| 1.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Skype Mar 4, 2014 My interview was semi-blind, meaning that the interviewer had my resume and notes from an adcom member who had reviewed my profile. Pretty standard questions:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Describe a time when you had to manage people.
3. Tell me about a time you did something innovative at work.
4. What are your post-MBA plans?
5. What do you think is a weakness in your application? She then proceeded to ask application-specific questions. Also, be sure to prepare intelligent and relevant questions. It would also be helpful to review your application for what you think the adcom may view as weak points and prepare responses to address their concerns.
2.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus
Mar 4, 2014 My interview was pretty straightforward. It didn’t take much time and ended in just 15 minutes. The environment was relaxing and not as tense as I thought it would be. The interviewer looked experienced, but he asked things nicely and in a friendly way. First of all he was interested in knowing about my background even when he had my resume. He wanted to hear it from me. He asked if I had a job and if so, how my interactions were at the job I had. He wanted to know why I had left it and what my future plans are. He was interested in my hobbies as well and asked questions like “What I like to do most when I am free or alone,” and “What makes me happy,” etc. He also wanted to know the reason that why I chose MBA. Lastly, he presented me with a small situation with a problem and asked how I would handle it if I had to.
3.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-CampusDec 19, 2013 I arrived at the company twenty minutes before the set time and I was the fifth person to be interviewed. The person who interviewed me was a HR manager, a really nice man. I did not feel nervous at all, just very relaxed. Type of interview was blind. The HR manager asked about seven questions as below:
1. Introduce yourself.
2. Why are you leaving your job?
3. Why do you want this job?
4. Why should we hire you?
5. What is your greatest strength?
6. How do you handle stress and pressure?
7. What were your expectations for the job? Totally speaking, I was quite satisfied with the interview, I showed the manager I was involved, intelligent, focused .
4.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: R1 / Adcom / On-Campus
Dec 17, 2013 I arrived on campus a couple of hours before my interview to meet with a current student who I had met during my school visit. I would highly recommend going to the campus early. It helps you relax and the energy in the Atrium gears you up to do your best (All I was thinking was- I sooo want to come here next year!) My interview was conducted by a member of the ad-com and the atmosphere was very friendly. She told me that she only had my resume and notes from the member who had reviewed my application. She told me that she took very few notes during the interview and not to get freaked out by that! Most of the questions were very direct and she was constantly looking at the clock in the room to make sure the interview didn’t go over 30-35 minutes. Some of the questions she asked me were- 1) Explain the various transitions in your work
2) Why an MBA right now and why Cornell? – I had thoroughly researched about Cornell and that helped a lot.
3) A question about my decision to shift to the US for work.
4) One time when I demonstrated leadership even though I was not formally in charge of a project.
5) What is your leadership style and how have you developed it over the years?
5) Can you describe a time when you leveraged a team conflict for your benefit?
This question amazed me a bit and I rephrased it to make sure that I had heard it right. She started laughing and told me that this question does bowl people over! I told her that I haven’t had such experience and just told her about a time when I convinced one team to support me on a project by citing an example of a much senior team, who though initially reluctant to help me earlier had agreed to support me now.
6) Any questions that you have for me – I asked her two questions and she gave me details of people I could contact for more details.
Overall the atmosphere was very casual and relaxed. All the people I have interacted with from Cornell are extremely friendly and helpful. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the students. They are helpful and one of the students even took my mock interview over Skype 2 days before the final interview! That helped me a lot.
I had a nice feeling after the interview. Learned of my acceptance via a phone call on December 10th, one day before the notification deadline.
Hope this helps- Good luck!
5.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1/ Adcom / Skype
Aug 26, 2013
I am an Indian applicant. Applied in the R1 and got invited for interview. I scheduled a Skype interview with Adcom. Adcom member is accompanied by a second year student. Here are few questions I was asked: 1. Tell us about your self – I told about my academic and professional background using the 2 minute pitch.
2. What do you want to do after studying at Johnson?
3. Why Johnson MBA?
I have spoken about my goals and why Johnson MBA is ideal to achieve my goals. Be sure to thoroughly prepare for these questions. I have spoken with several Johnson students and gave examples from their experiences about the uniqueness of Johnson.
4. Please tell us about your leadership experience. 5. Tell us about a time where you had difficulty coping with a member of the team. How did you overcome the problem
6. What will you contribute to Johnson?
7. Any questions for us The interview lasted for about 35-40 minutes. I was very uncomfortable doing the Skype interview as I could not see the Adcom on the screen and have to always look at the camera. I would advice to do an on campus interview or offcampus interview with an Alum. Unfortunately Johnson did not have any Alum interviews when I interviewed. Result : Waitlisted and Accepted. I was waitlisted in January and was accepted at the end of May.
6.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 3 / AdCom / On-Campus
Mar 29, 2013
Everyone was really friendly once I arrived on campus from New York on the C2C bus. I attended an information session/tour of Johnson w/ 2 first-year MBA students – this included lunch which is good because I was starving. The students were really friendly and provided a very informal setting for Q&A. I attended a class as well prior to my interview, which was helpful to gauge the style of teaching at Johnson. My interview was with an AdCom member who had my resume and notes from those who had reviewed my application. The conversation was very directed but relaxed. A little more formal than my other interviews, but very relaxed and conversational nonetheless. I got the following questions:
(1) Give me a brief overview about your academic and professional background.
(2) What do you like about your current job – tell me more about your role.
(3) Do you manage a team? [and clarifying/related questions]
(4) What is your leadership style?
(5) How will you contribute to Johnson?
(6) Why an MBA, why now? Why Johnson?
