Tag Archives: MBA

MBA Interview Acceptance Rate by GMAT and GPA

The interview is a crucial component of the MBA admission process. All top full-time MBA programs interview applicants before admitting them. Generally the MBA admissions committee is looking for two things during the interview, that you fit the culture of the school and that you have the emotional intelligence to succeed at business school. I have already looked at MBA Interview acceptance rate by itself. However, I always wondered when applying to business school if all applicants are considered equal after they have been invited to interview or does the rest of the application, like the GMAT and GPA, still matter. It turns out that it matters at some schools and not at others.

MBA Interview Acceptance Rate: High vs. Low GMAT

MBA Interview Acceptance Rate by GMATThe graph above shows the average acceptance rate for applicants who were invited to interview, separated into GMAT below 720 and GMAT 720 and higher. Two thirds of the schools have a higher acceptance rate for applicants with high GMATs. This suggests that being invited to interview does not put everyone on an even playing field, other components of the application still matter. Booth, UNC, Stanford and Columbia have the largest disadvantage for applicants with low GMAT during interviews. At the other end of the spectrum, MIT, Tepper, Emory and McCombs all have a higher acceptance rate for applicants who were invited to interview but have a lower GMAT score. I don’t think that a lower GMAT actually helped these candidates, but that these schools consider the interview to be more important than other schools, which gives low GMAT applicants the opportunity to stand out.

MBA Interview Acceptance Rate: High vs. Low GPA

MBA Interview Acceptance Rate by GPA Business School AdmissionsUnlike GMAT, half the schools seem to care about GPA after interviewing candidates while the other half do not. Similar to the GMAT table, MIT, Tepper and McCombs have a higher acceptance rate for applicants with lower GPAs. The only exception is Emory, which still doesn’t have that much of a disadvantage for low GPA. GPA does not seem to be as important as GMAT to admissions committees after interviews given that the average disadvantage for low GMAT is -10% and the average disadvantage for low GPA is -1%.

Most of the schools cut applicants with low GPA and low GMAT before interviews. I excluded Tuck and Kellogg because they will interview all applicants who want to interview. So it is not fair to compare them to the other schools who have already cut applicants with low scores. I included their tables at the end of this article for reference.

My take away from this analysis is that some schools place a lower weight on interviews while other schools place a higher weight on interviews. If you are applying to Booth with a high GMAT and GPA then you probably don’t need to stress the interview too much. On the other hand if you have a low GPA and GMAT and are applying to Sloan, you should prepare as much as possible for your MIT MBA interview because they take their interviews much more seriously than other schools.

If you are preparing for business school interviews, check out my MBA interview preparation guide.

Kellogg and Tuck MBA interview Acceptance Rate by GMAT

MBA Interview Acceptance Rate by GMAT Tuck Kellogg

Kellogg and Tuck MBA interview Acceptance Rate by GPA

MBA Interview Acceptance Rate by GPA Tuck KelloggThe data for this article came from GMAT Club, one of the best websites for GMAT preparation.

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate Analysis

When I first built the Stanford MBA acceptance rate model, it showed that GPA had little to no impact on acceptance rate. I have reevaluated the data and now I believe that GPA does matter when applying to Stanford. Although GPA has an impact on acceptance, GMAT is still more important for Stanford MBA admissions.

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate by GMAT

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate by GMAT Business School AdmissionGMAT is very important when applying to Stanford’s business school. When an applicant increases their GMAT by 100 points, from 650 to 750, they increase their chance of admission 8 fold. Average GMAT is over 730 points, which means an applicant must have a GMAT north of 750 for an acceptance rate in the double digits.

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate by GPA

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate by GPA Business School AdmissionMy new analysis demonstrates that GPA is actually important when applying to Stanford GSB. The average GPA of a Stanford applicant is 3.56. Each “.10” increase in GPA raises acceptance rate at Stanford by approximately 1%.

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate GMAT vs. GPA

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate by GPA Business School AdmissionAlthough both GMAT and GPA are important factors that influence an applicant’s chance of admission to Stanford Graduate School of Business, GMAT is more important than GPA. A high GMAT increases acceptance rate at Stanford by 5%*. On the other hand, a high GPA only increase acceptance rate by 3%.

