myice

Round 1 / Off-Campus (Published November 2009)

I interviewed with a Stanford alumnae. We met at her office; the interview lasted about an hour. She was in business casual, but I wore a jacket and dress.

Tell me about your background/walk me through your resume
Why MBA? Why now? Why Stanford?
Tell me about a time you faced an obstacle and what did you do about it?
Tell about a time you streamlined operations/made things more efficient? What did you do? How did you measure its success? What metrics did you use?
Tell me about a time you worked with a difficult team member or manager.
Tell me about a time you faced an ethical situation.
Tell me about a time you had your beliefs challenged.
What book are you currently reading?
That's all I remember. I think those were all of the questions! Good luck everyone!

myice

Round 1 / Alumnus / Off-campus (Published December 3, 2009)

We met at the alum's office where we met in a conference room. He then described the structure of the interview - 35 mins of questions, followed by 10 mins for me to ask questions. He described the goal of the interview - to cover specific moments in my life/career that may not have been covered in the rest of my application. We then jumped right in to the questioning.

Tell me about a specific time when you realized you needed an MBA. Why a Stanford MBA?
Tell me about the most valuable piece of feedback you've ever received. How did it change your relationship with that individual? Why was it important?
Tell me about a time when you had to lead a team of individuals. What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about leadership?
Tell me about a time when you failed. What did you learn from that event and how have you implemented what you learned from that failure?
Name a book that you've read recently that was not for work. We then discussed that book.
He left 10 min for me to ask questions.

myice

Round 2 / Alum / Off-campus (Published March 29th, 2010)

I interviewed with an alumnus from Stanford GSB on February 19th, 2010 at 9:30am. I applied 2nd round on the day it was due, January 6th, 2010. He suggested to meet at the Westin Hotel restaurant and implied his company will take care of breakfast. He didn't have any information about me other than the resume I sent him but he was able to find a few blogs written from a while back. It was a very informal interview, with small chit chat. I was surprised at how informal he dressed and felt I was a little overdressed with my suit. Once the chitchat ended, he started out asking me to tell him a little about myself. I went on for a bit about my background but the interview was very conversational. He didn't take any notes and each response I made elicited another question from him. The whole interview lasted an hour and a half. During the interview when I was telling him about my experience with a non-profit in Botswana, he commented that the work I was doing in Africa with mobile phones is something he would want to do in his retirement. He mentioned that Stanford is all about changing the world and leaving a mark for the better. That confirmed I applied to the right school. In the interview, here are some of the questions I remember answering:

What's your background?
Can you walk me through your resume?
Why do you want to go to Stanford?
Did you apply anywhere else? Why?
Why do you want to go into entrepreneurship? Can you show me examples?
Do you have any regrets with your experience up to now?
What do you want to ask me?
He was surprisingly candid about his background; computer science major from Minnesota State University with no intentions of going to business school. He only applied after his friends from Stanford Law urged him to apply while he was teaching skiing. He thinks he got in because he led the tennis team while in undergrad and he graduated top in his computer science class. He was surprised at how confident I was with what I wanted to do and even admitted that he at that age didn't know what he wanted to do. He admitted that he doesn't know how the admission process works and knows of candidates who he's given great reviews to get rejected while candidates he's given mediocre reviews get accepted. But he did wish me the best of luck and to keep in touch. And offered that the interview was as much for him to sell the school to me as much as it was for him to assess me.

I left fairly excited and satisfied to get such a candid interviewer. It also left me with the impression that Stanford is definitely my top choice.

myice

Round 2 / Alumna / Off-campus (published April 5th, 2010)

I used this to prepare for my interviews, so definitely wanted to return the favor to others. I interviewed with an alumna in her office. She introduced herself very briefly and then she asked the following questions (more or less in this order):

Why MBA, Why Stanford? Have you thought of pursuing your career goals without getting an MBA
Defining moment in your life
Time you received constructive criticism and how you reacted, what did you learn
Anything about yourself you wished you could change?
Biggest accomplishment - both work and outside work?
What is your leadership style?
What drives you?
A time you faced a disappointment
Anything you wished I had asked or you think I should know about you?
All in all, I thought the interview was neutral/ok and of course I agonized afterwards about all the ways my answers could have been stronger. I was still luckily admitted in R2!!

myice

Round 3 / Alumna / Off-campus (published May 5th, 2010)

My interview was held during the workday in my interviewer's office. The tone was very conversational, comfortable, and friendly with questions tailored to my experiences.

