Chicago Booth alumni interview in US

刚面完Chicago Booth的interview，校友在Deloitte做Senior Consultant，地点在Starbucks。果然consulting的人特别能说。casual conversation，提前写信让我不用 dress up in business formal。一共大概1小时40分钟，后面40分钟是提问的时间，他给了我很多很有用的suggestion.

提问的问题除了why MBA, why now, why chicago, short term, long term goal之外，其他都是针对我的个人简历和个人经历来提的。听到有意思的东西或他想更多了解或他也想发表意见的时候，就会针对某个问题细问下去。没有Leadership, or teamwork or behavioral questions，感觉谈话很轻松。我想以后的面试也应该是以不变应万变，be yourself最重要！

昨天完成了Chicago的校友面试，整个过程感觉很拧巴，不知道是我的原因，还是面试官的原因。现在尽量客观地将过程描述下来，请以后的面友们对我的问题引以为戒，同时也能给我一些建设性意见。

过程如下（以下部分以M替代面试官，以W替代我）：
1、和校友约了下午五点会面。之前上网了解了下他的履历，国内本科，美国研究生，芝大MBA，现在做PE的中高层。由于是异地过来，我提前一小时到了现场，四点四十五发短信告知校友已到，校友五点十五到达大厦楼下的茶吧，解释工作忙，寒暄了几句，开始面试，全程以英文进行。

2、校友和我商议以何种方式进行面试，我心想对方还是比较随和的，简单商议了一下，我说我先简要自我介绍一下，然后由他进入提问程序。

3、我带了芝大的PPT，给他看了一些照片，简要介绍自己。对方没反应，开始按照时间顺序从学校到自己的几段工作，说到自己学校简称的时候被打断，问这是什么学校，解释了一下。追问为啥要选这学校，解释了一下。没反应，继续short-term goal, long-term goal, why Chicago过了一遍。M: any more。W: so much for my self-introduction。

4、进入提问程序，M：讲一个leadership的事例? 要求我按照situation-analysis-action-result的逻辑讲。W: 描述situation，大致上是我们公司在经营上遇到很大困难时，我是如何说服管理层，对组织架构和薪酬体系进行一些调整，从而调动员工积极性，提高运营效率的事例。被打断，说要听facts。我疑惑，又说了一些具体的细节。又被打断，说我描述的事例对他来说一点儿都不有趣，而且他不能理解我一管财务的为什么会懂管理，为什么会涉及运营方面的事情。我解释因为我们是一家年轻的公司，许多东西需要大家一起来完成，处在我财务管理的角度，要接触公司各个经营模块，并且经常和各部门的人交流，会发现一些问题，然后提出建议，并且和COO以及CEO一起来实施。M: 接触很多企业，会和CEO以及COO聊，但是不会和管财务的接触，不理解我为什么会参与到运营，觉得我的事例对他来说一点都不有趣，让我另外讲一个例子，但不要和他讲四大的经验，因为知道那并不有趣。交流似乎进入死局了。

5、你来我往地说了几句以后，我说了一个我承担责任的例子。他说"leaders are responsible, but responsible people are not necessarily leaders." 我有点闷住了，解释我对二者关系的理解，因为有责任心的对于工作的投入和专注会感染到身边的人，等等.......他不认可我的理解，leaders should inspire people......我说那willing to take initiatives应该算吧，刚想再说一个事例吧....他说这个问题就到此为止了，下一个问题...

