Published Mar 13, 2004
I interviewed at USC on Wednesday. I’ve thought the experience over several since then, and I feel the same every time: I think the interview went well and that the interviewer helped make me more excited about the school.
And getting an e-mail the very next day from NYU asking me to interview didn’t hurt my sunshiney attitude at all.
The Marshall interview ended up being a nice conversation about me and about business school. For about an hour, we talked about where I’d worked and studied, what I wanted from business school, and what USC could offer. All in all, the Marshall interview went better than the Kenan-Flagler interview. I’m still excited about UNC, but I think there were a couple of differences between the two experiences that made the later interview the better.
The first difference was switching to an in-person interview from a phone interview. I was able to personally connect with the interviewer sitting face-to-face with him, an opportunity that wasn’t available over the phone.
The second difference was that this was not my first interview. I’d read about what happens in interviews, but there’s a difference between reading and doing. With experience, I was able to better use the information I’d prepared for my applications in conversation. During various parts of the conversation, I was able to pull in anecdotes and strengths I’d mentioned in my essays for Marshall and for other schools; in fact, the interviewer only asked me three or four questions during the whole process; I was able to answer all of his other questions before he asked them.
In the future, I’ll make sure I interview face-to-face; that’s why I’m now trying to figure out when I can make it to New York. It’ll be a fun trip!