Applicants who are interviewed later in the round aren’t usually disadvantaged, nor is it typically an indication of where they stand in the pool.) It’s also possible to get waitlisted without an interview, and then interviewed later, if the school decides to consider you more seriously.

Business school interviews are frequently misunderstood, both in terms of what they signify, and how to best prepare. If you are offered the opportunity, make sure that you’re ready to shine.

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 $80 million dollars in scholarships, and more than 98% have gotten into one of their top choice schools.