6、M: 平时喜欢干什么，自我介绍时我已说过，就简要再说一次，补充喜欢看历史书。M: 为什么，W:简要解释。M:最感兴趣的历史认识是谁，因为最近看解放和建国大业比较多，脱口而出，毛主席。M:为什么，W:艰难条件下的乐观主义，能感染人的理想主义，以及认识到当时的主要矛盾，利益分配做的很好。M:你所描述的，我可以想出一百万，五十万都是乐观的，理想主义的，有什么特别的。W: 无语。M:我来给你举个例子，我最喜欢的历史人物是乔治华盛顿，因为他是古今中外唯一一个可以加冕为王但是自己放弃王位的人。W:我们看人物要结合特定的情况，要透过现象看到本质，华盛顿当时没有做王，客观上也是基于美国的宗教传统，还有民主观念已经深入人心，实际上当时主张民主共和的力量很强大，他及时想做王也做不了。而你我在风和日丽的时候皆可说自己很乐观很理想主义，但是几万人面对几十万强大的敌人便不可如此。 M:你说的还是不独特，你描述的profile可套用到周恩来，邓小平。W:之前中共换了几拨领导人，但是因为老毛这种无以伦比的特质，使得他成为the chosen one。M:那是因为他是头，你听不到周和邓发出的声音。你这么看待毛，是因为没有在国外呆过，你知道老外是怎么看待毛的？ W: (心想他所看到的东西难道就不是biased材料吗) 或许我没有看很多，我对他的很多作为也知道一些，对残暴行为（希望此处不会被和谐）持保留意见，但是不影响我对他的兴趣。M:你知道我是怎么看待毛的吗，他就是一个机会主义者。

似乎交流有些火药味了... ...

7、进入下一个问题。M: 我本科时最喜欢的课程。W: English Essay。简单描述理由，学习了西方一些历史上的character以及他们的思想。M:举例。W:林肯，在南北战争之后主张和解和原谅，使得战争创伤肯以更好弥合。M:和刚才问题一样，没有什么特别的。不要告诉我一些别人告诉你的，比如我崇拜华盛顿的原因，不是任何人告诉我的，而是我自己发现的（此处我又有些无语了）.....继续，W:南方的李将军，死前参加村镇里教会修缮的会议，提出他要捐献20美金。回到家里，死前最后一句话是他出那20美金。戎马一生的一个伟人，始终想着giving back to the community，挺inspiring。M:这有什么特别的，没看报纸，前几天一对夫妇去世前将所有钱交了党费，为什么李将军inspire到你，而这对老人没有，你没读这个故事？ W:我看到这则新闻，觉得也很inspiring。M:那你能不能告诉我特别一点的，绝无仅有的。W:我看待问题角度可能有所不同，我觉得有些人或有些事对我有所感染，就会记住，而不去考证它是否独有。

8、继续下一个问题，M:有没有你对一个组织产生不为人知的影响的事例? W:到西部做志愿者项目，帮助美国人消除和当地餐厅服务员之间的误解，其中服务员用了servant一词。M:你应该用server, servant带有侮辱的意思，你学英语的应该知道。尴尬....

9、M:用五个形容词描述你自己的优点，你知道形容词的意思吧。 W: willing to take .... M: ONE word, so no willing.....说完五个，继续问我，说了十个。中途表示我的沟通能力有问题。 M:再用五个形容词描述你自己的缺点，给你两分钟时间。 W: （自嘲）沟通能力不行吧。M:这个我不会写上，写上你就直接挂了。
在他的倒计时中，说了两个。

10、M: Why Chicago? 由于之前自我介绍时说了好几条理由，心想就不重复了，补充一条，地理位置也是我考虑的因素，LP正在申请伊利诺伊的会计专业，这样可以离的近点。M:你知道香槟分校离芝大多远？W:200多英里。M:开车要四个小时，你们这样有什么意义？W: (无语) 这样比离1000多英里也要好些。M:那你们也可以去纽约，比如NYU。W:对她来说，香槟比NYU更加容易些。M: 香槟也是个好学校啊。W: LP已经和香槟分校的教授联系过了，去香槟比去NYU可能性大些。M:听上去像是你为了迁就她而申请Chicago。W:两人需要总体考虑，找一个平衡的选择。M: you give me better reasons。W: 喜欢芝加哥的文化，比较down-to-earth，collabrotive。M: how do you know? W: 有朋友在芝大..... M: （做笔记）为什么我问了你这么多，你才告诉我这个.....

11、M:career goal? W:corporate finance......进入MBA以后要学习strategy和marketing方面的知识，因为他们和corporate finance也是密切相关的....
M:你的career goal不够convincing，marketing和你的long-term goal不相干，而且学markeing不用去MBA。 W:我没说我要做marketing... M：那你的沟通能力有问题....

