vikeshvamsee@gmail.

com
Vikesh Vamsee Ravindran

Interview
Primer
Booth School of Business

2019–2020
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Vikesh Vamsee Ravindran

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What role does the interview

play in the admissions process?
MBA programs employ a holistic evaluation process, so the interview represents only one aspect of the ad-
missions decision. Still, it is a very important and influential element of the admissions process and should be
approached with the same level of attention as the other parts of your application.

In an exclusive interview with mbaMission, the former associate dean for student recruitment and admis-
sions at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business underlined the importance of the interview as a
tool for the applicant to become acquainted with the program and vice versa. “[The interview] is an opportu-
nity for us to meet a candidate and hear why they believe they are a good fit for Booth, while at the same time
allowing the interviewer to convey what makes our program distinctive,” he said.

Thus, we believe that Chicago Booth’s primary goals in the interview are to gauge a candidate’s fit with the
school’s values, approach, and atmosphere and to assess how the individual might perform in a team-based
environment.

Our past clients describe Chicago Booth’s interviews most often as “relaxed,” “friendly,” and “conversational.”
Also, “Why Chicago Booth?” is a common question, which means the admissions committee wants to not only
learn why you are right for Chicago Booth, but also ensure you understand why the program is right for you.

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What is the admissions

committee’s perspective on
interviews?
Chicago Booth uses interviews primarily to get a feel for applicants’ personality and communication skills, as
well as to ensure that they are well versed in what Chicago Booth has to offer and why it is the right MBA pro-
gram for them. We believe that Chicago Booth is truly interested in hearing what you have to say and wants
applicants to take full advantage of this opportunity to explain their story and qualifications beyond what is
conveyed in the electronic application.

The interview is meant to get to know you
better. Tell us more about your goals and
aspirations. What makes you tick? Why get an
MBA? Why Booth?
 Chicago Booth Full-Time MBA Admissions Blog, 1/19
You may feel nervous, but try to be as natural
as you can in your admissions interview. Don’t
be afraid of stumbling over some words,
starting a story over, or going a little off-
script. It’s more important for interviewers
to feel like they’re talking to and learning
about a person rather than just hearing a
presentation.

 Chicago Booth Evening and Weekend MBA Admissions Blog,

Though we want to know about your 5/18

professional experience and skillset, your

admissions interview is different from a
typical job interview. It’s a chance for you to
tell us what’s important to you and why you
want to earn your MBA at Chicago Booth. In
other words, help us to understand why this
experience will be worth it to you five or ten
years down the road.
 Chicago Booth Evening and Weekend MBA Admissions Blog,
5/18
Keep in mind that the [interview] experience
is meant to be positive—there won’t be any
case questions or interrogations. … Once [you
are at the interview], relax and be yourself.
Authenticity is important! The interviewer
is hoping to walk away with a strong
understanding of who you are and how you will
be as a Chicago Booth student.

 Chicago Booth Executive MBA Admissions Blog, 2/18

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Similar to preparing for a job interview, you’ll

want to research Chicago Booth and be able to
articulate why it’s a good fit for you. There is a
lot of information about the program available
on our website, but you can also call upon
others in the Booth community. If you know
any current students, alumni, faculty or staff,
these are all good people to connect with
beforehand. If you don’t know anyone to talk
with, contact the Admissions Office to see if
they can put you in touch with someone.

 Chicago Booth Executive MBA Admissions Blog, 1/16

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What type of interview can

I expect?
Invitation-Only Process

Interviews at Chicago Booth are “by invitation only,” meaning that the Admissions Office extends invitations
to selected applicants after reading their application—and only those invited applicants can schedule inter-
views. Although the exact percentages vary year to year, Chicago Booth admissions officers have indicated
that approximately 40% of applicants receive an interview invitation.

