Nikki Asked Sandy To Be ‘Extra Mean’ In A Mock Interview: Here Is What Happened

Nikki Gupta, co-founder of an edtech startup in London and an MBA applicant

Nikki Gupta is a gutsy entrepreneur. Co founder of an educational startup in London, she now wants to get an MBA from a prestigious European business school. With a 700 GMAT and a successful entrepreneurial venture, Gupta has her sights set on either London Business School or University of Cambridge Judge Business School.

She’s a compelling candidate. Born in the United Kingdom, raised in Saudi Arabia for six years and then in Delhi for seven years, Gupta returned to London at the age of 14. She has a bachelor’s degree with first class honors in mathematics from University College London and a master’s in actuarial science from Cass Business School. After a stint with KPMG, she co-founded in 2014 MarkIt, an edtech startup for high school STEM teachers and students.

Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com

Gupta raised £320,000 (or nearly $450,000) over three years from angel investors, led the development of an interactive learning platform, recruited and managed a team of four people and successfully introduced a series of products that are now used in 200 schools. She now wants an MBA to leverage that entrepreneurial experience, gain knowledge and skills in the business basics and continue a career in the edtech space.

FOR HER MOCK MBA INTERVIEW, SHE ASKED SANDY TO BE ‘EXTRA MEAN’

To prep for an admissions interview, she not only volunteered for a mock interview session with Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com, a leading MBA admissions consultancy. She asked him to be “extra mean” in the mock, wanting the practice of a tough session to best prepare her for a successful interview. That’s also because, says Gupta, her friends and family have apparently been “too nice” in practice.

Tell-it-like-it-is Sandy obliged. During a half-hour session today (April 20), in what was his fifth consecutive Friday’s With Sandy’s episode, he brought Gupta through all the most common questions MBA applicants face in an admissions interview, along with a few surprise queries.

To see how it all went down on our Friday’s With Sandy Facebook Live event, turn to the following page (only for Poets&Quants registered users). Meantime, make sure to join us next week at 2 p.m. EST on our Facebook page to see the next episode of Friday’s With Sandy live.

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