I was not happy with the original predictive model I built for Stanford. I updated my methodology for building the model, mainly in the way I cleaned the data. The results above represent my new model. Below I compare the performance of the old and new model. In order to evaluate performance, I grouped applicants into buckets based on their predicted acceptance rate, then looked at the actual acceptance rate was for that group. The X-axis is the predicted acceptance grouping and the Y-axis is the actual acceptance rate.

Original Stanford MBA Model Performance

Original Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate Model PerformanceAlthough the graph above looks like it does a good job of predicting the acceptance rate at Stanford. The results are deceptive because almost all of the population fall into the 3% – 6% or 6% – 9% groups, which have little separation.

New Stanford MBA Model Performance

New Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate Model PerformanceThe new model clearly shows significant differentiation, with the exception of the 6% – 9% group. The biggest problem is that the 6% – 9% group has an acceptance rate that is over estimated and the above 9% population is under estimated. The main difference between the original model and new model is the distribution of predictions seen below.

Stanford MBA Model Distribution: New vs. Old

Stanford MBA Acceptance Rate Model Population DistributionIn the original model, 82% of all applicants  fell into the 3% to 9% range with only 5% of applicants below 3% or above 12%. The new model has a much more even distribution of applicants. The number of low and high acceptance rate applicants has increased from 5% to 24%.

Data used to create this post came from GMAT Club, which is one of the best websites for preparing for the GMAT.

*A high GMAT or high GPA is defined as one standard deviation above average. A low score is defined as one standard deviation below.

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MBA Acceptance Rate by Country

Most elite American business schools brag about how internationally diverse they are. Although American business schools try to make sure they have students from all over the world, the reality is that there are winners and losers. Applicants from some countries have an easier time than others. In this analysis I calculated the MBA acceptance rate by country and region for American MBA programs.

MBA Acceptance Rate by Region

MBA Acceptance Rate by Region International Business SchoolSince there is limited data for many of the countries, first I grouped the countries to look at MBA acceptance rates at a high level. Not all regions apply to the schools in the same proportion. In fact European applicants tend to apply to the higher ranked schools with lower acceptance rates. On the other hand applicants from India are more likely to apply to lower ranked school with higher acceptance rates. I calculated the expected acceptance rate for each region based on the school application distribution.

The regions that have the highest acceptance rates are the Middle East, Europe and Latin America. If you limit Europe to the large western countries such as England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, then the acceptance rate for Europe jumps to 31%. The USA has a slightly higher acceptance rate than average. On the other hand, Asia, Australia and India are all at a significant disadvantage when applying to business school in the United States.

GMAT and GPA by Region MBANext I looked to see if the difference in acceptance rates could be explained by GMAT. GPA isn’t a good indicator because different regions have different average GPAs based on how much grade inflation there is in the area. Most regions are clustered around the average GMAT of 722 with two exceptions. Latin America has an average GMAT 16 points lower than average and still has an acceptance rate 6% higher than expected. Africa has an average GMAT that is 34 points lower than average but it only hurts them a small amount. Asian applicants have the highest average GMAT, however Asian MBA acceptance rate is 6% lower than average.

MBA Acceptance Rate by Country

MBA Acceptance Rate by Country International Business SchoolNext I looked at MBA acceptance rate by country for those countries with high enough application volume. I excluded all countries with lower than 20 applications. It is not surprising to see United Arab Emirates and Israel at the top given that the Middle East has a high acceptance rate. Chile, Mexico and Brazil all helped to pull up Latin America’s acceptance rate. The United Kingdom and Russia are the European countries with the highest acceptance rates.

Viet Nam, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea all have acceptance rates that are below average. The only Asian country with a high acceptance rate is Japan. Given that Asian acceptance rates are so low, I would recommend using the help of an admissions consultant if you are applying from one of these countries.

The data for this analysis came from the GMAT Club forum. If you are looking to increase your GMAT, check it out.

Kellogg Interview Questions

Kellogg Interview Questions Preparation MBA Business School NorthwesternKellogg is somewhat unique in that it allows anyone who applies to interview. Kellogg MBA interviews are typically off-campus with an alumnus, although it is also possible to interview with an admissions committee member on campus or over Skype. Interviews with Kellogg tend to vary greatly based on who interviews you. You can expect anywhere from 6 to 14 Kellogg interview questions. Kellogg interviews are on the longer side, sometimes lasting an hour to an hour and a half. If you are interviewed by an alumni, typically they will have already read your resume but not your whole application. Below are the most common Kellogg interview questions, ranked from most to least common. Your chance of being asked each questions is in parenthesis.

