My interview with Duke

Today I had my interview with a Duke alumni here in Madrid. It is my third so far and I think that fact helped, since I already knew what to expect and came to the meeting much less nervous than to the other two.

The interview itself was very friendly and conversational. As expected, the goal of my interviewer was to get to know me better and gather more specific information regarding certain parts of my background and profile. Therefore, no trick questions or akward moments, but very straighforward. I have to say that time flew, I felt so comfortable all along that I really did not realize how fast the 30 minutes went by. And all of a sudden it was my time to ask questions; I had quite a few and my interviewer went into great detail to answer each one of them and share his experiences. All and all a great interview, and that left me very comfident in my possibilities.

On the other hand, I am still waiting to hear from Stern. I believe they are still in the process of sending interview invitations, but I am not too stressed about it, I am used to waiting already. Besides, now it is time to think about R2. I have already decided to which schools I want to apply: Harvard, Chicago Booth and UCLA. I am not sure I will apply to all of them, it will depend on my R1 results, but probably I will try HBS anyway.

The good news is in a couple weeks we will know if I am admitted to any of my R1 choices. Nail-bitting time!

My interviews with Tuck and MIT

I have finished my interview with a MIT AdCom just 3 hours ago.

I have to say that this has been a very exciting week in terms of MBA expectations and progress as I have had two interviews: Tuck and MIT, although they have been different experiences. I thought that Tuck would be a more conversational and school-focused interview and MIT more a beahvioural type of interview. However, it was not exactly that way.

Starting with Tuck, this was an Skype interview with a 2nd year Tuckie. As I pointe out, I expected to be very conversational with a couple of behavioural questions here and there, but it was mostly behavioural in the end. Of course they asked my about my resume, why MBA and why Tuck, especifically asking how I would contribute to Tuck community. Then we moved to 3 to 4 behavoural questions for which I had already though which stories to tell to provide the best picture of me I could. Overall, it was a great experience, my interviewer was really nice and I think I did not do a bad job. However, to be honest, I expected I would do better at this interview and I was left with the feeling that I will have to wait and see. In any case I think I did succeed at showing my interest and knowledge of the school.

MIT, on the other hand, was with an AdCom who traveled all the way to Madrid, and I though it would be all about past experiences and how I had behaved on them. Yet again, I was wrong, as my interviewer,besides the resume, why MBA and why MIT questions, mostly focused on and showed true interest in learning more about my job as a hospital pharmacist, asking several follow up questions rearding different aspects of it. I have to say that this never really felt like an interview as my interviewer was really engaging and made me feel comfortable all along. I left the room feeling extremely excited as she made several positive remarks on what I had told her, and feeling I had really done great. Really good vibes.

All and all, I think I have a legitimate shot at both schools, and both of them are great. Just one month before decision time.

Before finishing this entry I would like to thank all those current students at both MIT Sloan and Tuck that have helped me prepare for the interviews providing insight and advice. I would have not come this far without you guys!

That would be all folks!

PS: I have been invited to interview at Duke!!

Invited to interview!!

Yesterday I received two e-mails saying I was invited to interview at both MIT and Tuck. It was a very exciting moment, since it meant I am one step closer to the goal of getting admitted and it is also encouraging that they think I am worthy of further consideration. That I am in the mix, in other words.

However, after an initial moment of joy, I started thinking about preparing, and preparing throughly. Following a somewhat relaxed wait, now I am truly nervous as those interviews will happen in a two-week period from now and I feel I still have plenty to do. The good thing is that I won´t have to travel for this two: MIT Admissions team will come to Madrid and Tuck will be a video-interview.

I think one of the key aspects of the interview is to remain as calm and confident as possible. Of course, some last minute nervousness will be on the menu, but in the end you just have to picture yourself and speak about your experiences, you just have to do it in a complelling and clear way. Therefore I think my aproach will be «let´s shine». The rest is out of my control.

Regarding Duke-Fuqua and NYU-Stern, I believe it won´t be until mid November that I will hear from them. I am confident I can get invited at Duke as I think the fit is there and I did my best to show it. But for now, let´s focus on the tow I have already been invited to and to start working a little bit on my R2 strategy.

Wish me luck!