myice

Round 2 / Second Year Student / On-Campus (Published February 11th, 2010)

My interview was with a second-year student in a small conference room near the admissions office. I asked to move up my interview time because of some rescheduling I needed to do, and the admissions staff was very helpful in facilitating that. I didn't look at a clock, but I'd say the interview lasted from 30 to 40 minutes.

My interviewer started off by describing a little bit about himself. After that he looked over my resume and we talked through some f my various positions. He noted a couple of bullet points and asked me to explain them more in-depth. After that he covered the basic "why MBA", "why now", "why Yale" questions, followed by a discussion of my career goals and plans immediately following graduation. After that he answered a few of my questions, and later, via email, he put me in touch with some other students interested in the same things I am. He was friendly and professional, and the whole experience was more like a conversation than an interview. All the other interviewees I talked to said their interview went well too, so a positive feeling seems to be the norm.

My advice: be able to expound on your resume, know how you can tie some of the bullet points into the classic interview stories you should have at hand, and work on your transitions. Even if a question doesn't directly address something you want to say, you can sometimes reasonably transition to something you do want to talk about. Lastly, I'd recommend scheduling your interview for 2:30 pm or later so you have the opportunity to sit in on two classes during the day. That way you'll have more to talk about during the chit-chat moments before and after the interview.

Good luck!

myice

Round 1 / Adcom / On-campus (Published January 4th, 2010)

The visit was well organized and the atmosphere was welcoming. The woman who greeted all of the prospective students was helpful and warm. I was able to attend two classes. The Director of Admissions took time to speak to the group in an informal, open setting.

Apparently all of the interviews that day were supposed to be conducted by second years but were conducted by adcom instead as the second years had the flu.

The first question was "What did you do for fun in high school?" It would have taken me quite off-guard if some fellow interviewees had not told me before I went in that they were asked this question. From there, we walked through my school/career path, and I spoke about why I made the choices I made. Specifically, she asked about my majors, my extracurriculars, what I considered my greatest achievement at work, and what projects I was currently working on for my company. I had time abroad in my interviewers home country, so she asked more personal questions about that. We spent a good portion of time talking about my future career plans, be prepared to be very specific and have a logical path to speak about. At the end, I asked several questions about the school and her background. The interview lasted exactly 30 minutes.

I was surprised at how difficult it was to make the interview into a conversation. My interviewer was very clipped and hard to read. She asked a few follow up questions but not as many as I expected (i.e. make sure you answer each question in full - you might not have a chance to clarify if you do not). I did not have a great feeling after the interview, but in the end I suppose it went well - I was accepted!

myice

Round 1 / Adcom / On-campus (Published February 10th, 2009)

I had a positive experience interviewing with a member of the Yale admissions committee. With my previous experiences (an interview at another school and a mock interview with a Yale student), I felt relatively prepared, and I think it helped me loosen up for my session. Though most of the reports I’ve read mentioned that 2nd year students held the interviews, I was scheduled during break time and mentally prepared for a member of the admissions committee. This turned out to be a good choice, as I did get an adcom member for my interview. The others waiting at my time slot had a student for their interview.

My interviewer was very relaxed and easygoing throughout, and that made me feel comfortable. I tried my best to do the same, smile, and not appear too uptight. That said, I did realize it was still a formal interview, and made sure to include as many key points as possible.

Questions given:

Small talk – where the interviewer was from, where I was from
What did you do in high school?
Why did you pick your college?
Tell me about your major and why you picked it.
What did you do after college?
So what are your goals?
Why an MBA?
Why a Yale MBA?
What will you do with your company while at Yale?
Any questions for me?
Though we were overtime by a few minutes, I was still allowed to ask a couple of questions.

I had a good feeling after this interview. Fortunately, it seems the admissions committee might have felt the same, and later I was thrilled to receive an acceptance from them.