Blind Format

Chicago Booth interviews are “blind,” which means that your interviewer will not have seen your entire ap-
plication before the interview—just your resume. Your interviewer will therefore not know your GMAT score
or GPA (unless this information is on your resume) or the content of your essays. This means that referencing
anecdotes or examples that you used in other parts of your application is completely acceptable. Our past
clients report that their Chicago Booth interviewers asked numerous questions about the interviewee’s
resume. In some cases, however, your interviewer may not have taken time to review your resume before your
meeting, so be prepared to adjust accordingly and to provide a brief summary of your professional experi-
ence, in case they ask.

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Where will my interview

take place?
On Campus, In Person Remote

At Chicago Booth, some U.S.-based candidates’ interviews are con-
ducted face-to-face on the school’s campus. Although the location
of your interview has no influence on your chances for admission,
in-person interviews can sometimes feel more natural, with you and
your interviewer sitting down together in a quiet space at the school to
have a conversation about your candidacy. On-campus interviews also
allow you to interact with students and admissions representatives
during your visit. “Those who interview on campus have the added
opportunities to attend a class, have lunch with current students and
have a group Q&A session with admissions,” an admissions officer said
in an online chat. “It’s an all-day experience that allows interviewees to
get a robust sense of Booth culture and community.”
Chicago Booth has offered Skype and phone interviews when neces-
sary in the past. “We’ve done Skype and phone interviews in cases
where meeting in person isn’t possible,” an admissions officer stated
in an online chat with prospective students. These interviews gener-
ally follow the same format and carry the same weight in the evalu-
ation process as the other types of interviews the school offers, but
some candidates may have difficulty establishing a connection with
their interviewer when they are not physically face-to-face. If you do a
Skype interview, treat it exactly as you would an in-person interview.
Find a quiet place with a reliable connection, remove any possible
distractions, and dress the part!

Off Campus, In Person

How long will the
For candidates who are unable to travel to campus, Chicago Booth
offers off-campus, face-to-face interviews by engaging the school’s interview last?
alumni network around the world. In the past, hub cities have included
New York City; Washington, DC; Shanghai; and London. Depending on According to our past applicants, Booth’s
the specific arrangements, these interviews could be conducted in a interviews typically last between 45 and 60
more public place, like a coffee shop, or at the interviewer’s place of minutes.
business. “We always recommend applicants coming to campus so
they can see what the community is like at Chicago Booth,” an admis-
sions officer said in an online chat with potential applicants. “However,
we understand that this isn’t always feasible for our applicants with 45–60 minutes
their work schedules and location in the world. This is why we offer
interviews with our alumni around the world.”

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Who will interview me?

“All interviews, regardless of who conducts them, receive equal weight in the evaluation process,” Chicago
Booth notes on its website. The person with whom you interview often depends on the location of your in-
terview. “Second-year students and alumni [interviewers] provide a valuable judgment of fit for the program
because they have been through it themselves,” Kurt Ahlm, the school’s former associate dean for student
recruitment and admissions, told mbaMission in an interview. “They can offer candidates significant insight
into what it’s like to be at Booth, as well as provide a discerning assessment of how they think candidates
would contribute to Booth’s learning environment. Also, these applicants are the people who will be their
future classmates, colleagues, and leaders in their fields,” Ahlm continued.

Students

Chicago Booth uses specially chosen second-year students, known as Admissions Fellows, for on-campus
interviews. These students have been selected and trained by the school’s admissions officers to interview
candidates on the committee’s behalf.

Alumni

Chicago Booth takes advantage of its vast alumni base by allowing alumni to conduct all of the school’s off-
campus interviews, in either hub cities or the applicant’s hometown or country. These individuals are gradu-
ates who have volunteered to perform this task and who have received some guidelines from the Admissions
Office about how to conduct the interviews, including which or what kinds of questions to ask.

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What do past mbaMission

applicants say about the
interview experience?
Our clients who interviewed with Chicago Booth in the past few years consistently described their interview
experience with the school as “relaxed,” “friendly,” and “conversational.” Chicago Booth is not interested in
putting candidates on the spot or trying to stump them, but rather in making sure that applicants have a solid
grasp of the ways the MBA program would benefit them and how they would fit with the school’s community.
Many of our past applicants have underlined how friendly the interviewers were and how they seemed deter-
mined to make the experience as natural and relaxed as possible. Chicago Booth’s interviewers—all of whom
are either current second-year students or alumni—are reportedly also very willing to answer questions
about the school and share their own experiences with the MBA program, so interviewing with the school is
clearly a valuable opportunity to gain insider information, in addition to showcasing your skills.

