UNC Kenan-Flagler
MBA Admissions Interview
How important is the interview in
the admissions process and what specific applicant traits
are you using the interview to gauge?
The
interview is one of the most important things you can do if
the rest of your package is solid. At our school, we do not
admit people who have not had an evaluative interview. But
we may deny candidates who have not yet interviewed just
based upon the information in their application. We have an
Open Season that starts in September and ends in the
early part of January. In this Open Season we will
interview anyone who has submitted Part One of our
application. In mid-January we move to what is called our
Closed Season. At that point we reserve the
interviews for people we have screened and invited to
interview.
When
we deny admission to someone who was never invited to
interview, it is because the Admissions Committee has
concluded from the material already reviewed that the
applicant is not competitive enough for admission. We have
to deny fantastic applicants every year because our class
size is relatively small compared to the number of qualified
applicants. To try to give yourself some advantage, it is
best to apply (and be ready) early. I suggest that you
look at the interview as your way of selling your candidacy
and as a way of determining whether UNC Kenan-Flagler is
where you want to be.
What types of questions should
applicants expect to be asked?
At UNC
we have a very tight list of attributes that we are
evaluating and an interviewer may get to that using his/her
own personal interviewing style. The success of your
interview is going to be a combination of how you can
establish a rapport with that interviewer and how well you
are able to be yourself. We are looking to gauge your
leadership potential, we are looking to see how focused you
are and what your focus is in terms of why you want an MBA
and what you see yourself doing with the MBA. We are
looking for your passion, we are looking for what kind of
person you are. We are also looking for the contributions
you expect to make and the things that you value. It is
very important for us at UNC to see how you will fit in this
community. You should have concrete reasons for applying to
UNC and be able to articulate them in the interview, when
asked.
Who can an applicant expect to
interview with at Kenan-Flagler?
If you
come visit our campus you will be interviewed by a member of
our admissions team, none of which are students. We have
students who are very involved with admissions in that they
serve on the advisory board and also host and greet our
visitors, but students do not make admissions decisions.
Our students are very capable and I think they would add a
lot of value to that process. Yet, no student would be able
to devote as much time to reading applications and
interviewing candidates that we require in order to serve as
a member of the admissions committee. We want visiting
candidates to see our students as their advocates.
Candidates can ask students whatever questions you have
without worrying that the student is evaluating you.
Approximately 1/3 of our applicants are not living in the
United States. We do not expect most international
applicants to be able to travel to campus for an interview
or visit. We have alumni members of the admissions
committee, who interview candidates. Most of the alumni
interviews take place outside the United States.
All interviews carry the same weight. It doesn't matter
whether you interview on campus or off campus or via
telephone. It doesn't matter whether your interview is with
an admissions director or with an alumnus.
How are re-applicants viewed by
Kenan-Flagler and what do they need to do to be successful
the second time around?
We try to give them information that will drive a better
application the second time around. We start usually in
May, June and July. We try to give them feedback every
year. Every year the pool changes. What it took to get in
this year, it might take 10% more next year, or 10% less.
We never know where the pool is going to be, but we do try
to give people some sense of what it was about their
application that was not competitive with the people who
were admitted. We have found that people who have taken
advantage of that feedback and applied in subsequent years
have a slightly higher chance of being admitted than the
average candidate.
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