又问了一些minor questions，说面试结束，没有给我提问机会。然后开始用中文交谈，告诉我一些feedback，总结几个问题：一开始pitch不好，认为我communication有问题，他本科去了美国，发现很多中国学生有这方面问题，presentation不好，如果以后申请要好好准备。指出我的PPT不行，他不喜欢有那么多图片，也不喜欢有文字，举例麦当劳的多好，就一个字母，简洁明了。当然他觉得我是一个nice guy，英语OK，可能因为我专业的关系。我强调了一下自己serious about MBA application。被反驳，everybody's serious about MBA application，跟我算了一笔帐，申请费+各种考试费，以后还有学费+两年的机会成本.....又说了芝加哥的经历对他来说是很大的挑战......等等

最后说给我一张名片，口袋里掏出扔在桌子上......有点无语

整个过程大概一个半小时。感觉全程一直受到challenge，后半段面试官想传达给我讯息是芝加哥很难，每年的申请人有六七千，所以要找好的申请者，把这个盘子做好，而我的回答不行，但是他在帮助我挖掘我的亮点。

感觉面试比较失败，可能自己风格和面试官不搭，或者在面试准备上还有软肋

Chicago Booth Interview (Nov 16)

It was a cold Monday morning in Chicago.  My interview was in Harper Center (on campus) and was conducted by a 2nd year student.  Her background was in consulting and will transform that into marketing.  The interview was supposed to last 30 minutes.  Mine was about 35-40 minutes long.  I think at least 40-50 were interviewed for my day... and 90% of us were males!!!

The standard/expected:

Why now?



Why Chicago?



What unique background/experience would you bring to Chicago?



What's your role in a team?



Tell me about a team project you liked and why?



Career plan?  Intended concentrations?



Leadership style?



Your strengths?

The somewhat unexpected:

If you were a CEO of a company, give me 3 reasons why I should work for you?



If money isn't an issue, what would you do with your career?



Who do you admire and why?




Conclusion:

Anything you want to add that I didn't cover?



Questions for me?

Chicago Booth Beijing Hub Interview 11.19

今天回来太赶了，写的比较简单，再补充一下

首先感谢hagendaz jj给我的指导，收获很多。

面试官今天面了4个人, 我排第三个。在一个酒店大堂，面试官在IB PE都做过，现在自己做合伙人了

问题都很常规，

go through resume

career goal（long and short）（long term goal被他challenge了。。。人家是行家。。。）

why booth

leadership experience

what other schools applied, which will go if get offers from all(这个我回答的方面他不是很满意好像，追问了我好多。。。)

还有一个就是用三句话描述自己可以stand out的地方。

然后就到我问问题了。。。

每个人都只有30分钟，感觉没怎么样就过去了，而且这个面试官上来先自我介绍了5分钟。。。我晕。。。

其他的想不起来了。。。


总的来说，面试官还是很nice的，之后把我们四个人都留下了，又聊了些booth在课程上和community上的特点，大家互助等等。

先想起来这么多，其他的可以等另三位牛牛同学补充补充。。。

祝大家都能拿到自己的dream school 的offer！

大年初七CHICAGO BOOTH 北京面试

先要谢谢我的面试官，一个很NICE的北京兄弟，做VC来的。

言归正传，今天的面试非常的standard。 没有太多费话和穷聊，面试官先看了我的简历，然后介绍了他的背景（哈强哈强的！），然后就给我说了下整个面试的流程，他需要了解的信息。然后直奔主题。

1. walk through your resume
TIPS: 我觉得WALK THROUGH RESUME的时候要尽量突出自己的PERSONALITY，且HIGHLIGHT我们的ACHIEVEMENTS，而不是一味的重复简历里的数据。那些面试官自己看也能看的懂，我觉得我们不用浪费时间重复信息。

2.就简历里有两段GAP问了一下。一段是我大学毕业到去英国读书之间的一年，一段是我工作中的三个月。

3. 我在PR公司的同时，也在创业，就这个时间问了个问题。

4. 问了我CAREER GOAL， WHY MBA， WHY SCHOOL
TIPS：我觉得这个其实是最重要的问题之一。一定要想明白，自己的长短期目标，根据这个目标，我为啥要读MBA，为什么要选这个学校。多做RESEARCH，多和校友沟通，你会有很多不一样的INSIGHT。

