Harvard Business School, Chicago and INSEAD organize informal interview sessions with their alumni. Schools like Wharton and HEC Paris coordinate formal interviews. In Wharton's case, the formal interview is in front of an admissions officer. For HEC Paris, applicants are put in front of a jury of admissions personnel.

Unless personal interviewing is one of your worst weaknesses, MBA Center advises you to take advantage of the personal interview. Interviewing is an irreplaceable opportunity to meet and talk with admissions representatives in person, and to add another asset to your application file.

MBA Center advisors are happy to help you prepare you for personal interviews. We can put you in touch with recognized MBA experts ready to advise and prepare you for your interview.

Our goal is to help you get into an outstanding MBA program. To achieve our goal, we will prepare you to:

1. Introduce yourself and clearly state the reasons for your application.
2. Answer questions about your weaknesses (as well as your strengths).
3. Know the specialization of the program(s) you've chosen.
4. Anticipate the types of questions commonly asked.
5. Have some questions of your own ready.

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What are the interviews like?

While intimidating for some MBA-hopefuls, the personal interview represents a prime opportunity. Interviews allow you the chance to not only put a face and personality to the name and credentials on your application file, but also to express your academic, personal, and professional accomplishments, experiences, and intentions.

Duration of interview sessions can vary widely. For busy admissions officers, 15 minutes is not uncommon. For some alumni interviewers, one hour is often the minimum, with the maximum sometimes stretching beyond two hours. Typically, expect interviews to last between 30 and 60 minutes.

Most business-school interviewers pose similar questions. Usually, they're interested in what you've accomplished and experienced (academically, personally, professionally), and why you made the choices you did. In some cases interviewers are intimately familiar with your application file, and simply want more detail expressed live and in person. In others, interviewers know only your academic or professional credentials and count on the interview to hear your story for the first time.

Our b-school admissions sources hint that while some questions differ from one school or interviewer to another, most adhere to three lines of questioning:

1. Why do you think now is the right time to pursue an MBA?
2. How will you fit into our program? What will you bring? What will you add?
   And,
    
3. How will you do in the real world after you graduate?

Why do you think now is the right time to pursue an MBA?

For this question, interviewers are looking for responses incorporating specific examples from your academic, personal, and professional experiences. Further, they want to know the reasons behind your major life decisions. Our advice to tackle this kind of question is to focus on that school's strengths, and answer the "Why Now?" query in terms of both your short- and long-term objectives.

Interviewers also want to determine how serious you are about attending their particular school. If a school is interested in you, they want to find out how interested you are in them.

To this end, it's not unusual for interviewers to ask you where else you're applying and why. Also, it's in your best interest to demonstrate that you've done your research by asking about specific aspects of a school, like their curriculum, class size, facilities, faculty, or alumni network.

How will you fit into our program? What will you bring? What will you add?

Most b-school class sizes are relatively small and take on characteristics of small societies. Coursework is more often than not organized around a team approach, so teamwork becomes critical in and out of the classroom. For many admissions directors, establishing and maintaining effective, successful teamwork is a top priority. Therefore they're looking for applicants who will flourish in a team atmosphere.

Emphasize your most successful team experiences. Highlight too your critical thinking, leadership, and social abilities. Don't be shy about expressing yourself confidently, but avoid egotism, or bragging. Admissions reps are looking for personalities who will fit into their program's culture, and add value to it.

How will you do in the real world after you graduate?

After graduation when you're back out in the real world, you represent the MBA program you were a part of. Admissions officers care greatly about the reputation of their program out in the world marketplace, knowing well that their graduates can add to it, or bring it down. Your skills in personal interviewing give them a sense of how you'll do in the job market. Listening skills, professionalism, and that intangible, confidence, are the three principal attributes interviewers listen and watch for to indicate how you might do down the road, with your MBA in hand.

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