Here is a sample of what our past clients have told us about their interview experience at Chicago Booth:

I felt very prepared going into the interview,
and overall [it] was just as I expected. The
interview was casual and really was meant
to get to know me and how I would fit in the
Booth community.
[The interview was an] overall positive
experience. The interviewer definitely tried
to set a relaxed mood for the interview. [It
was] very conversational, [with] lots of the
interviewer’s personal experiences shared,
especially those similar to the points I brought
up around [the ‘Why Booth?’ question].

It was overall very pleasant. No curveball

questions. Very relaxed.
[The interviewer was] very friendly and
conversational. I would answer a question
and he would give his input and comment
on his experience. For example, I said I was
My interviewer was extremely warm and interested in entrepreneurship and he talked
welcoming—I honestly felt that he was looking about his experiences in [a relevant] class.
for ways to connect with my story throughout
the interview.

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The interview was very casual, more of a ‘get
to know you’ feel to it than a fully professional
interview. The line of questions was very
focused on what my background was and how
an MBA fit in my future plans.
[The interviewer was] very nice, professional.
[He] offered to let me start the interview with
questions, even, and we could go from there.
His questions really came more naturally than
at other interviews; he found ways to ask
questions and move to different topics, as it
flowed with the conversation.
Overall, it was a pleasant interview. After I
responded to a question, she would respond
with a similar situation or agree with an
overarching idea. We laughed at times, but
for most of the time, she just took notes and
asked questions from a list.
Advice from Past Clients Who Have Interviewed at Chicago Booth
Be yourself. There are no ‘trick’ questions so
as long as you are clear on why you want to get
an MBA, and why specifically at Booth, you will
be fine.
[The interviewer was] friendly and
conversational, interested in engaging
intellectually. The interviewer had definitely
taken the time to look at my resume
beforehand, had even written notes
throughout for points that interested him and
he wanted to know more about.
I [would] describe it as an intellectual
conversation and not an interview. Assuming
my interview was representative of other
Booth interviews, there’s nothing to prepare
for and just more a test of whether you can
hold a smart conversation.
The interviewing style was casual and
conversational. They clearly intend for the
interview to be a relaxed, friendly experience.
Relax. The interview was a conversation more
than anything, and the more confident and
relaxed you are, the better you can engage in
authentic conversations.
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Really understand the resources Booth has to
offer. Don’t just have generic responses (like ‘I
like the flexible curriculum’). Explain how you’d
make Booth’s flexible curriculum work for you.
Also, really show passion for what your short-
and long-term career goals are.
Definitely be prepared to talk about why you
made career moves—the goal is to determine
how you make decisions in a given situation.
Also be prepared to talk about your industry—
how you make decisions in your current role
and the industry outlook are good topics to
think about while you prep. Be very intentional
about your reasons for applying to Booth, and
if you’ve applied to other schools, be prepared
to discuss why Booth is your #1 choice. It goes
without saying, but do your research!
Be relaxed. The student interviewers are very
friendly and happy to share their experience at
Booth.
Booth does a really good job making people
feel at ease. They surround the prospective
students with first-year students, and they
are very good at keeping you distracted as you
wait for your interview. My advice to anyone
would be relax; it really felt like my interviewer
wanted to help me make the best case for my
candidacy.
Have a clear idea of what your short- and long-
term goals are and how Booth can help fill
specific gaps you have [that are] preventing
you from reaching those goals.
Know your resume, have good questions. [My
interviewer] seemed to enjoy my questions. I
weaved them in throughout the interview, too,
which he seemed to encourage.
Just relax and make sure your personality
shows through. The only time I received a
bit of follow-up questions seemed to be in
the responses that may have sounded a bit
practiced as opposed to more conversational
in tone. Treat it as if you’re having a
conversation with someone new, not an
admissions person. Definitely try to avoid
sounding robotic or unauthentic.
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How can I prepare for the
interview?
Although the focus and style of Chicago Booth’s admissions interviews
can vary, you should expect to be asked about your personal, profes-
sional, and academic experiences and—in most cases—will receive
questions meant to reveal your knowledge about the school.
Chicago Booth’s interviews typically start with an open-ended ques-
tion or prompt, such as “Walk me through your resume.” or “Tell me
about yourself.” This is your opportunity to offer a comprehensive
overview of your profile and to touch on—very briefly—some of your
major accomplishments, both professional and personal.
Our interview reports for Chicago Booth indicate that “Why do you need
an MBA?” and “Why now?” are topics that the school’s interviews often
include, in addition to other career goals questions.
Chicago Booth’s interviews consistently include very school-specific
questions. Almost all our past clients noted that they were asked some
variation of the question “Why Chicago Booth?” and often other school-
related queries as well. If you are not ready to answer these types of
questions in detail, you must invest the time necessary to get to know
Chicago Booth thoroughly and to identify the programs, centers, clubs,
classes, professors, extracurricular opportunities, and other resourc-
es it offers that relate directly to your plans and your personality.
Chicago Booth wants to hear specifics about your professional ac-
complishments and leadership potential, so you should expect to
receive such prompts as “Tell me about a success.” or “Tell me about
a failure.” Be prepared to provide detailed information and stories in
these subject areas beyond what is presented in your resume.
Finally, because Chicago Booth is trying to gauge candidates’ “fit”
with its small, close-knit community, the interview will often include
personal questions, such as “How would your friends describe you?,” to
help the interviewer evaluate whether you would be a good match.
We strongly recommend that you practice vocalizing your responses
rather than just writing them out on paper. Try using a timer to get
a sense of how long you typically take to answer each question, and
practice in front of a mirror to detect (and then practice minimizing)
any facial tics or distracting hand gestures. Mock interviews can be
particularly helpful and revealing; provide a friend or family member
with your resume and a list of possible questions (see the next section),
and then have them interview you for 30 minutes and give you feedback
on your performance. Guard against preparing your responses word
for word and memorizing them, however, so that you do not sound
over-rehearsed and artificial. For more in-depth interview preparation,
consider scheduling a mock interview with an mbaMission consultant!
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Practice interview sequences