Most Common Kellogg Interview Questions

  1. Why Kellogg? (87%)
  2. Why get an MBA? Why now? (87%)
  3. What is your greatest accomplishment or what is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Sometimes when this question is asked, you are limited to an accomplishment at a certain company you worked at. (67%)
  4. Walk me through your resume. (60%)
  5. What will you contribute to the program? What will you get involved with at Kellogg? (60%)
  6. Tell me about a time you faced a challenge. Frequently the interviewer asks specifically about a challenge or failure in a team environment. (53%)
  7. What is your leadership style? (53%)
  8. Tell me about your education. Why did you choose your major? (40%)
  9. Is there anything else you would like me to know? (40%)
  10. Why did you pick your company or industry? (27%)
  11. What are your hobbies outside of work? (27%)
  12. How would your coworkers or peers describe your strengths and weaknesses? (20%)
  13. What role do you take within a team? (13%)
  14. What inspires you? (13%)
  15. What words would your classmates use to describe you? (13%)
  16. Tell me about a time you took an initiative. (13%)
  17. What are your long term goals? (13%)

You may also be asked specific questions about your resume or experiences. At the end you will have time to ask a few questions. For additional interview tips check out my MBA interview preparation guide. The questions for this article were collected from Clear Admit.

MBA Concentration Acceptance Rate Analysis

With the current semester just about over, next years application essay questions will be posted in the coming weeks for many schools. Round one applicants should start figuring out their story and crafting their essays. The most important essay for most schools is the question: Why get an MBA and why is [insert school name here] the right choice for you? In order to answer this question you need to have a plan for how an MBA is going to help you achieve your goals. The vast majority of MBA students are looking to switch careers. Why else pay $120,000 in tuition and give up two years of salary? If you wanted to stay in the same industry, you would probably just go for a promotion or switch companies.

I was curious if the industry an applicant is trying to transition into impacts their MBA acceptance rate. My theory was that there are a lot of people trying to transition into consulting, banking and technology, so there may be oversupply for those concentrations. Perhaps a candidate would stick out if they are pursuing a more unique career. I took the business school admissions data from GMAT Club and looked at the acceptance rate by stated concentration. First I decided to look at the top 20 schools in aggregate, to ensure the results were statistically significant. I was surprised by how much the acceptance rate varied depending on MBA concentration.

MBA Acceptance Rate by Concentration

MBA Concentration Acceptance Rate Business SchoolThe average acceptance rate for top 20 schools is 23%. Many of the concentrations towards the top are fairly small with the exception of Marketing. As you can see, there is a huge range in the acceptance rates based on industry focus. With Social Entrepreneurship applicants 2.5 times more likely to be admitted than applicants interested in Technology or Operations. Most of the results don’t surprise me, business schools seem to be trying to help the world right now, so it is no shock that Social Entrepreneurship, Nonprofit and Sustainability are all in the top half. With the crisis in the Healthcare industry, the high acceptance rate for Healthcare applicants is also logical I am a little surprised that Real Estate is so high and Technology is so low. There is not a lot of focus on Real Estate that I have seen in business school, so I didn’t expect it to be the concentration with the second highest acceptance rate. On the other hand, Technology is very hot right now, so it is shocking the admissions rate is so low.

Since this data does not have gender included, it is possible that the acceptance rates are skewed by gender concentrations. More women tend to focus on Nonprofit, Social Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare, which could have bumped up the acceptance rate. Many schools are trying to increase their female enrollment, so women tend to have higher acceptance rates. At the other end of the spectrum, industries such as Operations and Technology are more dominated by men, which likely led to the low acceptance rates in those concentrations.

In the end, I wouldn’t recommend outright gaming the system. Don’t say you want to pursue Social Entrepreneurship rather than Technology if Tech is really what you are passionate about. It will likely show in your application. However if you are unsure of what you want to focus on, it would make sense to chose the concentration you are interested in that has the highest acceptance rate. There was a lot of variance by school. The chart below shows some of the highest and lowest acceptance rate concentrations by school. Take these findings with a grain of salt because the sample size is pretty small.