Why MBA?
Why Stanford?
Why did you join ROTC in undergrad? (seemed to want to understand my motivations and thought processes)
What skills have you learned in your current job? (was military, now private sector)
What frustrations have you had with the corporate world?
Ended with a discussion based on my questions - her experiences, culture at the school, etc.

myice

HBS, Stanford, UCLA MBA 面试经验

应读者要求，我今天想跟大家分享一下我在MBA面试的经过。我其他的申请经验，已经在此分享。

我第一局面试是跟INSEAD，分别跟两位校友面试。我觉得面试的校友真的可以代表一间学校给人家好或坏的感觉。两位校友都是在金融业，也都非常 友善，给人感觉很好。他们面试的内容还满舒服的，不出标准问题：Why MBA? Why us? Why now? 然后其他就是闲聊。我对 INSEAD的感觉很好，是间现代化、很有活力、很友善的学校。

第二局，我是跟CEIBS。CEIBS打电话来面试，当天我才刚从一场丧礼回来，感觉不是很好，但是他们面试也很专业。面试的人员有两位。我觉得电话面试 跟面对面有不少的差别，面对面感觉比较好。在电话面试的时候，每次你在想事情的时候，都会觉得有一个很长的「不舒服的宁静」，让你觉得很紧张。

第三局，我是跟UCLA面试。面试官也是校友，也是在台湾创业界的先进。我们聊的还满愉快的。后来还讨论到他的公司在台湾的经验。

第四局，我是跟LBS面试，面试官是在亚洲的一位VC。LBS面试比较妙，他们有个即席演讲的题目。他们给你五分钟想，然后五分钟讲。我得到的问题（我想 其他的问题也是一样）很模糊，并不是很明确。我向面试官澄清，但是他没给我解。压力很大。我觉得他们事实上在看你在压力下是否可以很清楚、有逻辑性的思 考。我觉得我给的答案是很有逻辑，但是缺发创意。我晚上回家问我爸相同的问题，他居然给我一模一样的答案。

第五局，我跟Stanford面试，面试官是在台湾的美国人，大有来头。他发明过一个影响力很大的电子产品，在网路上有很多关于他的文章跟影片。我面试前 一晚，花了好多时间调查他，努力思考他是怎么样的一个人，我要怎么样pitch我自己才会让他觉得我值得上他的学校。结果当天，面试的难度很高，他并不会 被我刻意模糊的答案（这是我在台湾这五年来练出来的功夫）给唬住，会很坚持的问到底。

第六局，Harvard。这个真的是超麻烦的。我农历过年时到跟我女友到美国去玩，有天早上还得紧急找电脑来报名他们在世界各地的面试。我报名到东京的面 试，刻意避开了在上海的面试，因为我觉得这样子能够凸显我的特色。接著我订机票时，居然到东京的机票很抢手，害我得买到商务舱，我女友还跟我去。
面 试当天，我一早搭地铁到东京站的丸之内大楼。由于周末，大楼深锁，我找了好久才有人带我进去，整层楼都没其他人。我坐在面试室的外面等，被叫进去后就开始 很密集的问题轰炸。面试官是位亚洲的女性，听不出来腔调，所以完全不知道是哪里人（可能是美国人）。她好像连名字都没告诉我，就一直问问题，也没让我有机 会问问题。三十分钟到了，就送我一支笔，谢谢光临。跟哈佛面试后觉得自己不是很受重视，虽然他们的方式比较有系统性、科学性、客观性，但是这让我觉得去他 们那里读书会像在生产线上，两年后加工完成，上市。

我花了一个周末到东京，只为了半小时的面试，当然不甘心。所以，我带著我一个月前买的钻戒，在面试那天晚上跟我女友求婚。嗯，一举两得。

我觉得网路上最好的面试资源在ClearAdmit， 欢迎过去看看。

我觉得面试中有两种问题很有难度。

第一种是负面问题：例如，你认为你的缺点是什么、你认为你做过最错的事是什么，为什么。针对这种问题，我觉得最好的答案是有实际的例子，然后叙述你如何矫 正这个错误。在面试前，你最好做好心理准备来回答这种问题。因为这西方的学校教育出来的人，会完全不视你的尴尬，打破砂锅问到底。我发现越好的学校，越爱 问你这种问题。

第二种是文化冲突的问题，也就是华人不喜欢回答的问题：例如，你认为你自己最大的优点为何、请用三个字来形容你自己。面对这种状况，你最好是从这些人的观 点来想，你要客观并别太谦虚的叙述自己的优点。

在与Stanford与Harvard的面试中，他们都问到你如何处理与下属的冲突。我觉得这一题需要有实例准备，你得先想好这个状况，在面试时才能好好 回答。记得，在冲突下，最坏的状况就是离开，你可以把你不合作的队友剔除，也可以将你不合作的下属革职。

现在网路很发达，你通常可以在面试前调查你面试官的背景。我在我面试的过程中，我都有成功调查到几位面试官的背景。但是面试当天，我发现不容易拍他们的马 屁，甚至拉关系都很困难。我觉得要保持个人的尊严，不要太低声下气，让他们觉得你是一个跟他们一样有背脊的人，这样才不会被看扁。另外，通常（除了哈佛 外）面试官会给你机会问问题。你要想好一些具有挑战性的问题，但是别给他们觉得你有攻击性。这么做的目的在于，让对方觉得你是跟他们的同侪，可以在与他们 相同的level进行问题讨论。