Kanewu

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tjbian78

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feelgood

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dapeng997

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yaya06

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iloveduke

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Wanght

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lakegirl

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vagrant

INSEAD ( Fontainebleau )

INSEAD normally requires each applicant to interview with two different alumni, but because of scheduling difficulties, I was only able to setup one, with a senior manager from Bain and Company. Despite my misgivings about interviewing whilst eating, he proposed we meet for lunch at a small Italian restaurant in the City of London, and I agreed.

By this time I had a number of interviews under my belt and although I was still smarting from my experience with the Columbia alum, I approached this interview with a greater sense of confidence. As he and I both worked in consulting, I prepared for the interview by practicing describing my company’s approach to consulting, as well as related topics such as billing practices and the current state of the industry.

As it turns out my preparation paid off. We spent at least 50% of the interview discussing our companies’ approaches to consulting, business development, project management, and so on. He then asked me a number of more classical interview-style questions, such as the classic strengths and weaknesses question. I answered these questions frankly, but while maintaining a positive and confident attitude. Finally, he closed the interview by offering me some tips on the INSEAD application process. He mentioned that although I had applied very late in INSEAD’s application cycle, I should have a good chance of getting in. I took this as a good sign.

vagrant

New York University Stern School of Business

My interview with NYU was my very last MBA admissions interview and one of the most testing. Although I had applied to NYU in early January, I didn’t receive my interview invite until March. As I was in Beijing at this time, I was happy to learn that NYU would be holding off-site interviews in Beijing in late March, and so I requested one of these. But for reasons that are still unclear to me, NYU denied my request for an off-site interview, and would not even consider a phone interview. My only choice was to fly to New York.

I didn’t like the idea of taking a 14-hour flight to New York for a 45 minute interview but at the same time I knew that not doing an interview was a virtually guaranteed ding. Luckily I had enough air-miles to get a free flight so I scheduled my interview for mid-April and booked my plane ticket.

Although I had hardly prepared at all, when I arrived on campus I felt relaxed and at-ease. My interviewer was June Dinitz, a member of the Stern MBA Admissions Staff, and a former human resources manager for a large New York investment bank. She started off with the very standard interview questions which by this time I was able to answer quite smoothly. We discussed my career aspirations and my experiences working at investments banks in London and Tokyo. I made the point that the financial services industry, despite all the products and the technologies, is still essentially a people business. I went on to explain that a Stern MBA, in addition to teaching me the latest on finance theory and practice, would allow me to expand my network in the financial services industry, one of my key motivations for getting an MBA. She seemed to like this.

She closed the interview by asking me a few questions about what I was doing in Beijing and how I was coping with the SARS epidemic (I have to admit I enjoyed not having to worry about SARS during the few days that I was in New York). The next day, on the plane back to Beijing, I felt happy about the interview and was glad I had made the trip.