1.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
Mar 7, 2014 The interview was conducted in the Adcom member’s office and lasted for approximately 45 minutes.
Some of the questions asked were:
1. Tell me about you personally and professionally
2. Tell me about a leadership experience
3. Tell me about a time you could’ve taken the lead but instead contributed more as a team member –> this was perhaps the question that stumped me a little
4. Tell me about an international experience
5. What is one good piece of advice you’ve received from a leader, mentor or role model?
6. Tell me about a time when a team member wasn’t pulling his/her weight, and what did you do about it? The interview went like a conversation and the interviewer was very nice to me.
2.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-Campus
Mar 4, 2014
The interview was with an alumnus in his office, and overall very conversational and informal. I was asked fairly standard behavioral questions for the first ~45 minutes, and then we spent another 15 minutes talking about his experiences at Stanford. There were no curveball questions, but he definitely dug deep into each experience and was especially interested in my thought process. As previous posts mentioned, the best preparation is to reflect on your experiences and come up with 5-6 examples that you can discuss in detail. It’s really important to think about how you handled tricky situations and interpersonal dynamics.
Here’s a list of the questions asked:
1) Tell me about a time when you were really proud of what you accomplished (can be work / school / personal)
2) Tell me about a time when you saw and pursued an opportunity others did not
3) Tell me about a time when you stepped out and took on additional responsibilities on a team
4) Tell me about a time when you were part of a team that did not get along
5) Tell me about a time when you had to persuade others to achieve a goal
6) Why Stanford?
7) Questions for me
3.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumni / Off-Campus
Feb 26, 2014
The interview was in some company’s conference room, but was very conversational in business casual. I had not much in common with the alumni besides a hobby. Although the alumna had graduated in the mid 90′s, she knew where Stanford was headed and wanted to re-live the experience again. The first 35-40 minutes I was asked questions and each story dug deep into what I felt, said & did. The way questions were put forth, they were all related to work (did not get a chance to share personal stories). Hence, I had to come up with some stories from work in the spur of the moment.
1) What was your major accomplishment at company XYZ? 2) A time when you saw an opportunity others did not or you did something merely out of passion 3) As part of company X, tell me a time when you were part of a team that did not perform well 4) Tell me a time when you were part of a team that din’t gel well or there was poor leadership 5) Why MBA 6) Why Stanford 7) Questions for me 8) Anything else you would like to add
4.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus
Feb 25, 2014
My interview was scheduled with an ’04 GSB alum late in the day at his office. It started about 30-45m late.
At the time, the alumnus – a CEO of a small business in an industry adjacent to mine – was looking for a CFO and started off by discussing a potential candidate whom I knew given my work background (a little awkward). This, in turn, led to a brief discussion of our mutual connections / acquaintances. I got the sense that he didn’t think too highly of some of them, an opinion with which I disagreed (and stated as professionally as I could). I was unsure whether this portion of the conversation (~10m) was chit chat before the interview or part of it, but it didn’t help my already fraught nerves.
The interview then turned to more traditional behavioral questions: tell me about a time you failed, tell me about your proudest professional experience at [first job], tell me about [resume bullet point on my current job], what’s the one thing Stanford should know about you? I was nervous and (in retrospect) unprepared, and so I rambled in my answers to many of these questions.
We then proceeded to discuss Stanford (last ~10m). The alumnus argued pretty enthusiastically on behalf of the school, saying that the defining quality of the school and its students were the “niceness” of the students, and made a convincing case that it changed his life and certainly his career. This last bit left me feeling even more positive and enthusiastic about Stanford.
This was my weakest MBA interview, and I suspect it contributed to a rejection a week or so later.
5.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-Campus
Dec 18, 2013
I arrived on campus a half an hour before my interview begin. It was part of a full day of interviews, organized by the department of admissions, and lasted about 30 minutes.
Hope these questions help you for your interview. 1.Can you explain what you do in your daily work?
2.What would your co-workers say is your leadership style?
3. How do you show leadership at work?
4. Mention a project where you have been a leader?
5.How do you work with people from different cultures?
6. What do your co-workers say is your weakness?
7.How have you overcome this weakness?
8. Why would you choose our school’s MBA program?
6.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus
Nov 21, 2013
Alumnus asked me to meet him at a hotel bar. I was on time but he was 45 mins late.
