myice

Round 1 / Off-campus / Accepted! (Published February 12th, 2009)

My interview went exceedingly well from the beginning. The interviewer explained that her role was to be my advocate to the admissions committee, and that my task was to give her good material so that she could effectively make my case. This put me at ease, and surprisingly, the interviewer wasn't as stone-faced and dig-downy as the MIT interview guide had led me to believe. I was accepted in Rd 1.

Here are the questions that I remember:

Tell me about something you've done that you're proud of.
Tell me about a time you failed.
Tell me about a time you convinced others to follow your plan.
What do you do for fun outside of work?
What do you wish I had asked?
Why an MBA, and why MIT?
Any questions?
The interview ran long--about 50-55 minutes. I'd give the same suggestions as others on this wiki: be concise, follow the STAR method but in a natural, human, storytelling way, and be genuine about why you're excited about Sloan. Your enthusiasm will shine through and hopefully differentiate you from all the others who woodenly give canned answers. I found myself framing my stories/answers in terms of Sloan's "mens et manus" (mind and hand) philosophy, and it worked really well. Lastly, it's important to show smarts-plus-humility (which is a proxy in some ways for the other personality attributes Sloan likes).

Good luck!

myice

Round 1 / Off-campus / Accepted! (Published February 9th, 2009)

My interview seemed like the standard MIT Sloan interview. I was told to recall stories that I had not mentioned in my application.

I cannot remember all the questions, but here are most of them.

Tell me a time when something unexpected happened to you
Tell me when you did something innovative
Tell me a time when you influenced someone (Then a follow up question to my answer was: Can you tell me what your plan was?).
Tell me how Sloan ranks against the other schools you applied to
Is there a question you wish I had asked?
What questions do you have for me?
My interviewer was very friendly and laid back. He didn't ask me too many follow up questions to my stories -- he listened intently and wrote down a lot of notes. My interview was 35 minutes long.

I prepared about five versatile stories that could answer most of the questions that have been listed in this Wiki. It's also important to weave in themes that Sloan finds important into all stories (e.g., collaborative, laid-back, respectful of everyone's opinions, humble). I made sure that my answers were no longer than 3-4 minutes each (this forced me to be precise about what I was saying and gave the interviewer a chance to ask more questions). Once the interview questions began, the interviewer became more serious. I would take advantage of the few minutes before and after the formal part of the interview starts to slip in something interesting about yourself (in a natural way) that you think wouldn't be asked in the interview.

I got accepted in the first round .

myice

Round 1 / Off-Campus (Europe) / Adcom (Published 20 January 2009)

I met with a member of the adcom. He was perfectly friendly, and actually did not dig in to my answers as much as I was expecting. The questions I was asked were:

1. Tell me about yourself, what have you been doing in the last two years.

2. Tell me about something at work you have been proud of in the last year.

3. When were your expectation not met?

4. What do you do outside work?

5. Why do you want an MBA, why Sloan?

6. What do you wish I'd asked?

7. I'm meeting a lot of people today, what is going to make me remember you?

8. Any questions for me?

I would definitely recommend following some of the other advice on here of not just filling the silences. There were plenty as he was writing, but it didn't feel too awkward. I also agree with some of the comments on here that there is almost an air of disinterest from the interviewer, and he was VERY difficult to read to assess how it was going.

To prepare, I went through eight projects / stories I had, and matched each of them to a number of different categories of questions. I felt I had an answer for most of the stuff he asked. The "what do you wish I asked" one is tricky to decide what to talk about on the spot, but not too bad.

The interview was less than 45 minutes, probably about 35.

myice

Round 1 / Off-campus / Adcom (Published December 16th, 2008)

I had a somewhat different experience with my Sloan interview than I read from the wiki. I interviewed at an offsite location in my home city. My interviewer was an adcom and was very casual. Surprisingly, it was even more casual than my Yale interview which was with a student.