School Increase Acceptance Rate Lower Acceptance Rate
Stanford Social Entrepreneurship Finance, Entrepreneurship
Harvard Entrepreneurship Finance*
Wharton Healthcare* Finance, Entrepreneurship, Marketing
Booth Healthcare*, Marketing* Entrepreneurship, Finance, Operations*
Sloan Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship* Technology*, Operations*
Kellogg Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship Operations*, Technology*
Haas Entrepreneurship, Healthcare Operations*, Technology*
Columbia Social Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Healthcare
Tuck Healthcare, Marketing Finance, Technology*
Darden Marketing Entrepreneurship, Finance
NYU Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing*
Ross Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Healthcare*, Social Entrepreneurship* Finance, Operations*, Technology*
Duke Healthcare, Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship* Finance, Operations*, Technology*
Yale Marketing*, Social Entrepreneurship* Entrepreneurship
Anderson Finance, Marketing Entrepreneurship, Technology
Cornell Finance Entrepreneurship, Operations
McCombs Entrepreneurship, Marketing Finance
Kenan-Flagler Finance, Healthcare*, Marketing*
Tepper Entrepreneurship, Operations, Marketing* Finance
Emory Marketing Finance

*This concentration had a very large increase or decrease.

Cornell MBA Interview Questions and Guide

Cornell MBA Interview Questions Johnson Business SchoolThis guide is designed to help Johnson MBA applicants to prepare for their interview, complete with a list of the most common Cornell MBA interview questions. The typical Johnson MBA interview is 30 to 50 minutes long. It can be given by either a second year student, alumni or an admissions committee member. It is even possible to get an interview with an adcom member while a second year student is observing for interview training purposes. Interviews can take place on campus, off-campus or over Skype. Expect the interview to be semi-blind, which means that they have seen your resume but probably nothing else. The Cornell MBA interview questions below are organized from most common question to least common, with the frequency it is asked in parenthesis.

Most Common Cornell MBA Interview Questions

1) Tell me about yourself or walk me through your resume. (80%)

2) Tell me about a challenging situation at work or a work conflict. (70%)

3) Why Johnson? (70%)

4) Why get an MBA? Why now? (60%)

5) How will you contribute to Johnson? (50%)

6) What are your post MBA plans or goals? (50%)

7) Describe a time when you managed or lead other people? (50%)

8) What are your biggest weakness? (40%)

9) Why did you make XYZ transition? (20%)

10) What is your leadership style? (20%)

11) Have you applied to any other schools? What do they have in common with Johnson? (20%)

12) Is there anything else you want me to know? (20%)

At the end you will have time to ask a few questions. For additional interview tips check out my MBA interview preparation guide. This guide was created using the Johnson interview reports from clear admit.

MBA Waitlist Acceptance Rate Rank

A more up-to-date analysis of MBA waitlist acceptance rate has been completed which include admissions data for the class of 2019.

At this point in the year many applicants have been placed on the waitlist for the school of their dreams. It is a frustrating experience that I personally have experienced. This articles shows the MBA waitlist acceptance rates for the top US MBA programs. The data for this analysis comes from GMATClub. These acceptance rates are meant to give a rough idea of the waitlist acceptance rate and should be taken with a grain of salt. The sample sizes vary by school; Olin, Emory and Stanford have the lowest sample sizes.

MBA Waitlist Acceptance Rate by School Rank

US News Rank School Waitlist Acceptance Rate
1 Stanford 9%
2 Harvard 2%
3 Wharton 6%
4 Booth 15%
5 Sloan 8%
6 Kellogg 6%
7 Haas 4%
8 Columbia 6%
9 Tuck 10%
10 Darden 16%
11 NYU 3%
11 Ross 11%
13 Duke 4%
13 Yale 3%
15 Anderson 18%
16 Cornell 11%
17 McCombs 8%
18 Kenan-Flagler 46%
19 Olin 30%
20 Tepper 13%
21 Emory 4%

MBA waitlist acceptance rates ranges widely from 46% to 2% depending on the school. It tends to vary quite a bit from year to year, so these acceptance rates should only be used as a guide. For example Dartmouth’s average waitlist acceptance rate is 10%, however for the class of 2016 it was only 2%. The top ten schools on average have a slightly lower waitlist acceptance rate coming in at 8% while the next ten schools average a noticeably higher acceptance rate of 14%.

