Neither did I. I'm not sure if it helps and I might be completely naive but my dad graduated from their EMBA program and cousin from the MBA (went on to be a VP at PWC shortly after). I don't think they knew that, but my dad was on their campus today to have lunch with a prof he's still friends with and he had a chat with the admissions lady who told him to tell me to call etc etc.

Any tips for the interview? She told me to bring my resume, gmat score, undergrad transcript. I was planning on dressing as I would for work- button up, nice pants, nice shoes. She doesn't know the breakdown of my gmat score, just the overall score so I'm preparing to address those concerns. Otherwise I have no idea what to expect. She told me to get my essays done by the end of the long weekend (with the understanding that it's way less time than they'd normally expect anyone to spend on it), and I have the referees ready to go.

each schools interview is different. Some (Kellogg/Tuck) are friendly and fairly relaxed, with students/alums interviewing instead of adcoms - where a large part of the focus is to make sure that you're a fit for the student culture. There are still questions like "3 weaknesses","3 strengths", time when overcame adversity, time when had to lead a team, what kind of leader/team player are you, how are you a fit for the school, what will you contribute to the school, etc - but the tone is relaxed and casual. Others are supposedly tougher (I only interviewed at Kellogg and Tuck), with schools like Penn even having discussions involving applicants and students (and have the students rate the applicants).

Google "Rottman interview questions" or things of that nature and see what comes up. Prepare heavily for those questions. Make sure each answer involves an example and clear explanation with the STAR method (situation, task, action, result). Make sure you have overall consistent themes throughout your interview and you don't contradict yourself.

Seriously, you should spend at least a few hours between now and the interview tomorrow prepping.

Lazer, i cannot echo river's sentiments enough. If you have no practiced your pitch you will probably come off looking silly. I bombed an interview at my dream school and am certain that was 100% of the reason I was denied.


my first question would be "Why are you looking to get an mba now?" Why are you applying so late? What prompted this etc....

You're a huge help- thanks a ton. Aside from some specific reasons I'd like to go there, is there value to stating that I'd like to continue the family tradition (worded much more eloquently)?

not an adcom, but that might come off as "my parents are pushing me to do it, so here I am." I do know schools want you to get an MBA for your own reasons, not others, so it's risky. Even if pulled off well, I'm not sure how much it would help.

and mrmarky correctly pointed out "Why an MBA, why now (i.e. why so late in the admissions process and why at this point in your life)?" is going to come up and you need a top notch answer for.

Noted. I'm a pretty jovial guy most of the time- in a previous interview for a job I answered "watching the leafs win the cup" before giving my serious answer to "where are you in x years" and got a very good laugh from the interviewer. Avoid jokes, or take the risk and show my personality?

I doubt tomorrow will be my full interview. I think it's something of an advanced preliminary one given the short timeframe. The lady made it very clear that with orientation starting aug 27th all of this would have to happen very quickly, and that a full committee meeting would be next week as they expect to receive my essays Tuesday. I sent her my resume and gmat score already and am bringing my transcript tomorrow.

if that is your personality then light humor is fine. These top MBA progs want people who will succeed in life and being a dull introvert is not something these schools want (no offense to dull introverts as many have done great things but it is tough as a leader to do so).

I wouldn't play down the legacy angle man. by applying so late in the game it already comes of as a desperation play and trying to play the legacy card/tradition makes it seem like ur family wants you to go there, or you have no other options.

If the interviewer is combative don't necessarily take that to be negative but they could be seeing how you react. I applied to a top 10 school last round and the adcom/interviewer was openly hostile towards me, and very belittling to my previous experiences/why i thought i even deserved an interview applying so late in the game let alone admission due to poor planning etc. I was taken aback by this and after having been kind of a pu$$y (i was not confident, etc) in my wharton interview i stuck to my guns and just answered her questions honestly/humbly/confidently and conveyed that was where i wanted to be. Long story short I did get in and got a scholarship but I didn't go :-P. She essentially soured me on the brand and when I got in at the third school I applied the choice was so stupid easy.

Lastly, I am not sure of your culture (lol me) but unless it says not to, you need to be wearing a suit for your "real interview." As much as I hate to say it, looks play a vital role in all this. an MBA is not a MSci degree where you can have several days growth and hair that is everywhere. You should dress the part in where you want to be (this is my opinion of course...YMMV).

ps...Why an MBA why now? Also think of your weaknesses (any adcom will tell you that too motivated, too worried about success or too humble is not avright answer). It sounds like you have not been interviewing as you have been with your current company a while. When i was switching jobs I had not had an interview in over 8 years and I just went to wing it. My first five were AWFUL and had 0 offers. my last 9 interviews (etiher Bschool or job resulted in 3 jobs and 2 admits to school). So i don't say this to say youre destined for failure, but the ability to interview, be yourself/know yourself/be confident/ is SOO important. If they are interviewing you they see you on paper as "potential mba candidate." They would not waste your time or theirs if you did not have the 'stats' (work exp, gpa, gmat, essays) to be there. It seems as you may be in a unique category that so long as you don't bomb the interview you will get in since you seem to have very good stats (especially if you can get your quant score up on gmat). Any other q's just ask.