My thoughts:

Yale specific – Based on my interview and what I’ve read of others, there’s a lot of focus on the “why” and choices made at every major point. I believe the purpose isn’t to see if you were a super star from the beginning of time, but rather to get an in-depth picture of what makes you tick. In my case, I hadn’t really done anything or found my way until the end of college. I let the interviewer know that, but I also tied it in with the progression of my story.
Yale specific – Sometimes, the questions “what would you do on campus/how would you contribute/how did you show leadership” don’t get asked, so be prepared your most important points from these questions into other answers. Most likely, they would fit under the “tell me about your career” and “why Yale” questions.
General - Keep it like a conversation. Yes, I read this one a million times, but until I had both interviews, I didn’t know how to distinguish the two. In my first interview, I had prepared so much that my answers were like water bursting through a dam – a bit overwhelming and definitely going one way. At my Yale interview, I made sure to take some pauses, occasionally confirm a question from the interviewer, ask my questions based on what the interviewed talked about, and in general, tried to engage the interviewer as a person instead of as an audience.
General – I had 30 minutes in my mind, but I had no idea how short it really is until it was over. Considering the standard question and answer period is 3-5 minutes, it can even be shorter. I shortened the answers to my major questions to about 2-3 minutes, and my other answers to about a minute.

myice

Round 1 / Second Year Student / On-Campus (Published February 6th, 2009)

I applied to R1 and I visited the school for the interview. My interview was taken by second year student. He had not seen my application. The interview was very much informal and I felt that the school had already made up its mind about the decision

Why undergraduate major
Why first job
Short term goals
Why Yale
Example where I have worked with people with different style
Any one from Yale I have talked to.
Any questions from me.

myice

Round 1 / On-campus / Second Year Student (Published January 16th, 2009)

I interviewed on Dec. 18th, the last day of exams so there were no classes to visit. Many of the candidates I met were from diverse backgrounds (a reporter, someone who had worked in public school management, alternate energy, etc.) which adds to Yale's appeal if you aren't looking to be in a traditional MBA environment.

My interviewer was a second year student who had reviewed my resume quite extensively before I entered. We had some interests in common and we discussed them extensively. Key questions are below.

What I was asked

Why did you pick your university and later why your major?
Walk me through your resume
Why MBA?
Why Yale?
What extracurriculars at Yale are you interested in? Who have you spoken to?
Give me an example of time when you led a group through a difficult period. How did you motivate the team?
Discuss one of your extra
What I asked

Tell me about how you got to Yale?
What do you think of the change in leadership? (SOM had a new dean as of Fall 2008)
I asked her opinion about changes to the leadership in the Program on Social Enterprise
What do you like about New Haven?
Overall it was a stimulating and challenging interview. One twist was that she asked me about other clubs on campus beyond the ones I initially mentioned (question 5). I discussed one that I was interested but which I hadn't thoroughly researched. She was surprised that I hadn't researched the club and proceeded to mention two people I should get in touch with. I made a mental note to contact these individuals later and mention them to the interviewer in my follow thank you email.

My advice: Come prepared but be relaxed. The interviewers are smart and have personality so just be confident and be yourself.

myice

MBA面经及一点心得分享
Per request, 补一下面经，顺便分享一点心得:

2月份在学校跟第二年学生面的，我是投行背景，他是投行方向，所以我做过的他都比较了解。面试当天早上到admissions office, 先是学生带着tour，大家都很热情，然后跟学生和其他applicants一起吃午饭，之后去面试。面试主要围绕我的简历，问题包括：

先问我对学校印象如何，我说很好，刚在admissions 门口喝了街头卖的蘑菇咖喱汤，很美味，面试关说那是第一天开始卖，好像是学生做来卖的
Start with High School, what was your experience like in high school (我说了一下我来美之后的文化冲击和挑战，参加乐队等）
Why did you choose your undergrad college? What was your college experience like (我说了我喜欢的课程，公益活动，社团活动，还说我本科学校也很小，200人左右，我很喜欢小学校的感觉，每个同学老师都认识）
Why did you choose to intern at X company? Why did you choose to work at Y company? (我把这些工作中最有意思和跟我未来目标有关联的部分大概介绍了一下）
Looks like you are accomplished already, why do you want to get an MBA and why Yale? (我说首先我需要Yale的名气，因为以后回国或去别国工作会有人没有听说过我本科的学校，还需要Yale SOM 以及 broader Yale University的校友network, 还有它的综合教育，因为我本科学的很专）
好像是问我有没有想补充的/问他的问题，我借机会说我现在工作繁忙但每周抽时间Volunteer, 帮助黑人和西班牙裔高中生申请大学，从他们身上学到的东西比我可以教给他们的东西多多了，感觉yale学生都很乐于助人所以觉得这种话一定要说出来，还说了我帮助现在的公司招募新职员，跟校友和申请人讲我的工作等
I just have one last question for you, if your boss told you that you have a day off, what would you do (I work 7 days a week)? (我那时已经说累了，鼓起所有的力气很兴奋的把我平时的爱好说了一气）
面试总共40分钟，出门时他还问我是不是想好了真要上mba,我心说废话，然后跟他说是阿，我大四就考了G，早就想好了
这个成功的面试是之前几个不成功面试的积累，之前我就很passive,人家问什么我就答什么，回答简短不知道推销自己。自己的亮点明明还没有说，最有人家问我有没有补充的时候只弱弱地问几个问题。不过后来也有过几个不错的面试可最后也都没有offer,所以这些申请还是很random的。。我还记得一开始大家都告诉我面试时候要Be yourself， 还有人说我比较内向但没关系，因为商学院想要各种各样的人，如果我完美的话就不需要去商学院了。之后才明白商学院就是喜欢外向会表达自己的啊！

