Interview Reports
CMU / Tepper
Below are MBA admissions interview questions and experiences submitted by Tepper MBA applicants. If you interviewed at Tepper, we encourage you to submit a report detailing your experience!Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom / Skype
I applied to second round and was invited on 15th of January. Originally I was invited to interview in hub cities with Adcom but I could not arrange the trip due to visa issue. So I ended up schedule interview with another Adcom via Skype. My interview was on 12th of February. It was very conversational and he seemed to be very professional in keeping the interview interesting and moving it forward. He did not take note at all. Overall, he looked for how much I had researched about Tepper and why I want Tepper.
Here were the questions.
- Why MBA? (I did not get “Walk through resume”)
- Short-term goal
- How I did research on Tepper?
- What is the important trait of leader?
- When work in team, how do you interact with other function?
- How do you solve conflict?
- What do you prefer outside work?
- What is challenge in your work?
- What is your strength as leader?
- Do you want to work abroad?
I had an issue with Skype at the start of interview. I was 10 minutes late when I could connect with him. He was so kind waiting me and did not mind about my problem.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / Skype
The interviewer was quite friendly and made me feel comfortable while answering questions.
It was a blind interview, they had only my Resume to refer to.
The questions were pretty much generic, like why i chose Tepper, and how the work I have been doing and my undergraduate degree relates to my mba decision and my post mba goals.
Another thing I felt is that there was a lot of emphasis on how I have performed in team scenarios and how I can carry it forward in Tepper.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Skype / Adcom
My interview was very similar to what has already been mentioned, very friendly indeed.
The questions that had not already been mentioned:
- What are the traits that I look for in a great leader?
- What is it about my job that brings me stress?
It’s very important to know the school and to have a strong answer for “Why Tepper?”.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 (Consortium) / Phone-Skype Interview / Adcom
My interview was conversational and flowed pretty well. The adcom originally tried calling me on Skype, but we had audio issues so we resorted to a standard phone interview. I had met my interview before at a recruiting event so he pulled my application to ask questions prior.
Questions:
- Tell me about yourself
- Why MBA at Tepper
- Who have you spoken with at Tepper to learn about the culture
- Tell me something about you that’s not on your resume or in your application
I ended with a recap of why I wanted to attend Tepper and why I thought I was a great fit for the school. Overall, it lasted about 40 minutes and I think it went pretty well. Still awaiting a decision, but hopefully I left a strong impression.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Phone Interview / Adcom
My interview was with the Director of Admissions over the phone. The questions I was asked were:
- Walk me through your resume
- Why MBA
- Why Tepper
- Describe your goals post MBA
- Tell me how you lead/unite cross-functional teams
- What do you like/not like about your job
- Describe your typical day at work
- What do you do outside of work
- Where was I in US and what did I like there
It lasted about 45 minutes (including my own questions to him). He was extremely conversational and went out of his way to sound friendly and easy-going.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On-campus / Adcom
My interview was very conversational and the adcom who conducted my interview made me feel welcome and comfortable. Before the interview, there was a class and campus tour I was able to participate in. The students were extremely friendly (something CMU takes pride in because of the close knit community). I recommend doing some activities beforehand because it will help you during the interview.
Questions I was asked:
- Tell me about yourself
- What do you know about Tepper and how do you see yourself fitting in?
- Why do you want an MBA
- What is your leadership style
- What do you do outside of work
I am still waiting on a final decision but believe the interview went very well. Tip: If you are counting on a cab to get to campus and are not in the downtown area, plan well ahead of time. I was waiting for one for about 45 minutes.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On Campus / Adcom
My interview was very conversational and my interviewer spent the first 5 minutes just getting me relaxed and talking. She asked the following questions:
- Walk me through your resume and tell me about yourself.
- Why do you want an MBA?
- Why a Tepper MBA?
- What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- Can you give me an example of your leadership?
- What are your interests and activities outside of work?