MBA Waitlist Acceptance Rate Rank

Acceptance Rank School Waitlist Acceptance Rate
1 Kenan-Flagler 46%
2 Olin 30%
3 Anderson 18%
4 Darden 16%
5 Booth 15%
6 Tepper 13%
7 Ross 11%
8 Cornell 11%
9 Tuck 10%
10 Stanford 9%
11 Sloan 8%
12 McCombs 8%
13 Kellogg 6%
14 Wharton 6%
15 Columbia 6%
16 Emory 4%
17 Duke 4%
18 Haas 4%
19 Yale 3%
20 NYU 3%
21 Harvard 2%

The schools with the highest MBA waitlist acceptance rates are Kenan-Flagler, Olin, and Anderson. At the other end are Harvard, NYU and Yale with the lowest waitlist acceptance rates. Although NYU has the highest interview acceptance rate, it rarely accepts anyone off the waitlist.

MBA Acceptance Rate by Application Round

An updated MBA acceptance rate by round analysis article can be found here which includes application data from the class 2017 and 2018.

Some business schools have roughly the same acceptance rate during all rounds while others see a significant drop off in later rounds. With applications for round 3 due in the next month or two, this analysis may help you decide which schools to focus on and which to avoid. Here is a list of the top 20 schools’ MBA acceptance rates by application round. The data for this analysis came from GMAT Club, which may be a biased sample. People on GMAT Club tend to have higher GMAT scores than the general applicant pool, so the acceptance rate can be significantly higher for some schools. The acceptance rates are meant to give you an idea of the relationship between rounds, not the absolute acceptance rate. These numbers are raw and not adjusted for other variables such as GMAT and GPA.

MBA Acceptance Rate by Round

The first table is MBA acceptance rates by round ordered by school ranking. The acceptance rates that have a star next to them means that the sample size is very small and might not be very accurate.

US News Rank School Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
1 Stanford 8% 5% 2% –
1 Wharton 19% 16% 0%* –
1 Harvard 12% 6% 4% –
4 Booth 29% 25% 15% –
5 MIT 16% 11% – –
6 Kellogg 26% 23% 20%* –
7 Haas 17% 17% 6%
8 Columbia 23% 20% – –
9 Tuck 28% 29% 22% 9%
10 NYU 29% 27% 21%
11 Ross 41% 42% 38%* –
11 Darden 32% 33% 16% –
13 Yale 24% 27% 9% –
14 Duke 31% 33% 21% –
15 McCombs 38% 36% 28% –
16 Anderson 26% 34% 9% –
17 Johnson 39% 36% 37% –
18 Tepper 24% 38% 43% –
19 Kenan-Flagler 36% 40% 60% –
20 Emory 26% 40% 37% –

Schools with Significantly Lower Round 3 Acceptance Rate

Many of the top 20 MBA programs have significantly lower acceptance rates in round 3 to the point where it is better to wait until next year to apply. Harvard, Stanford and Wharton, the number one ranked schools, have a large decrease in acceptance rate for round 3. Only 2% to 3% of applications for these schools are in round 3 because everyone knows that acceptance rates are so low. Haas, Yale, Duke, UVA and UCLA also see a significant drops in round 3 admissions compared to earlier rounds. Dartmouth has a respectable round 3 acceptance rate of 22%, but a very low 9% chance of admission for round 4.

Schools with Similar or Higher Round 3 Acceptance Rate

While many schools have a lower acceptance rate for round 3, there are several schools that don’t have a drop off in response. Ross, Cornell, and Emory all have similar admission odds for the third round, while Tepper and UNC actually have a higher acceptance rate for round 3.

Round 3 MBA Acceptance Rate Ranking

This is the the same table as the first one but ranked by round 3 acceptance rate from highest to lowest. Some schools have a round 4 that I did not include, because the sample size was too small. I combined round 4 applications with round 3 except for Tuck because Dartmouth actually had a large number of round 4 applicants.