The following five lists present exact questions, in order, asked in actual Chicago Booth interviews during the
2018–2019 application season, as reported by our past clients. Although you can never be certain which ques-
tions you will receive, and questions will undoubtedly vary to some degree, these samples serve to illustrate
how a Chicago Booth interview is likely to progress.

Note: Identifying information about the applicants has been removed. Some questions have been edited for
clarity.

Sequence 1
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are you expecting to get from Chicago Booth?
3. Why Chicago Booth?
4. Why is this the best time [for an MBA]?
5. What clubs are you planning to join?
6. Have you had a position where you had to deal with subordinates/lead?
7. How would you deal with someone who made a poor decision at work?
8. You will be working in teams at Chicago Booth. How would you deal with a member not doing their
part?

Sequence 2
1. Walk me through your resume.
2. Why the switch from [X company] to [Y company]?
3. Tell me about a time when you had to lead a team.
4. What interests you about Chicago Booth?
5. Outside of the classroom and professional clubs, what would you be involved in?
6. What questions do you have for me?
7. Not everyone who wants to go into [X field] at Chicago Booth is able to get an internship. What would
be your backup career?
8. What is your short-term career goal?

Sequence 3
1. Walk me through your resume.
2. Tell me about your goals.
3. Why Chicago Booth?
4. Why an MBA?
5. What sets Chicago Booth apart?
6. In which clubs are you thinking of enrolling?
7. What is an ideal team structure to you?
8. Tell me three words that your peers would use to describe you.

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9. Why do you think you are well rounded?
10. Tell me about a time when you gave negative feedback.
11. Why should we take you?
12. What do you like to do outside of work?
13. Is there anything we didn’t discuss that you would have wanted to?