- What is a weakness of yours?
- Any questions for me?
My interviewer was fairly new to the school and didn’t know the answer to several of my questions but she was nice and easy to talk to. I thought it went well. Pretty standard interview. We’ll see what comes of it.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / On Campus / Adcom
I had an interview with James Frick. He did a very good job at making me feel at ease. Following were the questions
- Why MBA
- Why Tepper
- Goals
- Example of leadership
- Where was I in US and what did I like there
- How do I handle stress
- Interests
- Weakness
The interview lasted for 30 minutes.
Good luck!
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Telephonic Interview / Adcom
Round 2 Interview – I was interviewed by a member of the admissions committee. It was a telephonic interview, as i am based out of India. The interviewer had not reviewed my file before. It was one of the most friendliest and nicest interviews i had ever given. Within the first 2 minutes, i was made to feel completely at ease.
I was asked the normal questions like:
- Why Tepper?
- Why MBA now?
- Short term and long term goals?
- What did i best like about Tepper?
- Examples of something i had done as a leader and as a team player.
- What would i bring to Tepper?
- Interests.
He discussed my interests for quite a while. Throughout the interview, he kept saying that he was eager to go and read my file. The interview was over in around 20 minutes, after which i was told to ask him any questions i had. Then he asked me to call him for any question i might have later.
I sent a thank you mail after 2 days to him.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Adcom
I was interviewed by a member of the admissions committee and it was not blind. The interviewer had reviewed my application prior to the interview and was aware of all of the aspects of my application. The interview was conversational and friendly in tone. The questions I was asked:
- Walk me through your professional background.
- Short-term and long-term goals.
- Why MBA from Tepper?
- How do I work in a team? (example of teamwork)
- How do I lead? (example of leadership)
- What do I do outside of work?
- What clubs am I interested in?
In total, the interview ran for about 50 minutes including questions I had for the interviewer. All in all, the admissions committee does a great job making the students feel welcomed.
Tepper MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / On-campus / Adcom
Having been in pittsburgh for over 5 months, I decided to intiate my interivew after submitting the app. I had visited the school before and found the place to be pretty exciting with a lot of talented students. My interview was at 12:00 PM and I drove straight after an office meeting. I was scheduled to interview with Devin Bownes. After meeting her, I realized that I had met her during my previous visit and conveyed the same. I also met Mr. Linwood Harris, who recognized me and wished me luck.
So the interview started in a casual manner and Devin asked me to walk her through my resume and said she would be taking notes and I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable with it.
I started with my college experiences and spoke about the lead roles I played at couple of clubs. Then I spoke about my career and she wanted to know about Leadership experiences in my job. She was rapidly taking a lot of notes. After a couple of mins, she wanted to know if I had handled a tough situation at work and how I solved the problem. After an example, she wanted to if I failed as a team member and what are my learnings from it and how I contributed towards helping the team regroup. She was appreciative of how I realized that communication was the problem and worked towards establishing a proper communication channel.
Then we started talking about my career goals and what brought me to Tepper. I spoke about the community, the pro bono consulting projects, the information sessions I attended on campus, their teaching methodology emphasizing on a mathematical approach to an MBA and how it would help me in a conuslting career. I also spoke about the strong community, city of pittsburgh and how I can see myself staying there in the near future.
Finally, she wanted to know about my community leadership (present on my resume) and what is my role.
we later talked a little about her association with Tepper. we also spoke about steelers and penguins and how I am unable to get a ticket to one of those games. She told me that my interview was completed and she has a lot of information which she would use to prepare a report.
After I reached office, I sent her a mail thanking her for her time and highlighting a few points we discussed. She replied a couple of days later. I hope it is a +ve sign.
Hope this helps.
CMU / Tepper
| MEAN GMAT | 686 |
| MEAN GPA | 3.35 |
| CLASS SIZE | 198 |
| % FEMALE | 29% |
Final round applicants received admissions decisions on May ...
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