P.P.S.-I am not a consultant for bschools but i read quite a bit on bschools consulting websites, and during my time I did do 2-3 15-30 minute trial (free) consults with companies who try to sell you to go with their service for apps...lastly I am trying to help my older brother through the app process who is quite busy while i am waiting to start school. Any other q's just pm as I sometimes forget to check this forum.

All very good points Marky, thank you. I will likely PM you and Riverman (thanks for your unstated permission to do so!) with questions over the coming days. Obviously I'm completely understanding if you guys feel as though you've given me sufficient help but I'm clearly pretty green with the process and trying to hope that I can somehow pull everything together to get my dream started in September.

definately PM me man or anyone else on here. I had a buddy who spent countless hours helping me (He interviewed Denied at HBS, and got scholarships at wharton/cbs) for free so I will give you some help if i am able.

holy ****, essays on Tuesday? I'd probably plan on 6-8 hours a day between now and Tuesday to get those essays as top notch as possible.

woman on phone: I realize it's a very short time line...unfortunately you're going to have a super busy weekend
me: If I'm going to be a Rotman MBA, I should probably get used to that!
woman: Perfect answer, that's what we want to hear!

riverfish has given nothing but the best advice in this thread. I'm applying this cycle (and people in this thread have helped a bunch). best of luck.

thanks. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Fyi, I elected to go to Tuck and will be starting a couple of weeks.

And good luck to everyone applying this cycle.

Riverfish1, first of all congrats on Tuck. It's an awesome school.

I wanted to send you a pm but am unable to since I have so few posts. I was wondering if you could shoot me a pm; I have some questions if you don't mind. Thanks a lot.

I'm not sure I can PM you. When I click on your name the drop down doesn't give me the option to PM (like it does with everyone else).

Happy to answer your questions ITT if you're comfortable with that.

Tuck is a great school. I went to Cornell so I couldn't do an isolated, cold school again. What does Tuck specialize and where do most of the graduates land (Boston/NYC?)? Good luck. What are you trying to do and what did you do? I guess I could fish for it. I went from R&D Scientist to Consulting in 2 years. Also moved from Memphis to Philly which I like to the heart of Pharma/Healthcare which I enjoy.

Surprised you turned down Kellogg. I liked Evanston a ton when I visited and I love Chicago.

Capone- looking to get into pe/vc eventually, though might have to go through mbb/elite boutique consulting first. Tuck is super strong in all those areas (Bain Boston office has a huge Tuck oopulation, especially compared to class size). Will likely end up in boston/nyc/dc.

I actually wasn't a fan of evanston when I visited kellogg, and Tuck is stronger in pe/vc.

+1 gl to any 2p2ers who are applying.

if anyone has any questions about the process, essays, schools, exit ops etc., please post or pm. looking back, i wish (1) reached out to others for help/advice and (2) didn't apply last minute. i suppose the 2 go hand in hand, but regardless, best of luck guys

Hmm, that's weird. Would it be possible if you could shoot me an e-mail at ksc1940@gmail.com? I wanted to ask some specific questions about my personal situation, information that I don't want to out in a public forum. Sorry for being sort of paranoid, but I nearly got outed before on another forum.

Thanks.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you end up going? How did you like your MBA experience?

This is right. Tuck is very underrated. Despite its small class size it has probably the most insanely loyal alumni network out there, very strong placement in PE, MBB consulting (mckinsey/bcg/bain) and investment management jobs in Boston (fidelity, wellington, state street, MFS, Putnam).

Kellogg is great too, especially for consulting, general management, and marketing, but its finance placement has much to be desired. My best friend just graduated from there, and I had a chance to visit Kellogg many times. I was never a big fan of the school or its "fratty" culture.

Well, I somehow managed to get two full sets of applications done in five days. I'm pretty happy with my essays- I'm sure they could be stronger but they're definitely not weak in any way. Tomorrow my references fill out their forms, Friday am is my Rotman interview and ideally my Schulich result too! Thanks for all the help, I'll post results when I have them.

Ironically, at work I have a q3/q4 planning meeting with my regional VP on Thursday.

Tuck is a great and underrated school. If I wasn't so set against the winters, I'd have applied. I had a solid two hour conversation with the former admissions director who still did work with admissions, but I just couldn't fade that winter.

hey arb - i am at kellogg and about to start 2nd year

re tuck - its indeed a great school and ive had nothing but positive experiences meeting tuckies at case competitions/summer internship.