AMP Treatise

Someone asked if I could give some details on the actual interviews I did for these two schools. Some interview background for the non-MBA applicant. If you get an interview, you can assume they are impressed enough with your application to take it to the next step, however, that doesn't mean its a guarantee for admission, the opposite actually. If you bomb the interview, chances are your application isn't going too much farther. Although, it is pretty tough to bomb an interview unless you try really hard and tell them about the time you burned down your high school after you were caught smoking crack in the bathroom (and believe me, this is a hard secret to keep).

Also, schools vary in their interview policies, especially the top ones (stanford apparently did 0 interviews until recently. If you don't get an interview, you are in either 1 of 2 categories, you didn't stand a chance, or you are so crazy overqualified they don't need to even talk to you. The BSchools intent in the interview is to make sure you're articulate, that the answers you give are consistent with what's in your application (if not, they will suspect someone wrote them for you), and to ask questions not answered in the application.

Anyway, here goes:

HKUST (2nd bschool interview, after RSM w/ Alumni in NYC)
Spoke with a Mr. Tsang of the admissions office. First thing to note is that this interview took place at 9:30PM due to the time difference. I was originally scheduled for 4PM HK time which equals 4AM NYC time! They understood my reason for a time change. Anyway, Mr. Tsang's English was very good, as expected, and he asked me the expected questions. These are:

• Why this school?
• Why MBA now?
• What are your plans afterward?
• Where else did you apply?
• If you got into all your schools, where would you go?
• What will you do if you don't get into any school?
• What would your boss says is your biggest weakness/strength?

I was prepared for these types of questions and anything else he asked was supplemental and more conversational in nature. A good sign is if part way through the interview they start to "sell" you the school. This happened in all three of my interviews after we had talked for a bit, so I assume if you start to get this feeling that you can assume it is at least going OK.

///And I lost the rest of the unsaved post due to a system upgrade by the friendly people at google.com.

But it ended with a reference to ugly people and how they should go to a guatemalan plastic surgeon. And finally with this picture:

Hit refresh for a new quote!