美国商学院MBA面试TIPS:Your MBA Interview Won’t Be A Stress Test.

　　参加面试是申请美国商学院MBA课程的重要环节之一，也是让很多申请人最有压力的环节。大家对参加美国商学院MBA面试常常会有些误解之处，比如把面试当作对自己的压力测试。

　　“What will they ask? What if I don’t know the answer? They must be interested if they are interviewing me — what if I blow my big chance at impressing them?”

　　Interviews can be a huge source of anxiety for MBA candidates, but they don’t need to be.MBA interviews are not “skill” interviews, where the interviewer will ask you to complete a discounted cash flow statement or ensure that accounting entries balance. Furthermore, interviewers are certainly not trying to trip you up by asking crazy questions that you can’t possibly answer. In fact, theVASTmajority of the questions – whether they are posed by admissions officers, students or alumni – will be about you, your career/interests and the decisions you have made throughout your life. So, you should be able to reply by thinking about your core experiences and discussing them conversationally.

　　By entering your interview calmly and staying in your everyday frame of mind, you will be able to thoughtfully address the questions that you are asked. If you can do that, you should perform to the best of your abilities and you may even enjoy your interview.

　　The following excerpts from our interviews with top admissions officers speak for themselves:

　　And it’s really, I would say, a fairly standard behavioral interview. The purpose is not to trick you or throw curveballs, but really get a sense of the applicant, get a sense of their background, their interests, why they want to get an MBA, what they want to do with their degree.

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　　Bruce DelMonico, Admissions Director, Yale SOMOurs (interviews) are, intentionally, fairly informal. We have interviews that are conducted by our staff as well as alumni and current students, and typically, when someone comes in for an interview, a few minutes are spent just making the person feel at ease. We try to ease people into it. They’re dinitely not intended to put someone on a hot seat.

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　　Dawna Clarke, Admissions Director, Dartmouth-TuckI advise people to put together the absolute best application you can, and I think a big part of that, as clichéd as this is going to sound, is really just being who you are. Not trying to be who you think we want to read about or who we want to hear in an interview. Just be you.

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　　Beth Flye, Admissions Director, Northwestern-KelloggI would say the overall perspective, and this is true for the interview, but it’s true, I think, for the whole process, is a positive perspective. So, we’re not looking for reasons to deny someone, we’re looking for reasons to admit someone.

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　　JJ Cutler, Admissions Director, UPenn WhartonHere’s the hard part — once you’ve practiced and prepared, you need to set aside all that preparation so that you can focus on having a conversation with your interviewer.

　　Remember, the interviewer knows Booth well, but not you. So feel free to allow the conversation to be two way. Getting to know the person sitting across the table will help you to relax and relate your stories more fectively.-Excerpt from the blog of Rose Martinelli, Admissions Director, Chicago Booth

　　评论：

　　be yourself是很多人建议的面试原则之一，但是也有个别人提出明确的反对意见。

　　我以前曾经认为，面试就是一种communication，但是慢慢地我转变了看法，我现在认为，面试就是即兴essay写作。二者的区别就在于“写作”的模式。面试需要即兴的命题作文，我国历史上最有名的即兴作文当属曹植的七步诗;而ESSAY写作需要用电脑键盘用手敲进去。另外，说出来的话就是泼出来的水，收不回来;电脑敲出来的文章，只要没有提交，都可以改来改去……所以我认为，写不好essay，面试就很难取得好的效果。所以，准备面试，除了要多写一些essay question外，剩下的问题就是要多了解一些面试技巧了，当然，了解面试人也是必修课。我的一个朋友参加面试前，和我在一起研究可能的面试题目，花了整整一个下午，除了essay中涉及到的，还有很多essay中没有涉及到的，比如“你最近读了一本什么书……”、“你最近看了一部什么电影……”、“你最近在关注什么时事新闻……”等等。