我6个面试之后最大的教训就是： DON'T just be yourself! SELL YOURSELF!!! And be as energetic and passionate as possible, if you feel your energy pouring out as you talk and feel exhausted afterward, you've had the best interview to your ability.

终于结束了这个漫长的申请过程，其实收获的感觉并不是得到结果的一刻，收获和成长是来自这一路一步一步的每一份酸甜苦辣。我还记得我刚来美国一个土包子不会说英文没有朋友被大家取笑，还记得高三没考上Ivy 去了二流学校，然后千辛万苦转进Ivy, 还记得大四时候修6门课，做社团主席，复习GMAT忙得要死时男朋友跟我分手，还有在投行每周工作100小时还得抽空+连夜写8个学校的申请，调查研究，跟朋友校友打听每所学校，准备面试，其间新男朋友跟我分手。。。这一路走来，不变的是父母，恩师和朋友的支持啊，否则我也没有力气和勇气走到这里!

myice

Yale MBA面试归来
是ADMISSIONS DIRECTOR BRUCE面试我的，旁边一个二年级学生学习。30分钟真的过得很快，好多没来得及说，接下来，就是等待了。

被问了：

WHY MY MAJOR
WHY CHOSE MY GRADUATE SCHOOL
WHY MBA
WHY YALE
HOBBY
还有就是因为我的背景是SCIENCE，Bruce就问了很多关于我专业的问题，因为他都不了解。这一部分是我没准备的，就深入浅出的给他讲了一下。然后我问了2个问题。

myice

In@Columbia and Yale附面经
I did the interview with Columbia yesterday. Amazingly, I got the email notification today. The alum is a very knowledgeable New Yorker who graduated from Columbia in 1982. He asked me the exactly same question as Zombie provided in my last post. I didn't prepare in advance, but I honestly told him that a frank conversation will help both of us to see if this is the right fit. He said he really liked my personality and career goals, think I can fit into Columbia student body really well. So he would definitely vote for me. Then, I got the offer today...

我迟到了一分钟。不过校友真得挺好，在愉快的气氛中侃大山了一小时。问到的问题跟Zombie说的差不多 - My interviewer told me he had a list of questions he has to ask and provide feedback.  

至于我自己，官方的版本是很有决心要念，其实现在我还在耶鲁，Columbia，牛津，剑桥之间犹豫。

其实是在读一年还是读两年，读一个专业排名高的，还是一个综合好的。
考虑到现在的job market和自己现在比较好的工作前景，我也不知道是不是应该先在去念还是defer?
Here is the list of questions of Columbia interview-

walk me through your resume （中间interviewer会对感兴趣的地方提问)
short and long-term goals
why Columbia GSB
leadership / teamwork experience
how to deal with an ethical dilemma
something about yourself (like hobbies...)

myice

今天上午刚刚在Yale面完，发帖攒人品。

这周开始放春假，所有二年级学生都跑路了，所以是adcom的人面的。

其实跟前人说的都差不多：

walkthrough resume
why MBA?
why Yale?
contribution to Yale?
do you have any questions?
强烈建议参加campus tour，可以得到很多有用的信息。我是面试前一天参加的。

还有，resume上非常强调why的问题，基本所有问题都是关于why的，基本没有涉及到简历上我的experience。

基本就这些，祝大家好运！

myice

Yale R2 interview @Hong Kong

It lasted 30 minutes, held in a conference room in a hotel.

Interviewed by an admission representative.

Beside typical yale questions,

what you did for fun in high school?
thesis/project for undergraduate school?
Five words describe you by your boss?
Hope this helps.

Cheers,