We exchanged small talk and then the adcom explained that MIT conducts behavioral type interviews and laid out other structural guidelines our discussion would follow. I was expecting to be battered with the "tell me a time when you..." type questions, but I actually did not get any. The questions included Why MBA / Why Now / Why MIT? And I was challenged or asked for more detail on each (but in a very non-threatening way).

We discussed my career goals and how I thought an MBA would help me to achieve them. I already have a masters degree which I received about 4 years ago so the adcom dove deep into why I need another degree, what I plan to get from an MBA that I didnt already get from an MS, etc. This was heaviest line of questioning. I was also asked about my current position and how my career plans after school would differ.

I was asked me to describe more about two or three of my application essays. The questions were pretty vague (i.e. "you mentioned your undergraduate experience in essay 3. tell me more about that"), so I recommend reviewing immediately prior to the interview.

I was asked what question I wished I was asked. I stumbled a bit because I was able to previously mention the two stories I had planned if this came up. I took some time to think and talked about what I would contribute to Sloan. I was then asked if I had any questions about the program. I asked about the career placement office and the downsides of having a small program.

The adcom spent a good amount of time checking over notes from my application and taking new notes based on our conversation. The silence felt a bit awkward, but I think I made a smart move by not rambling.

The interview lasted about 45 minutes.

myice

Round 2 / Adcom Consultant / On-Campus / March 2008 (Published April 9th, 2008)

My interviewer was very warm and friendly and made a concerted effort to make sure I was relaxed and comfortable. She had clearly read my application thoroughly and after some small talk, she told me she had prepared 3 questions that I should answer with new stories in the STAR format.

Tell me about a time you led a team to a solution.
Tell me about a time you had to sell an idea.
Tell me about a time your idea was rejected.
She then allowed me to ask several questions about the program. We ran a little over 45 minutes.

I prepared for my interview by making 1 notecard for each of 5 good stories that were deep enough to answer a wide variety of questions and diverse enough to show characteristics of me that weren't emphasized in my application. My notecards were in the STAR format that MIT recommends - 1 bullet for each point. Finally, I looked at this wiki to see the range of questions and thought through whether or not my stories addressed most of them. I also did a mock interview.

Her line of questioning as we explored each story was very logical and she did not throw any major curve balls. I felt that I was stumbling through #3 at times, but she helped me stay on track. I was admitted in R2.

myice

Round 2 / Adcom (Published March 27th, 2008)

Of my interviews thus far, MIT was by far the most rigorous and thorough. They hold true to the "behavioral" interview model, where they spend most of the time asking you about a situation from your past where something happened and you need to say what you did. Note that they want stories that have NOT appeared in your essays. It sounded like they didn't mind if the stories were from my personal or professional life (I asked) as long as they were relevant.

The interview was conducted by a member of the admissions committee. It is exactly like a job interview and, while not necessarily pressured, is much more intense then my Tuck, Kellogg or Wharton interviews. The interviewer was cordial and friendly, but there was almost zero small talk.

The major questions I was asked:

What exactly do you do? What have you been doing in your position recently?
Tell me about a time when you were overwhelmed and asked others for help
Tell me about a time when you mentored someone
Tell me about a time when you butted heads with a co-worker/client/employee
Tell me about a time when you were part of a team that had poor dynamics/didn't get along well (say what you did, of course)
Tell me about a time when you had to deal with someone who wasn't pulling his/her weight
Why an MBA, why Sloan (although only briefly and at the end)?
I was then asked if I had any questions. You'll really only have time for one, so make it a good question that shows you've done your homework and will help you evaluate the school. I asked about how hard it was to get into classes, as this has come back as the most universal complaint I've heard from current top b-school students (Wharton especially).

My advice (along with others who have posted here) is to review the list of Sloan questions we've all posted and think of two or three stories that could work. If you do that, you'll have a good 30-40 stories that could be applicable for any question the interviewer might ask.

myice

Adcom Consultant, On-Campus, Round 1, December 2007 (Published January 15, 2008)
I interviewed on-campus with a consultant that worked with the admissions committee. She was not a full-time member of adcom, but apparently worked with them during admissions season. At first glance, she appeared like she wasn't going to be very friendly, but I pushed the small talk and we developed some good rapport early on. Like you probably know if you're reading this the MIT interview is non-blind, they have read all of your material. At the beginning of the interview, she reiterated everything MIT provides in the interview guide about the behavioral interview. She wanted specific anecdotes and she didn't want to hear the same stories I had used in my application.