Sequence 4
1. Please walk me through your resume.
2. Why an MBA?
3. Why Chicago Booth?
4. What clubs would you join at Chicago Booth?
5. Tell me about a time when you failed.
6. Tell me about an experience that broadened your way of thinking the most.
7. Tell me about a time when you worked with someone you didn’t like.
8. Tell me about what role you usually play on teams.
9. Tell me about a time when you played a different role on a team.

Sequence 5
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why an MBA?
3. Why Chicago Booth?
4. Tell me about a time when you had a difficult supervisor.
5. What are your strengths?
6. What are your weaknesses?
7. How do you make decisions?
8. Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision.
9. Tell me about a time when you failed.
10. What would your ideal MBA experience be like?
11. What accomplishment would you like to have in your autobiography?
12. How did you prepare for this interview?
13. What are your short-term and long-term career goals?

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Notoriously challenging
questions
Having performed thousands of mock interviews over the years and reviewed even more post-interview re-
ports, we believe these are the six questions that MBA applicants find most difficult to master. Note that ques-
tions marked with an asterisk are particularly common at the school in question (in this case, Chicago Booth).

Why should we take you?

Be ready to articulate your two or three greatest strengths and to support each one with a thoughtful anec-
dote that validates your claims. Research your target school so that you are able to relate each of your high-
lighted strengths to an aspect of the program in a meaningful way; this will simultaneously show that you have
done your homework on the school and that you are a serious and thoughtful applicant.

To which other schools are you applying?

List peer schools only. You do not want to give the impression that you consider the school at which you are
interviewing either a “safe” choice or a “reach.” Be prepared to discuss your target school relative to the peer
institutions you mention and to identify specific characteristics about the target school that you find more
appealing on the whole.

If you are not accepted to any business school this year, what will you do?

A large part of mastering this question lies in how you respond, rather than what you say. Project confidence
and show that your plans for the future involve a high level of intentionality. A suitable answer would be some-
thing like this: “I am hopeful that I will be accepted to your program this year, but if not, I will definitely reapply,
because I know an MBA is important for me as I seek to transition in my career. I know I need to develop my
skills in the areas of [areas of importance to you] to achieve my career goals.”

What are your weaknesses? or What have you learned from a failure?*

Be honest. Any attempt to disguise a weakness or shift responsibility away from yourself will actually be det-
rimental! Show that you are cognizant of areas or ways in which you can improve, and then express a sincere
interest in making a positive change. Reveal how and what you learned from a failure and, if possible, provide a
subsequent example in which you succeeded with your new approach.

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What have we not covered that you wish I had asked about?

Have a mental list ready of your best attributes, most impressive accomplishments, and reasons for target-
ing the program. Then, if any remain that you have not broached by the time you are asked this question, this
is your opportunity to share them. If, on the other hand, you have truly exhausted all your material, you can
instead offer a quick overview that recaps your strongest points and stories: “We discussed my early promo-
tion at American Express, my reasons for wanting to attend this program specifically, my career goals, my
leadership experience with Friends of the New York Public Library, and my passion for photography. I think we
have everything covered.”

What other questions do you have for me?

Always have a few thoughtful questions prepared about your target program to show that you have researched
and are genuinely interested in the school. Keep in mind that questions vary depending on the person in-
terviewing you, so you should tailor your queries accordingly. For example, an alumnus may not know about
the latest on-campus news but can talk about his personal experience at the school and subsequent career
success; a student interviewer would be unable to discuss post-graduate topics but can provide insight into
courses, professors, and clubs. Avoid basic questions like “What makes this program special?” or “What cours-
es do you have for aspiring consultants?” You should already know the answers to such questions at this point.

Demonstrate that you have advanced knowledge of the school by including references to specific offerings
and resources in your queries: “I am interested in an individualized First-Year Project. How many students
pursue these relative to the more conventional option?” Such nuanced questions help prove your authentic
interest in the program.

