Wharton Interview Tips

A few tips and guidance from our reviewers, two of whom interviewed successfully at Wharton:

"First, let me clarify - at Wharton, unlike other schools, the interview won't keep you out of the school. However, it is obviously one of the many things that counts towards the strength of your application and can come down on either the "Yes" or "No" side of your decision heavily. So it's key to be prepared.

The style is almost always conversational - regardless of who you interview with. Your answers to the 'script questions' should be authentic, well thought out and prepared - Why Wharton, Why MBA, Why Now, ST / LT Goals, Walk through your resume, etc. Prepare these in front of a mirror / webcam - you have no idea useful this can be! Even better, do a mock interview with us or with someone else.

For the behavioral / leadership / teamwork questions, have a few thoughts in your mind that you can pull out and use if the opportunity presents itself. Know yourself, know the school, know your story. Be friendly, humble and project your accomplishments without coming off as arrogant. Body language is important!"

To do a mock interview with a Wharton alum, send us your preferred time slots (EST) in an email at essaycritique@gmail.com. To get our blog discount, mention WHDISC in your email.

Ross Interview Guidance

As the interview invites start to roll for Ross Round 2, here are some useful tips from one of our reviewers who successfully interviewed at Ross:

"The great thing about interviewing at Ross is that there are a few questions you absolutely know you will be asked. Be fully prepared to answer:

- Walk me through your resume / background
- Why MBA? Why Now?
- Why Ross (being prepared for this is critical)
- What will you bring to Ross?

Besides these questions, you will be asked a couple of behavioral questions - describe a team experience, challenge you have faced, mistake you made, failure, confrontational situation, disagreement with a colleague, etc.

Quite frankly, the answer to the "core" questions above are very important and you should spend the majority of your time practicing and re-practicing those answers so that you know clearly what your story is and how you are going to communicate it.

There is a fine line between communicating your story and sounding arrogant so be careful not to cross it. Also, you should have a clear idea of what you will be involved in when you get to Ross and how. "

Between the hours of 7 - 10 pm EST, our reviewers are now conducting thirty minute mock interviews. Mention ROSSDISC when you contact us and get a discount for reading this blog!

Mock Interviews by H / S / W Alums

Starting Monday, January 18th, our four reviewers will conduct mock interviews between the hours of 5 - 11 pm Eastern Time on weekdays and for a few hours on the weekends.

The thirty minute interviews will be conducted via phone or webcam and reviewers will provide a detailed analysis of your responses and your body language / non-verbal communication right after the interview. If these timings don't work for you (or if you don't want a live interview), we are also offering an analysis of a recorded interview.

Interviews will tailored to the school that you are interviewing at and feedback will be provided based on the school's requirements.

Why do a mock interview?
You've gotten this far, so don't stumble now. Practicing is the key to successful interviewing - and what better way to do this than with people who've been in your shoes not too long ago? The feedback you get will be detailed and will include suggestions for improving your verbal and non-verbal communication.

Interested? Send us your details and preferred time slots at essaycritique@gmail.com

HBS Essay - Career Vision

A number of you have written with questions about HBS and it's "Career Vision / Why is it meaningful to you" essay. We realize this is a hard question so here are some guidelines you can follow -

"To describe your career vision, think long term - it is important to articulate to HBS AdCom where you see yourself over the long term. In many essays that we read, this career vision seems unrelated to your past experiences - and while it is alright to want to make a career change, it is equally important to highlight why this career change is your career vision e.g., if you are in Technology and describe your career vision as a leader in the Microfinance sector, it is critical to highlight how this became your goal.

To describe why this vision is meaningful to you, you can concisely describe past personal or professional experiences that make this vision relevant. Especially if your vision is a "popular" MBA vision (e.g., entrepreneurship), try to highlight why this is different for you by using this "meaningfulness" criteria.

We also see a number of applicants try to force fit the "Why HBS" angle into this answer. It is alright to include this component if it makes sense in the context of your essay and story, but not required - do not force fit it if it means compromising other parts of the essay"

Pet Peeve Series: Will vs. Would

How many times have you used "would" in your essay instead of "will" and vice versa? If you don't know, you're not alone. This is one of the most frequent language errors on the essays we critique, so we wanted to set the record straight.

There is, in fact, a significant difference between the two - here is a self explanatory summary of the difference (courtesy of a public web source):

1. Would and will are both auxiliary modal verbs (yes, we know you don't care about this one)

2. Will is used to talk about definite future actions - quick decisions, promises, offers and a likely prediction

3. Would is used to talk about: invitations, requests, asking permission, talking about preferences and making arrangements.

If that isn't clear enough, here are some essay style examples to illustrate:

Incorrect: "At Wharton, I would participate in the GCP.. " - Will you? Then say you WILL.

Incorrect: "I will like to lead the Consulting club.." - You are stating a preference - you WOULD like to.

Need more clarity? Write to us, we'll be happy to help!

5 Common Essay Mistakes

As we go through the many essays we review, themes emerge and we see a few common mistakes repeated several times. We thought it might be useful for R2 applicants to use this list to review their essays:

1. Answering a Different Question - As simple as this sounds, we have found that a number of essays submitted to us actually answer a different question than what is being asked. The most plausible reason for this is because a lot of applicants actually identify the parts of their personality and professional experiences that they want to demonstrate first, and then figure out how to "force fit" these experiences into the essay questions. The best way to avoid this mistake? Do it the right way - think of the question, and then write the answer, not the other way around.

2. Skimming over the Details - "That day, I learned how collaboration and teamwork are critical to leadership...". Any time you have one of these "I realized / learned / found out" statements, double check to make sure that before or after you have supporting details that explain why or how you realized what you did. The supporting information should naturally lead the reader to the conclusion that you are then stating.

3. Distracting Creative Imagery - "Beads of sweat dotted my brow as I lifted the rusty hammer to hit the moss covered..".. Great for a fiction novel, not so great for a business school application. We have seen a number of essays which are fun to read because they are written so well - unfortunately, they're just not written for an application. Especially all you very gifted writers out there, try and keep a check and keep the language simple.

4. Language, Grammar - If English isn't your first language, invest a lot of time in polishing the language and grammar in your essays. While a lot of people think it is OK to write in loose language if you are an international applicant, remember that you are competing with other international applicants who may not have this problem. As long as it feels like you have taken the effort to polish the language, you'll be in good shape.

5. Overtly glorifying your accomplishments - Essays are all about you and your achievements. We get that. At the same time, if you were a first year analyst in a MBS group in an investment bank, don't say you helped your organization battle the credit crisis (if you didn't). State your accomplishments as is, and they will sound great. In an attempt to magnify accomplishments, we have seen a lot of essays that lose their authenticity and credibility.

Hope this helps! If you have something else you'd like to see covered here, send us an email.