Round 3 Rank School Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
1 Kenan-Flagler 36% 40% 60% –
2 Tepper 24% 38% 43% –
3 Ross 41% 42% 38%* –
4 Johnson 39% 36% 37% –
4 Emory 26% 40% 37% –
6 McCombs 38% 36% 28% –
7 Tuck 28% 29% 22% 9%
8 NYU 29% 27% 21%
8 Duke 31% 33% 21% –
10 Kellogg 26% 23% 20%* –
11 Darden 32% 33% 16% –
12 Booth 29% 25% 15% –
13 Yale 24% 27% 9% –
13 Anderson 26% 34% 9% –
15 Haas 17% 17% 6%
16 Harvard 12% 6% 4% –
17 Stanford 8% 5% 2% –
18 Wharton 19% 16% 0%* –
19 MIT 16% 11% – –
19 Columbia 23% 20% – –

The most surprising number is  UNC Kenan-Flagler’s round 3 acceptance rate of 60%, which is significantly higher than that of round 1 and 2. I looked at the GMAT and GPA for each round to see if they would explain the high admissions in round 3, however they were both slightly lower than other rounds. I can’t explain why UNC round 3 acceptance rate is so high, but it is a great school to apply to in the third round.

Kenan-Flagler UNC MBA Acceptance Rate by Round GMAT GPA Admissions Statistics

By request, below is the GMAT, GPA and age for Harvard and Booth by round. Round 3 data does not have a ton of data, so take this with a grain of salt.

School Variable R1 R2 R3
Booth GMAT 735 739 728
Booth GPA 3.61 3.62 3.58
Booth Age 27 28 29
Harvard GMAT 735 728 720
Harvard GPA 3.61 3.57 3.54
Harvard Age 27 27 27

* Sample size is 30 or fewer applications.

Tuck Acceptance Rate Analysis

Tuck School of Business is a top MBA program with a competitive admissions process. The Tuck acceptance rate is low, at 20%. Unlike most other top MBA programs, Tuck is a self initiated interview. Anyone who visits campus can schedule an interview. In this article I will discuss which factors impact Tuck acceptance rate.

Tuck Acceptance Rate by GMAT

Tuck Acceptance Rate by GMAT Dartmouth MBA AdmissionsGMAT score has a large influence on Tuck acceptance rate. The average Tuck GMAT score is fairly high at 716. Adding a hundred points to your GMAT more than doubles your chance of admission. Even with a low GMAT of 650, acceptance rate at Dartmouth is still more than 10%, unlike Harvard where you need a 740 to have a 10% chance of admission.

Tuck Acceptance Rate by GPA

Tuck Acceptance Rate by GPA Dartmouth MBA AdmissionsThe average Tuck GPA is a solid 3.5. It is clear that applicants with a higher GPA have a better chance of being accepted. Once graduated, GPA is set in stone, so you might as well focus on increasing your GMAT which can still be increased.

Tuck GMAT vs. GPA

Tuck Acceptance Rate GMAT vs GPA Dartmouth MBA AdmissionsNext we look at whether Tuck prefers a high GMAT or a high GPA. The graph above shows that applicants with a high GMAT have a slightly better chance of being admitted than an applicant with a high GPA. The difference is so small that it is not very important.

Tuck Acceptance Rate by Application Round

Tuck Acceptance Rate by Round Dartmouth MBA AdmissionsAs you can see in the graph above, the round you apply to Tuck does influence acceptance rate significantly. Round 1 and 2 have a similar admission rates of around 24%. Round 3 acceptance rate starts to drop off noticeably to 18% but not much below the 20% average acceptance rate. The Tuck acceptance rate for round 4 is extremely low, at 8%. Unless you have an incredible application or are desperate to leave your current job for business school, I recommend avoiding round 4 and waiting for the next year.

Tuck Acceptance Rate by Years of Work Experience

Tuck Acceptance Rate by Years Work Experience Dartmouth MBA AdmissionsTuck values applicants that have a longer work experience. Each year of work experience raises your chance of admission by a little more than 1%.

Tuck Acceptance Rate by Age

Tuck Acceptance Rate by Age Dartmouth MBA AdmissionsSimilar to other schools such as Columbia, Duke, Cornell and Booth, Tuck prefers applicants who are around 28 years old. I believe that this is because they have enough work experience to draw on during school but are not too old to be placed at companies during recruiting. In the above graphs I look at age and years of work experience separately, however in reality they are closely related.

Adjusted Tuck Acceptance Rate by Age Dartmouth MBA AdmissionsIn the graph above I adjusted the original acceptance rate by age graph and added in the impact of work experience. For simplicity I assume that everyone graduates at 22 and works full time from graduation until they apply for business school. When these two factors are combined, you see that older applicants have a large advantage compared to younger applicants.