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What if I get stumped during
the interview?
Many applicants worry that during their interview, they will be asked
a challenging question that will leave them awkwardly silent and that
the moment will effectively put an end to their candidacy at the target
school. Although such an experience would certainly be uncomfort-
able—and we suggest, of course, that you definitely do your best to get
ready for your interview so as to avoid this kind of predicament—some-
times even well-prepared candidates find themselves “stumped.” We
can assure you, however, that an awkward pause in an interview will
not cancel out all the positive elements of your application. Still, being
ready for such a situation, should one occur, is important, so we offer
the following tips on how to mitigate an uncomfortable moment:
1. Resist the urge to launch into a story. Your instinct may be to
just start speaking, hoping that you will find the right story or
answer as you progress. This is a high-risk strategy, because if
it goes wrong, this can compound the problem. Instead, pause
for a moment to recall an appropriate story. To buy yourself a
little extra time, you can even say, “That is a good question. I am
going to have to think about it for a moment,” before answering.
2. Take a sip of water. Many interviewers will offer you a glass of
water at the beginning of your meeting. If your interviewer does
so, accept the offer, and then use the water throughout the
interview as a buffer to buy time or help yourself slow down.
If you get stumped, taking a sip of water can provide a brief
opportunity to pause naturally, alleviating any awkwardness
before you continue speaking.
3. Maintain your poise. If you absolutely cannot answer a ques-
tion, do not get overly apologetic or grovel. Simply acknowl-
edge that you are having trouble with the question and politely
ask if you might come back to it later in the conversation. This
is not a best-case scenario, but it is certainly far better than
rambling and apologizing. A confident approach during a tricky
moment may even impress!
4. Forget about it. If you simply cannot answer a question, accept
the fact and move on. Do not dwell on the situation. If you spend
the rest of the interview thinking about that moment, you will be
distracted and struggle with any subsequent questions.
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What should I wear to the

interview?
Although Chicago Booth does not specify a dress code on its website, you can safely assume that you should
dress in a professional manner, regardless of where your interview takes place.

Follow these rules to look the part for your MBA interview at any school:

1. Always follow any guidelines the school provides on dress code.

2. If the school does not specify a dress code, wear business attire for an on-campus interview as well as
for an off-campus interview with a member of the admissions staff.
3. Business casual attire is often best when meeting an alumnus/alumna off campus, though you may
consider politely asking your interviewer about proper attire in advance.
4. Jeans, T-shirts, and ripped, wrinkled, or unclean clothing are never appropriate.
5. Showing some creativity and style is okay, but do not go overboard.
6. Avoid wearing strong-smelling perfume or cologne.
7. Bring a copy of your resume printed on nice paper.
8. Make sure you turn your cell phone off.

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Should I send a thank you?

In short, you should always send a brief thank you email after your interview. Write and send the note as soon
as possible after your interview—the same day or the next is ideal. Interviewers usually need to submit their
feedback on candidates within 24–48 hours, so you want your message to be received quickly. Be sure to ask
for your interviewer’s business card or email address before you finish the interview, if it has not already been
provided.

Follow these tips to write an effective thank you note:

1. Be sure to mention specifics from your conversation or visit.

2. If you realized after the interview that you forgot to make an important point about your candidacy,
you can (succinctly!) include that point in your thank you email.
3. Always check to make sure you have spelled all names correctly in your email, including the name of
your interviewer, the school, any program or course you discussed, or any professor you met.
4. Limit your email to no longer than a few sentences. Keep it direct, clear, and to the point.

Here is a sample thank you message:

Dear Mr. Jones:

Thank you for meeting with me to discuss my interest in XYZ School’s MBA program. I appreciated your
valuable insight into the advanced finance classes, particularly Professor John Smith’s “Portfolio Invest-
ing” course. Should I be so lucky as to be accepted, I will definitely enroll in that class and know it would
be incredibly helpful in my future investment career. After speaking with you and several students, I am
confident that XYZ offers everything I am seeking, both personally and professionally. Thank you again
for your time, and I hope to see you on campus this fall.

Warm regards,

Jane Doe

mbaMission Interview Guide: Booth School of Business 20

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