Yale SOM MBA Admission Interviews

This will be a rather brief post on MBA Admissions Interviews for the Yale School of Management MBA Class of 2015.  Based on a client report (I had one client who was admitted there in R1, you can find that client’s testimonial as well) and the sole report in Clear Admit (Accepted had no reports for the Class of 2015 R1), Yale has radically changed its interview style.  Previously it asked a range of standard MBA interview questions plus a few weird ones focusing on college (which made the interview seem kind of immature and childish in tone compared to other schools), but this has completely changed.  The Yale website does not really explain this in any specific way. Actually the only discussion I could even find of the contents of the interview was the following, which is from the October 2012: From the Director of Admissions: Inside the Admissions Process: 

“At the interview, we will ask you questions about your past experiences and decisions, in order to get a better sense of how you act and think. The best way to prepare for an interview is to know your resume, re-read your application essays, and have a good sense of what you have done well—and not so well—in the past, and why.”

There is no indication here that the interview content has greatly changed, but based on the reports I have seen for round one, it has changed greatly.

(By the way, this same blog post mentions the role of interviews in the MBA application process:
“Interviews are by invitation of the Admissions Committee. We invite applicants to interview throughout the round. At the moment, we have extended roughly one-third of the total invitations we plan to offer for the round; more invitations will be coming in the next few weeks. While an interview invitation is certainly a positive sign—it’s not possible to be admitted without one—it should not be viewed as an indication of your final decision. We typically interview roughly 30% of our applicants, and a little more than half of those interviewed are ultimately offered a place in the class.” )

Here is an excerpt from the one R1 report for the Class of 2015 available on Clear Admit:
“It was all behavioral questions–tell me about a time you faced a deadline, tell me about a time you disagreed with your boss, tell me about a time you improved something in your office. It was all over the place and the only question that was straight-forward was "Why SOM." 

While I can’t disclose the specific content of my own client’s R1 report,  it is safe to say that the content was consistent with the above report.

You can assume whether you interview with a second-year student or an admissions officer, they will come in with a list of behavioral questions plus asking you a few standard type questions (Why MBA? Why SOM? What are your goals?  Do you have any questions).  Until I actually have more interview reports to work with and better characterize the specific types of behavioral interview questions that Yale is asking, I recommend reviewing my analysis of MIT Sloan MBA interviews because it provides a complete guide to preparing for behavioral interviews. If you are interested in my interview preparation services, please complete my interview-only intake form.

-Adam Markus

I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.