The overall interview was very conversational. He did not take any notes and even declined to have a hard-copy of my resumé. He said he had already taken a look at it, and that would be enough for him.
This is how it went
- He introduced himself
- Resume walkthrough
- He talked about his own experience
- Why an MBA ? He insisted a lot on this question
- I asked about the alumni network in our country
- Discussion around family life in the Bay Area
Interestingly enough, I did not get any explicit behavioral questions. I am wondering how he managed to gather enough facts to write his review… He looked pretty confident that he had all he needed though.
He insisted that the interview was only one datapoint in the whole process, and that he wouldn’t know how my application is viewed as a whole. I guess that his job is mainly to make out whether an applicant has been lying in his written application or is just too antisocial to fit into the Stanford GSB community …
7.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off Campus
Dec 3, 2012
Interview was at the alumnus’ office. He had no information other than my resume, and while I often referenced my resume none of the questions were specific to anything on it.
Questions: - Why Stanford?
- Tell me about a time when you dealt with someone who was difficult. How did you handle that situation?
- Tell me about a time you worked well within a team
- Tell me about a time you faced a challenge at work and how you influenced the outcome
- What is your leadership style?
- What do you like to do outside of work?
- What do you plan on doing after business school?
Etc. Interviewer was overall very cordial, although he pushed me to discuss specifically what I had done in each of my stories. Spent the last 10-15 minutes hearing his story and asking him questions. Very conversational overall.
8.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-Campus (Local)
Dec 3, 2012
Typical info here: Blind interview by alum in my local City.
Questions: Did not start with the typical walk me through your resume, tell me about yourself. Instead we jumped right into the guts of the beast.
- Tell me about a time you worked with someone who was difficult.
- Tell me about a leadership experience.
- Why Stanford.
- Tell me about a time you stepepd outside your typical role.
A lot of conversation went with the interview, and there were some probing questions after I answered the original question.
9.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alum / Off Campus
Mar 5, 2012
I scheduled a breakfast meeting with a GSB alumnus this past Friday. Being that I had to drive 2 hours to get to the interview location, my interviewer might have been more flexible that usual when it comes to the meeting duration. It lasted for a little more than an hour and I was the one who did most of the talk. I did get 10 minutes or so to ask about his experience.
- Walk me through your resume. As I chose to start from my upbringing, he immediately asked how it affected as a person. The interviewer did interrupt a couple of other times to follow up on points I mentioned in passing.
- Why now? He said it is of particular importance given that I seem to really enjoy my current job (investment management)
- Why Stanford?
- Tell me about a time when you led a team
- Tell me about a time when you overstepped an authority
- Tell me about a time when you failed to reach your goals
Those are the bulk of his questions, though there were a few more that I can’t recall at the moment. A general theme is that were customized to my life stories.
My questions for the interviewer were focused on his experience, his expectations before matriculating at GSB and whether they were met/exceed/re-shaped. His answers were particularly helpful as we shared a few things in common (growing up in foreign country, dabbles in entrepreneurship etc.). Needless to say I am a lot more excited about the possibility of matriculating at GSB than I were a couple of days ago.
10.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off-campus
Dec 18, 2011
I had my GSB interview on December 7. It lasted for one hour and a half. All the questions given to me were behavioral questions. I was frequently interrupted and challenged, and was encouraged to dig more and more into the underlying reasons for my actions. Due to this approach, I cannot remember the exact questions. It went like: I started with Question A; 30 seconds later, I was re-directed to Question B, because my interview made a query about the part I just stated. I do remember that no questions are atypical, and you can find them on this page or through other resources. The only question I can remember is:
- Tell me about a time when you took an initiative and how you moved it forward.
One tip from me: please dig, DEEPLY, into your stories before you enter into the interview room. Good luck to everyone!
11.Stanford GSB MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Alum / Off-Campus
Dec 5, 2011
I had my Stanford interview this morning. It was exactly on time (45 minutes) and I was given 4 behavioural questions. Overall, it felt neutral although the interviewer did comment that my skill set was well aligned with my target career.
- Saw an opportunity others didn’t
- Faced a roadblock in completing a project
- Why MBA/Why Stanford
- Pursued an initiative beyond my job authority
- Was effective on a team when I wasn’t in charge
At this point I guess I just have to wait and see what responses December brings. | 