5. 问了我的WEAKNESS， HOW TO IMPROVE

6. 让我用三个词儿概括我自己，让我快速的说出三个方面可以让我stand out in Booth
TIPS：我在准备这个题目的时候，我曾经问我的朋友我最大的三个优点是什么，或者让他们最IMPRESSIVE的三个性格。然后结合我对自己的了解，选择三个方面去写，并且要和ESSAY，推荐信保持一致。

最后我也问了面试官两个问题。

整个面试时间并不长，差不多40分钟吧，但是感觉还是挺轻松的。BOOTH的校友并没有传说中那么TOUGH甚至说是不讲礼貌。我觉得，在面试的时候，还是要记住我们是在PRESENT OURSELVES，而不是去真的和人探讨一个学术问题。

反正，现在只能等待了，无论结果怎样，我都想说，我尽力了，对于我那样的背景出来，那样的分数，我能拿到BOOTH的面试，我已心存感激了。昨天，去OFFER寺，跪在菩萨前，我求心想事成，我知道，无论菩萨有没有听到，我听到自己心里的声音，这条谁走都不容易，但是，不管怎样，走过就是一种经历，那也算值得了。

Chicago Booth MBA Interview Share

今天傍晚时分和面试官见了面。老美，98年的校友，Senior的CFO。耗时1小时多一点点。

人很nice，没有挑战我。只问了几个很基本的问题：

1. 介绍工作经历
2. Career goal
3. why chicago

后来就和我大谈特谈讨论Chicago的好处，他超爱Chicago，非常active的alumni。

期间，也穿插了一些有关我要做的未来目标在中国怎么发展啊之类。我也举例说明我的一些thinking和fact以及sample company等等。包括从我的经历来看，我将来想要做什么具体的function之类。

还给了我不少建议，将来如果读书，要特别注意不要只是埋头读书啊之类的，因为他说他知道中国学生超爱死读书，他说要多Network。这个才是最有价值的，他说准备申请过程最辛苦，申请完了，读书并不辛苦。

还有虽然在Chicago要读Finance，如果主要将来要做管理的话，没有必要读的太深入等等，因为将来用不到，会有Staff帮你弄。所以选课和精力分配要有正确的focus。呵呵，还挺具体，有道理。

最主要的话题，就是不断在说Chicago的各种各样的事情和人之类的，幸亏之前做了一些功课，东拉西扯都还能牵扯的上，好悬。

在面试前，本来很没有底，以为会像朋友一样遇到很Tough的人，但总体看来，我接触下来的Chicago的人倒是都还挺好的。

在面试中，因为他基本都没有怎么问我typical的问题，很多时候，我只能自己想办法见缝插针把自认好的优势说出来，比如对学校的commitment的举例啊，要随机应变。

另外，要争取在面试前多了解你的面试官，确实对于准备面试会有一些帮助。

继续开始漫长的等待。

大家要加油哦，一定要尽力做好充分的准备。

北美chicago and wharton interview

做的很滥, 我已经绝望了。

chicago 是个IB的, 问的很标准, why chicago, why mba...就是strength/weakness是我没准备的, 我也没想到校友会问这个，但是他并不问什么goal，他自己都说goal是会change的，这个还挺实在的。

wharton是consulting的，问题更标准，我觉得就是把first essay说了一次,就结束了，好象连我的resume都没看过。

两个都30-40分钟，我问的问题大概比他们问我的问题还多，也没有leadership/teamwork的，本来想硬说的，后来也没说，完全没有connection，完了。

赶紧写second round的essay，本来都不想写了。

chicago booth campus interview

可能后面还有同学面30号的，在这里给大家汇报一下我的两天之行。我面的一般，有些问题答得不好，希望看帖的朋友给些意见。

1。学校：周一参加了visit program，真是印象深刻。以前看面经说学生怎么热心，合作的氛围怎么好，我都以为是表面的客套话。自己去了才真正明白了是毫不夸张的评价。也正因为学生们的积极参与，我想在booth, student admission officer参与essay evaluation是可行和有意义的。

2。面试：面我的是2年级的mckinsey consultant，很正式，问问题的顺序常规，而且他已经很仔细的看过我的简历了。他说预计20分钟，实际40分钟。
（1）解释简历上两个2007-present, 2009-present的职业经历
我错以为是介绍职业经历，被打断后才明白自己的简历没写清楚full-time, part-time，他只是想quickly clarify

（2）role in teams
I said no matter I am a team member or leader, I am a team player. And how I did that in a team experience.

