Chicago interview

I did my Chicago interview in Singapore over the weekend on Saturday with a GSB alum who graduated back in 2001. In fact, I had met this very same alum before at an infosession and I lucked out when his name came back during my interviewer search. Anyway we had hit it off during the infosession, and I was hoping that it would carry into my interview.

He suggested Starbucks, and told me to keep it casual and not wear a suit. I came in business casual (shirt and slacks but no tie) just to be safe. Anyway he wore a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals so I was definitely formal enough. I'd just flown in from Tokyo that same morning, so we started off chatting about Japan and traveling schedules. Then we got down to business.

• Why MBA - I began with my career goals and then went on to why an MBA was necessary. He agreed that it made sense, but drilled down into my career goals, specifically asking me what if I didn't get into firm A, had I considered other areas that I could possibly also work in to achieve my goals, where would I be in five years if things didn't turn out as planned.
  
• Why Chicago - Because I'd mentioned that I planned to return to Asia after my MBA, he asked me why not other schools in Asia such as Insead. After I gave him my spiel, he asked me why I wasn't applying for the International MBA program. This caught me offguard - I honestly didn't know the differences between the international MBA and the regular MBA but I think I was able to BS my way through this one...
• What clubs would you join (non-career oriented ones) - I think I got this question because during my Why Chicago answer, I mentioned some consulting-related activities (e.g. Management Labs, Service Corps, etc.). My answer to this one was ok - and I managed to tie some clubs back to the activities I'd listed on my resume.
• Give me an example of a challenging project - Because he asked specifically about one of the companies I'd worked for, I chose an example that showed teamwork, leadership, and how I motivated my teammates.
  
• Tell me about a time when you faced an unprecendented obstacle and what did you do to overcome it - I used another example from work that hopefully showcased more leadership and initiative.
• What kind of impression does Chicago GSB give you, and what is the one thing that you would change about it - Ha! He tried to throw a curveball with this one I think. Not sure if I answered it satisfactorily, but I mentioned strong academics/research, but maybe too much focus on theory. Then as I was saying all that I remembered the experiential learning that I mentioned in my Why Chicago answer. Arrrghhh... contradictory answers, but oh well, not the end of the world...

We took about half an hour to go through the questions above, then he asked if I had any questions. Since we'd already spoken pretty extensively before, I just asked him about which classes he felt were "must take" classes and what made him choose Chicago over the other schools he was admitted to. We also spent some time chatting about his own long term goals and the VC industry. In total the whole session lasted about an hour.

I was relaxed and the interview was pretty enjoyable. Face-to-face interviews are definitely easier than phone interviews, and the funny thing is I didn't even really prep for this one - just reread my essays and emails from students I'd contacted to find out more about certain Chicago activities. I will probably do the same for my Wharton interview coming up next Monday (in Tokyo this time). Think it's easier to just wing it sometimes =)

Incidentally I received an email from Chicago just hours before my interview beginning with "Congratulations...." I was like... WHA--??? I'm in already even without the interview???!! Turns out they just wanted to verify some personal information. What an anti climax.