Her first question was about a story I used in one of my essays. She basically asked me about the challenges in managing this project and specific difficulties.
I have an office overseas which I manage remotely, she spent a lot of the interview asking specific questions about the challenges in managing the offshore staff. She wanted specific examples of issues I've faced and how I handled them. She wanted specific examples.
Tell me about a time when you had to decide multiple options. Drilled into my answer.
What will your business do when you leave? Wanted details.
She didn't ask my Why Sloan? - Why an MBA? - Goals? or any of the other standard interview questions.
Questions for her? This really was my only opportunity to show that I've done my research on Sloan. I mentioned specific courses, professors, treks, and clubs in the context of my questions.
At the bottom of my resume, I had some "other interests" listed. She even asked me about a couple of those.
Do you have your official transcripts? I didn't have the official transcripts, so I handed her the photocopies I made.
She would drill down into every question. One question she asked multiple times because my anecdote didn't directly address her question.

Overall, be prepared to discuss stories from your app materials and have several new stories ready. They want details. I recommend using names and specifics. Story should be detailed as if you were telling a colleague.

This was very different from your standard interview. Focus your efforts on preparing some good stories. Don't worry too much about the standard interview questions like why Sloan. Also, don't save your good stories for the end. Use your best anecdotes early because you will only have the opportunity to go through a few because of the time the interviewer spends drilling down.

I think I did well, but I am certainly glad that this was one of my last interviews. If you interview on-campus, I recommend participating in "lunch with a student". Eased the tension and gave me some good information about the program.

myice

Adcom, Hub Interview, Round 2 (Published March 23, 2007)
I met with an assistant director of admissions at a hotel lobby in Santa Monica, CA. The interviewer was suffering from a bad cold/flu. He was friendly, affable, relaxed, and professional. It focused on the interview at hand with some smiles and laughs thrown in. He asked the following questions. My interview was short, about 25 minutes.

Do you have your transcripts? (He opened the envelopes and looked them over)
How did you like (undergrad institution)?
Describe a time when someone's input impacted your actions?
Tell me about a time when you had to sell an idea to an individual or a group.
Tell me about a time when you had to decide between many different routes or options.
What's a personal goal you've set for yourself within the last 2 years?
How does Sloan rank compared to the other schools you are applying to?
Why Sloan?
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Do you have any questions for me?
He did not grill me too much. Just asked the questions and sometimes asked me to elaborate on certain points of my response.

myice

Adcom, Hub Interview (Published March 9, 2007)
Basically had the following questions:

What other interviews have you had?
What great experience have you had on your job within the last one year ?
What expectation have you had recently that was not met?
Why MBA?
Why Sloan?
What question do you wish that I had asked you?

myice

Adcom, Off-campus. (Published March 2006)

My interview was in London with the assistant director of admissions. The interview was pretty short, somewhere between 30 and 45 mins. The interviewer was very professional, but not robotic.

As noted elsewhere on this page, I was asked not to use examples contained in my essay.

All questions were behaviourial type questions. Here's what I can remember being asked:

Hand over your transcript
Give an example of a time when you had to deal with someone who wasn't pulling their weight
Give an example of a time when your actions annoyed a superior or colleague
I explained, then was asked how that made me feel
How do you stand out amongst your peers
How does MIT rank against the other schools you've applied to?
Do you have any questions for me?
I haven't heard yet either way, but after being in the interview here's my advice:

This interview was professional, don't expect any weird questions
Have a swathe of examples of cool things you did professionally and personally ready and waiting. Don't be robotic in your answers - believe in what you did and the successes you've had.
The interviewer will pause to scribble - don't feel like you have to fill the gap. It's ok to pause and think of stuff, so while the interviewer writes, you can think.