（3）他说你这是两个人的小组，还是个比较好的team experience,有没有不好的经历？

（4）why mba, why now, why come to booth?
我是想创业的，所以原因比较直接易懂，他没有纠缠，说booth的时候我说了entrepre concentration, new venture challenge and internship,只是说了有些课感兴趣，他没有问名称，我就没有多说。然后提了头一天的visit的感受，他还比较高兴。

（n）contribute to booth
I mentioned classroom participation, sport team. He was curious what that sport is.

（n+1）课外活动，课外活动怎样帮助了我的创业
一点意外的问题，我说不是直接帮助，而是通过和成功创业的人交流学到东西，得到network

（n+2）大概是ec中我的role是什么，怎么锻炼leadership

(n+3) 有没有补充的？
这种问题我总是不会答：I thought for a few seconds and said I want to add my leadership style and experience: a story of my recruiting start-up members. 有点长，有点和team experience 重复，答完了很后悔。

我问他三个问题，他很认真的答了，然后说严重超时，就送我出去了。

3．感受：visit中认识了一个consultant出身的同伴，我们一直聊到上飞机，觉得美国小孩真都是人精阿，懂得how to sell, how to diverge the conversation towards your familiar topics, how to read interviewers. 跟他说完觉得自己在面试中那些被动的生硬的回答，唉，一声叹息：第一个面世居然拿booth操刀了。

CHICAGO 校友面试@ 香港

The interview took place in a coffee/restaurant setting in HK. He was a SVP from an asset management firm.

The interview was fairly casual. He started by asking me to talk about my post-secondary expereriences. But just to give him a better understanding of myself, I briefed him  on some of my older expereinces that have played a significant role in shaping my life.

After my briefings, he concentrated his questions on my experiences, such as extracuriccular activities at university, and my most recent job role.

He asked me about my strengths that have led to my successes at work, and weaknesses that I could improve. Also asked about why Chicago. However, we didn't really talk much about why MBA or my long term goals, which was a surprise to me.

The interview lasted about an hour. I did most of the talking, and he jotted notes. Thinking back, when I was answering, I forgot to mention about some of my plus points, because I was planning to talk abotu it when he asks me more questions -- but it didn't happen.

I am not sure of what to make of the interview. Hopefully it was a positive experience and now comes the dreaful waiting.

Round 2 / Alumnus / On-campus (Published March 22nd, 2010)

Had my interview on campus on a Saturday morning. There were some Booth students in the lobby who served as greeters and answered questions before we were called into rooms for our respective interviews. I also took the opportunity to take advantage of scheduled tours of the Harper Center as well as a sandwich lunch with current students to get a better perspective of the program. I interviewed on the weekend due to work commitments, however my advice would be to interview / visit during the week to get a better feel for the school as it was pretty quiet when I visited. My interviewer was an alumnus who was friendly (though didn’t give much away during the interview) and was especially positive about his school and alumni experiences. The interviewer hadn’t had a chance to read my resume beforehand so we started with a walk-through.

Questions:

Resume walk-through (interviewer asked me to focus on why I pursued different jobs and activities)
Why Booth and why Chicago
How will I contribute to the community
Where do I want to live after school
Any questions
The interview took about 30 minutes. We had to wrap up quickly as we were running out of time in the end so only got a chance to ask a handful of questions. Besides the standard set of questions, I would advise potential interviewees to prepare also by

consider why you have decided to pursue a certain path / activity or career option
ensure you are to the point (but not too scripted) in answering questions – 30 minutes went very quickly.

Round 2 / Alum / Off-Campus (Published February 19th, 2010)

The interview took place in a coffee shop. I reached 30 minutes before time and took time to settle down and got myself a coffee. I was dressed in business formals and waited till the alum arrived. He was a 2007 graduate. He had a copy of my resume with him. He got himself a coffee and we sat down to talk. He explained that the interview would go in as just another input to the whole application process and is just a way to verify what I wrote in the essays. He started asking questions then for about an hour and after that I asked him a few questions. The questions were all familiar b-school interview questions. He maintained good eye contact throughout and was NOT taking down any notes. It was a very long interview (1.5 hours)!