(7) What other schools have you applied to and what do they have in common w/ Johnson? At the end, there was enough time to ask him questions. My interview was very helpful but he was relatively new to Johnson and did not have all the answers to my questions – but he referred me to the people who would have them. The interview ran for about 50min (I believe they are 30-45min usually but I was the last one of the day, so there was no rush).
7.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 3 / Adcom / Skype
Mar 7, 2013
The interview was formal and lasted about 50 minutes. Questions I remember: - Please tell me about yourself
- Why do you need an MBA at this point of your career?
- Why Johnson?
- Why 2 years MBA vs. Accelerated MBA?
- What research have you done regarding your short term or long term goals?
- Tell me about a challenging leadership experience
- What would your supervisor say are your main characteristics
- What are your main weeknesses?
- How will you contribute to Johnson?
- Is there anything else you want me to know that you feel we didn’t talk about?
- Qustions for me? Hope it helps. Good luck !
8.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2/ Adcom/ Skype
Feb 4, 2013
This was a blind interview over Skype and my interviewer was pretty friendly. She had some general questions along with written down questions from the adcom that reviewed my application. I think the interviewer was taking notes on the computer at the same time of the interviewer. This threw be off at times making it hard to read their face or get verbal feedback. My advice would be to answer your question and then wait for them to start the next. Another tip is to have a clear path of your goals and how everything ties together. I had to go back with examples to relate my multiple interests and career goals. These were the questions asked of me: 1. Describe your career progression
2. Why MBA?
3. Why Cornell Johnson? (make sure to do your research)
4. How do you mediate conflict between team members?
5. Give an example of when you have been innovative?
6. Tell me of anything else you think we should know to get to know you better?
9.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: R2/ AdCom/ Skype
Jan 30, 2013
I applied to the MBA-MHA program in R2. I interviewed 1/29/13 with an AdCom member. The interview lasted approximately 45 minutes. Like other interviewees, it started with the AdCom stating that she had my resume and while she hadn’t reviewed my application, she had notes and questions from others who did. Questions were as follows: 1) Walk me through your employment history
2) You said that you supervise 3-5 individuals, in what capacity do you supervise them?
3) Have you had any difficult decisions to make regarding the individuals you supervise?
4) I’m sure you’ve done lots of research into the immersions and other activities offered by Johnson so why Johnson? and how do you plan to take advantage of everything Johnson has to offer?
5) What are you’re post-MBA goals?
6) Have you reached out to other Johnson students, alumni, or staff on the MBA-MHA program? (She also offered contact info for two individuals I should speak to after I detailed who I had already been in contact with)
7) Do you feel you have any weaknesses to your application?
8) Have you applied to any other schools?
9) I can imagine that you’re already very busy with working full-time and your grad program, what do you like to do for fun or when you have any free time?
10) Do you have any questions for me?
Overall the AdCom was very profession but still pleasant. I think it helped she had a similar healthcare research background and is a marathon runner (which is how I answered Q9). The interview was very formal and the questions, while directed, were left up to me to answer how I really saw fit. For example, some were so very directed that a brief, 1-2 minute answer was all that really seemed appropriate whereas describing my background and some of the other questions led to pretty lengthy monologues without much comment or reaction from the AdCom. She did take notes throughout the interview.
Try to make sure you’ll have a perfect internet connection. I was using the wireless at my workplace and although it rarely if ever cuts out in day-to-day use, I had two disconnects that really kind of threw me. If you can get a hard wired connection, go that route. And be prepared for disconnects if not, I think how you recover makes a difference.
10.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / Skype
Dec 20, 2012
I did my interview via Skype with a member of the adcom. She stated that she had my resume and while she hadn’t reviewed my application, she had notes and questions from others who did. First she asked me to go over my job positions since graduating college and specifically asked me to include my reasons for promotions and moves (I had worked for one org. but had held 4 different positions with a promotion each year). This took about 7-10 minutes, with her asking a few clarifying questions – but mostly just me talking. Second, she asked “What other schools are you applying?” Based on previous interview reports, I was super ready for this question – and had my reasons (small school, community) tied back to Johnson. Next she asked “Why MBA?,” which allowed me to tie in my short/long term goals and led into the “Why Johnson?” I talked about the immersion program, specifically the program I wanted to pursue, small/close community, and proximity to NYC, which is where I want to end up. She asked me if I had visited campus (had not as I am overseas), but I went into all the students I had talked to and their international recruiter that I met at a Johnson MBA Fair. Finally, she asked about my job as it relates to leadership and team opportunities, she specifically noted that I had applied to be a Park Fellow. After that, it was more of a conversation; I asked her a few questions, talked about more hobby/activities type stuff. Again tied everything I could back to Johnson or Ithaca. Interview was 45 minutes. Overall, thought it went well – for me, it’s really about having your few examples (work experience, leadership/team) that tie back to your main attributes that you want them to remember. Lastly, it’s all about being enthusiastic about the school!
11.Cornell / Johnson MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Off Campus (Skype) / Adcom
Mar 1, 2012
My interview was via Skype — because of snow, I was unable to make it to campus as planned. The interview itself was quite formal — very much question-answer, but the interviewer did make an effort to transition nicely from one question to the next. There were no surprises for me, but I was glad I had done a little research on Skype interviews beforehand because it was definitely a little off-putting. Questions: - Before we get started, tell me something about yourself that isn’t on your resume
- Walk me through your employment history and why you make the changes that you did
- What are your goals directly out of business school
- Why Johnson
- What immersion program are you interested in (this one actually did throw me off)
- Discuss a time at work where you faced a conflict
- Discuss a time at work where you had to make a difficult decision
- What other schools are you applying to
The interview itself took 30 min, and then I asked questions for 10-15 min. | 
