I am just finishing up my 2 day trip to Chicago, and overall it's been a great trip. I spent the day yesterday on campus, doing the information session, tour, lunch with students, and a class visit. Overall very top notch. The students were all very friendly and helpful (both the students officially acting as guides as well as the students in the class I visited), and the facilities were also very impressive. I have to say that pictures on the website and brochures really don't capture how incredible the building is, especially the winter garden. My fellow prospective students (it sounds so much nicer than "applicants") were also great, and I would certainly enjoy being classmates with any or all of them. My interview this morning also went very well. The second year student who interviewed me was great. From the beginning he was very friendly and conversational, and it really set a positive tone for the entire interview. My preparations certainly came in handy, as I expected just about every question (talk about your career progression, why MBA, why Chicago, conflict on a team, etc. as well as follow up questions on specific aspects of my career experience), other than one. Towards the end of the interview, he asked "If you were interviewing yourself, what's the one question you would ask that I haven't asked, and how would you answer it?" It caught me a little off guard since he had asked just about all the questions I would have asked, so I stalled for a minute (by saying he had asked many of the questions I would have asked), but then realized he hadn't really asked anything about leadership yet so I said I would have asked how I had demonstrated I was a strong leader, and then answered my own question. The time really flew by (the 35 minutes seemed more like 10 or so), and I left confident that I had done the best I could have.
So now, I am back in the waiting game, with nothing to do except wait for invites from HBS and Stanford, and wait for January 3 when Chicago releases decisions. (According to the adcom at the info session, while in years past Chicago has started calling accepted students up to 36 hours before the decision date, at this point this year they plan to release all decisions on the 3rd. Given the decision date's proximity to the holidays, I am not expecting a call before the 3rd).
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Hello Mike,
Congratulations on what sounds like a great Chicago interview! You've framed the interview really well with your campus/student community experience. Would you be willing to post this report to the Clear Admit Wiki for the benefit of other applicants? You can do so by clicking here, or simply e-mailing the text to wiki@clearadmit.com (we’ll be sure to link back to your blog when we post your information).
We’d also love to hear about the factors that influenced your decisions about where to apply.
Thanks and best of luck in the MBA admissions process!
-Lauren
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