It was a pleasant experience and there was no stress at all. The interviewer was really helpful and gave a lot of insights about the school and the curriculum. He also had a lot of advice to give regarding the choice of career. He offered to talk later as well if I needed any help. I was very impressed with his eagerness to help.

Learning Points: Coffee shops can be tricky places for interview as they can get very noisy. Make sure you choose the quietest corner possible. Also, the alum was under the impression that I was a round 3 applicant which I found out pretty late in the interview but I immediately corrected him.

Questions:

Walk me through your resume and he asked follow-up questions about a few specific projects I had done.
Why MBA? Why now?
Leadership experience, Failure experience
How will you use these experiences at Booth.
You will not meet most of you classmates after the two years at school. How will you make sure you learn the most from this distinguished set of people? How will YOU make sure they learn from you? He later said that he was trying to basically ask: Why would you be a good fit at Booth?
He picked up two extra curricular activities listed on my resume and asked me to explain.
He asked me to pick up one substantial accomplishment that I am proud of. I picked a community service project.
Anything else that the Adcom should know.
Questions

Round 2 / 2nd year student / On-campus (Published February 13th, 2010)

The campus visit was very well organized. I was impressed by the facilities in Harper center. My interviewer, a 2nd year student, was very friendly. He first explained to me that the interview is more like a conversation. He told me that he had received my resume only 5 mins before the interview and that he did not read my application. He told me that they wanted to keep it that way in order to paint an unbiased picture of me as part of the application.

Here are the questions - more or less in the same order.

Q. From my resume (he exclaimed that i was all over the world) - he asked me to describe how I transitioned from place A to place B (both geographically far away) A. I explained why that transition was challenging and how I handled it. Filled in details about my role, how i secured the job in place B.
Q. Tell me about a project/activity you executed in your latest stint A. explained a people/leadership role which made an impact on the company, personnel
Q. Why booth?
Q. Why mechanical engineering?
Q. An unusual, interesting question: say you have graduated yesterday, what would you be doing now? -- another way of asking: what's your short term goal.
Q. What are your hobbies?
Q. Anything else you want to be included in the package?
Q. Any questions for me?
Overall, Booth visit was a great experience.

Round 2 / Alum / Off-campus (Published February 1st, 2010)

I interviewed for the R2 at Chicago Booth with an alumni and off campus ( I am an international candidate). We met at his office and he received me 10 minutes before our appointment (I arrived a little early). The interview was overall a great experience, and relaxed. - It lasted a little over an hour and he asked me if I was fine spending a little more time in our conversation (which I obviously was). It flowed like a conversation and he kept following up on my answers. In the end, it felt very natural, but covered all the basics:

Walk me through your resume and highlights in your experience
Why did you chose your under graduate degree
How did you chose your industry / current job
Major accomplishments
An example of once you have failed
Why an MBA
Why now?
What do you expect from Booth?
Why Chicago Booth?
Which other schools are you applying to?
What leadership experiences you have? How is your interaction day to day with your team?
What do you expect from your MBA in the long term?
What are you specializing in?
What are the differences you've found between different nationalities while working in a multinational?
How is a regular day in your line of work?
Your relationship with your current supervisor?
Why changing careers?
Questions for me (I focused on his experience, clubs, how he chose his line of work, and living in Chicago)
Overall, friendly and relaxed. We did discussed in detailed what was the point of difference that made Chicago my first choice, and he went in depth into that. I recommend having a clear understanding on how Chicago is different from the other top programs and how those differences make it a better fit for you. My interview flowed as a continuity of follow up questions that felt like a very natural conversation. Also, it seemed like me having visited campus and understood the differences of Chicago vs. my other options was a high point of the conversation. I was nervous, and ended up feeling like I was the one setting the pace of the interview.

Round 1 / 2nd Year Student / On-campus (Published January 12th, 2010)

I applied in Round 1 and interviewed on campus in mid-November with a 2nd year student. The whole process was pretty friendly and relaxed. While waiting in the admissions office for my interview students would come in and just sit and talk with us, to answer any of our questions and put us at ease. It was a nice touch. Questions I was asked:

Walk me through your resume.
Why MBA?
Why now?
Why Chicago Booth?
What will you contribute at Chicago Booth?
How will you engage the city of Chicago? (I was a little confused by this one, my interviewer was not a native English speaker, and I don't think the intent of her question came across correctly)
Do you have any questions for me?
As mentioned above, the tone of the interview was very relaxed and friendly. There was certainly a focus on why I wanted an MBA (she asked a follow-up question to my answer) and why Chicago Booth. My interviewer seemed intent on focusing on why Chicago in particular, so I would recommend having a strong answer as to how Chicago is the best place for you.

Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus (Published December 1st, 2009)

I was interviewed by an alumn off-campus in his business office. The whole interview lasted for approximately 1 hour, where the last 15 minutes were dedicated for my questions towards him. It was a pretty casual talk. Being international, my interview was conducted in English, which I did not expect.

He took a look at my resume and asked me to briefly walk him through it. He then made the following questions:

Why did you choose to work with my current employer?
What have been my successes so far?
What do I plan to do after my MBA?
Why do I think now is the best time for an MBA?
Why Chicago Booth?
Which other MBA programs did I apply to?
Which is my top choice?
What was my undergraduate experience like?
Which was my favorite undergraduate course, why?
What do my parents do for a living?
Do I plan to join the family's business? Why?
What impression did I get when I visited Chicago Booth's campus?
I felt very confident at the end because I felt I was talking to a friend.

Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus (Published November 30, 2009)

I had an offcampus interview with an alum in New Delhi. Hope these might help prospective applicants to Booth

Where did you do your schooling from ?
Asked about a hobby.
Why did you leave your previous firm ?
What is your current role in your new firm ? Describe your current project.
Which was your favourite course in college and why ?
Mention your experience of working in teams.
Mention a time when you resolved conflicts.
If you could change one thing about your current Project Manager what would it be ?
Why do you want to pursue an MBA and why now ?
Career Goals.
What are your criteria for selecting a B School ?
Why Chicago Booth ?
From what all sources did your learn about Booth ?
Any questions for me ? (I asked 3-4)

Round 1 / 2nd year student / On-campus (Published November 25, 2009)

Interview was casual as expected - I got the feeling the interviewer did not come in with any agenda and came up with a lot of questions on the spot. Another thing I would say - I felt the interviewer was not very experienced with interviewing and felt she was nervous too! I was lucky that she asked me questions exactly in a way that let me highlight the things I wanted to - so overall, a great experience.

Main questions:

Why did you move from company A to company B? What were differences between them?
Why did you move from role X in your company to role Y in your company?
What are your short-term goals after Booth?
Why do you think Booth is a good place to help you achieve these short term goals?
Why now?
Why do you think you are a fit at Booth?
What do you do outside work?
Difficult team situation?
Strengths beyond the one obvious strength in your resume....
Do you have any questions for me?
No questions on long term goals - no grilling on extracurriculars, leadership etc.

For anybody interviewing over the next week, just relax, Rose Martinelli's advice on her blog was spot on.

Round 1 / 2nd year student / On-campus (Published November 20th, 2009)

Interview was pretty straightforward...only lasted for 20 minutes and then 10 minutes for questions.

Walk me through your resume
Why MBA and Why now?
Why Chicago Booth?
What clubs would you like to participate at Chicago Booth?
Short term and long term goals
Why are you interested in 'X' industry?
What is your leadership style?
What are you most proud of?
What qualities would you look for in your future job?
What would you do if MBA doesn't work out?
Why should Booth pick you?
Is there anything else that you would like to share?

Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus (Published November 8th, 2009; shared in My journey to an MBA class of 2012 Blog)

It went pretty well. It was with an alumn in a city outside the US (I am an international applicant). The guy was very straight forward and nice. He introduced himself, told me his career pre-mba and post-mba.

Then we started with the questions:

walk me through resume
why so much community work? (i did a lot of community activities!)
tell me the course you like the most during undergrad
when did you have a chance to apply that knowledge
some accomplishment at work
tell me atime you were frustrated at work
tell me a time you had to accept someones decision (like loosing a discussion)
tell me something that impressed you about spain.
Are you aware of chicago's line of thought?
why mba, why chicago, why now?
what do you think about the MBA and the financial crisis? do you think MBAs need a more human side?
he asked me to recommend him a book
I think it went quite well. It was no stellar though.