Other Tuck Admissions Factors

There are a few other factors that affect your chance of admission to Tuck. International applicants (excluding India) have a significantly higher chance of admission, at 28% acceptance rate. Applicants that worked in Venture Capital are especially prized at Tuck, with an impressive 47% chance of admission.

If you are thinking of applying to Tuck, be sure to check out my Tuck Interview Question Guide so you know what questions to expect. The data for this analysis came from GMAT Club.

Stern Interview Preparation

NYU Stern Interview MBA Business SchoolStern Interviewed me back in December 2013. I am happy to say that I was accepted. I used Clear Admit to prepare, and it was very helpful. I felt ready and don’t remember being caught off guard by any questions. I have created a list of the most common questions you can expect during a Stern interview because I want to help all of my potential future classmates. Most Stern interviews are around 30 minutes and conducted by an admissions staff member who has read your full application. My first question was about a unique activity that I participate in that I mentioned in the application. When you arrive, you will receive a folder with information about clubs/programs you mentioned you would be interested in. You will also be given a Stern shirt so you can show your pride if you are admitted. My Stern interview was right before winter break so I didn’t hear back for almost 3 weeks, but often candidates get their decision in as little as a few days. Don’t forget to bring a copy of your transcripts, your application cannot proceed without them. I forgot mine and had to overnight them when I got back home.

The Most Common Stern Interview Questions

  1. (63%) Why do you want to attend Stern?
  2. (63%) How did you come to work for XYZ company? Or why did you transition for XYZ company to ABC company?
  3. (53%) What is your back up plan if you don’t get a job in your desired post-MBA role?
  4. (42%) What programs would you get involved with at Stern?
  5. (37%) Describe a conflict you had at work (or challenging situation or time you failed) and how you overcame it.
  6. (37%) What is your proudest professional achievement?
  7. (37%) What companies do you want to work at post MBA? (Have a list of 5 companies and reasons for each one)
  8. (37%) How is your post MBA goal different from your current role?
  9. (32%) Where would you like to intern between your first and second year?
  10. (26%) How would your (friends, manager or colleague) describe you?
  11. (21%) What is the weakest aspect of your resume?
  12. (21%) If you are admitted to all of the schools you applied to, how will you decide which school to attend?
  13. (21%) Why do you want to get an MBA?
  14. (16%) How do you plan to market yourself to your target industry?
  15. (16%) Tell me about yourself or walk me through your resume.
  16. (16%) If 25 years from now you were asked to return to Stern to speak, how would you want to be introduced?
  17. (11%) What is your role within a team?
  18. (11%) What will you contribute to the class?
  19. What other schools are you applying to?
  20. What other schools did you apply to? How would you decide where to attend?
  21. What frustrates me the most at my current role?
  22. What role would I prefer to take (if any) in a student organization?
  23. Tell me about what you’ve learned working at your current company?
  24. What’s the best constructive criticism your boss has given you?
  25. What do you hope to learn from your future classmates?
  26. How did you choose to attend ABC for undergrad? What is your best memory of your time there?
  27. How did you first hear about Stern and in what ways did you learn about the school?
  28. What most surprises you about Stern?
  29. Is international experience important to me in my business school experience? Why?
  30. Tell me what you like to do in your free time.
  31. What do you like about New York? What neighborhoods would you consider living in?
  32. What would you change/enhance on the Stern website?
  33. What makes Stern’s culture different from other schools?
  34. During the first few weeks at Stern, how will you distinguish yourself from the other students?
  35. Why do your MBA in New York City? (about the city.. not the school)
  36. What do you bring to the class?

Any question that doesn’t have a percentage next to it I only saw once in interview reports. The one Stern interview question that rubs me the wrong way is the question about  your back up plan. As a member of the class of 2016, I wonder is it so common that Stern students fail to get the job they want post MBA that Stern need to ask almost every student this question?

If you are invited for a Stern interview, please let me know if this guide was helpful for you. Also, check out my guide on how to prepare for an MBA interview.

Other interview preparation articles:

MIT / Sloan Interview Preparation

Upenn / Wharton Interview Preparation

Tuck Interview Preparation

HBS Interview Preparation