UPDATE: This article was originally posted on December 19, 2018. It has been updated with new information and tips below.
Being invited for an interview at one of your target business schools is an exciting accomplishment! You’ve already beaten out many other applicants and have gotten the admissions committee’s interest. But we know that, on average, only about 50% of interviewed applicants are admitted, making the interview an essential part of your MBA application.
For many of our clients, the interview brings on a wave of anxiety. Speaking in such a high-pressure situation can make even the most seasoned public speakers break a sweat. So, we’ve gathered our top 9 tips to help you stay calm during your interview!
1. Know Your Venue
Don’t wait until the day of to think about the environment in which your interview will take place. If you’re interviewing at a Starbucks with an alumnus, it’s a good idea to go there in advance and make sure you figure out where to park, how loud the place is, etc. If you are doing your interview on campus, make sure to arrive early to figure out where your interview will take place on campus (and avoid frantic rushing around afterward). It may seem small, but conquering the unknown goes a long way toward calming nerves.
2. Practice for the MBA interview
There is no better way to make sure you ace your interview than to practice out loud before the big day. Preferably, practice with an interview coach or a trusted friend who can give you feedback on your answers.
3. MBA tips: Visualize Your Success
Your mind is powerful.
Countless studies prove that athletes who visualize success win at a higher rate than those who don’t. Put this to work for your interview, and visualize what the perfect interview would look like from start to finish.
4. Know Your Audience
Though you need to take both equally as seriously, an interview with the admissions committee will be inherently different from an interview with a second-year student or an alumnus. Make sure you carefully consider these differences and prepare accordingly ahead of time.
5. Breathe Deeply Before You Speak
Before you enter the room or venue to meet your interviewer, talk three deep breaths. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly. This will flood your brain with oxygen, which will calm you down.
6. Memorize Your Opening
The first part of your interview has a high chance of being the open-ended “Tell me about yourself.” One of the biggest mistakes applicants make is to talk endlessly about this question, losing the interest and attention of the interviewer in the process.
To make sure you open your interview strongly, memorize the key points you will cover during this common interview opening question.
7. Smile
Genuine smiling releases chemicals in the brain that promote calmness and well-being. As an added benefit, it also shows your interviewer you are excited about the interview.
8. Realize You Don’t Look as Nervous as You Feel
It can be hard to keep in mind, but don’t forget that your interviewer can’t see how you feel, they can only see how you act. So remember to project confidence!
“As a speaker, when you’re calm and confident going into a presentation (or at least look as though you are) you reap a multitude of benefits — namely believability, likeability, and visibility. “When you’re able to manage your nerves and connect with an audience, you greatly increase your visibility and opportunities.” — Business Insider
9. Practice makes Perfect!
You have stressed about every aspect of your MBA application, and now you are ready for your interview! With the right preparation, this can be your chance to shine and get a highly-coveted spot at an elite business school.
However, maybe you don’t know where to start in your preparation, or maybe you tend to ramble on and lose focus during interviews. Maybe you’ve even downloaded sample questions and written out your answers. The problem is, when you try to apply these templates to your own story, it doesn’t quite work.
Our interview prep focuses on helping you determine how to present yourself during your MBA interview while using appropriate, impact-driven language without being artificial, or worse, robotic.
Our tailored approach was critical to helping our client Alex secure a spot at Stanford.
“I will go with Stanford!
And on this note, I wanted to thank you so much for all your help with the interview process. There is no chance that I could have gotten to this point without your help and guidance!!! You are such a great interviewer and the nicest person!!! I felt so much better and confident following our sessions, and I think that the preparation with you played a major role in my ability to land admission to all schools!!!
Again, Thank you so much Ellin!”
Our individual approach is why 98.9% of our clients secure admissions to at least one of their target schools.
Want to put the Ellin Lolis advantage to work for you? Schedule your preparation session with our team of interview experts today
Real MBA Essays That Got People In
School-specific sample essays that got our clients accepted
