Ask These Questions During Your MBA Interview

UPDATE: This article was originally posted on October 8, 2018. It has been updated with 2023/24 information and tips below. 

As your MBA interview draws to a close, you let out a sigh of relief knowing how well you answered the questions and showed your fit for the program. You played up your strengths, positioned your weaknesses, and showed the interviewer that you have what it takes to succeed during and after the MBA.

But then the interviewer asks you one final question:

What questions do you have for me?

For many MBA interviewees, this is a total surprise.

For many, the instinctive reaction is to say: no questions from me, thanks!

However, this is a massive mistake. 

This portion of the interview when you ask questions is just as important as the questions you were asked and the answers you gave. This is an opportunity to show your curiosity and knowledge of the interviewer, plus gain helpful advice and insight you may not already have.

Luckily, when that question does come along in the interview, you’ll have read this article and have several quality questions prepared.

So, what are the right questions to ask? Read on to discover more!

 

How does the interviewer affect which questions to ask?

The truth is the right questions to ask are determined by who you’re interviewing with. 

Many programs feature interviews with the admissions committee, while others rely on alumni to conduct these interviews—or both. Admissions committee members likely know more about the program in its current form as alumni may have some time and distance away from the program. Meanwhile, alumni may have a sharper sense of the program experience and can provide their personal advice despite not being as familiar with the recruiting process.

When speaking with the admissions committee, tailor your questions to focus on the program, your fit, their recruiting standards, and program-specific questions. 

When speaking with an alumna, ask questions about her experience in the program, her advice should you become a student, and questions tailored to her career and expertise.

If you’re curious about the specific questions to ask, you’ll find more on this later in the article!

 

Questions you should avoid asking during your MBA interview

Understanding which questions to ask during your MBA interview may be easier once you understand which questions to not ask during your interview.

As we covered in the blog post, How to Nail Any MBA Interview and Get What You Want, there are several types of questions you should never ask, whether you’re interviewing with the admissions committee or an alumnus. 

For example, in most cases, do not ask questions that…

• Have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer
• Can be answered with a simple Google search
• Show your unfamiliarity with the program or interviewer
• Are culturally insensitive, rude, or too personal
• Weaken your application or accomplishments
• Are irrelevant or unlikely to have a known answer

 

Here are some examples of questions not to ask:

• Did you like Stanford? (This is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question—which leads nowhere!)
• Does HBS have a startup club? (Google can tell you this.)
• What do you do for a living? (You should know your interviewer’s background long before the interview begins.)
• Did you wait to start a family until after your MBA at Columbia? (Yikes, that’s personal!)
• Having been fired 4 times, do you think INSEAD will give me the skills I need to last in a job? (This doesn’t position you as a strong professional and will bring objections.)
• How much of IESE’s campus power supply is created through green technology? (No matter how much they deep-dived into sustainability during their MBA, they are very unlikely to know the answer to this.)

There is one exception, however. For totally blind interviews, like Wharton’s TBD, where you don’t know anything about who will interview until your session starts, you may want to choose a few broader questions that can easily be answered by anyone you meet. This does not mean you should ask obvious questions, just that you may consider asking questions on more general topics.

 

Questions you should ask during your MBA interview

Now, the section you’ve been waiting for: the questions you should ask during your MBA interview.

Regardless of the program or interviewer, all good MBA post-interview questions have these four traits in common:

• They allow for an open-ended answer (not a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer)
• They show thought, research, and preparation
• They seek information that isn’t otherwise easy to find
• They’re strategic and planned

Good questions keep the conversation rolling, not ending it with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. 

They demonstrate how much thought and consideration you put into planning and asking them. Your questions show you realize this interview is a unique opportunity to speak with someone who has a wealth of knowledge about the program. Ultimately, you have planned these questions and have a strategy or reason behind each one.

Here are 9 questions you can ask during your MBA interview:

 

Question #1: Knowing my goals, what advice do you have about where I should focus my time and efforts in this program?

This question shows you take the MBA decision seriously and are open to feedback. Plus, research shows that asking for advice makes people seem smarter and creates a connection between the adviser and the person asking for advice.

After all, we give advice to people we like and only when we care. Asking questions like this may create affinity for you and an investment in your success.

This question is perfect for both alumni and the admissions committee.

 

Question #2: Based on this interview, where do you see me best contributing to the campus community? 

MBA programs don’t want applicants who just sit in class and then disappear afterward, they want engaged students and involved alumni. Use this question to show your intent to give back to the campus and your peers.

Not only does this question allow you to ask for advice, it makes the interviewer visualize you as a student. No longer are you merely an interviewee, they’re now thinking of you on campus and convincing themselves of ways you’ll be beneficial to the program.

This question works for alumni or the admissions committee.

 

Question #3: What is the alumni experience like, and how can I best involve myself with this community?

Just as MBA programs aren’t interested in disengaged students, they’re also not interested in disengaged alumni. After all, alumni are a powerful source of referrals, vocal advocates and, yes, fundraising contributors. 

This question shows you have an interest in continuing their legacy and expanding their influence. An ideal follow-up to their answer would include how you plan to be an active and engaged alumnus or alumna, whether that’s networking with and mentoring future students or recruiting fellow alumni to your organization.

It’s worth mentioning you should NOT talk about the money you intend to donate after graduation. This will likely be seen as an attempt at bribery—and bring the abrupt end of the interview.

This is a good question for the admissions committee and an even better question for alumni.

If you do ask this question of an alumna, you may want to ask what their alumni experience has been like and, if they graduated a while ago, how it’s changed over time. 

We highly suggest you take a look at mock interview questions and sample interview responses before your interview. 

Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of real interview mocks from all the top programs, as well as detailed guides to help you prepare for questions ranging from “Why our MBA program?” to “Tell us about a time you failed.”

The Ellin Lolis Consulting MBA Resource Center is your one-stop shop to interview success. Click to join!

Question #4: Looking objectively at the program, what would you have changed or what would you change?

Despite how it may feel, MBA programs do not hold all the power in the application process. They’re competing for top students with other top programs, so asking questions that allow the interviewer to offer a weakness can demonstrate your confidence in getting into any top program.

Plus, the interview is a chance to decide whether or not the program is a fit for you, and questions like this may reveal that, in fact, other programs are better suited to your goals. It’s better to know about a program’s strengths and weaknesses before you make a decision.

This question is suited for the admissions committee and alumni who graduated fairly recently; alumni from much earlier years may not have recent information.

 

Question #5: What common traits do successful students in this program tend to share?

MBA programs tend to have a profile or a “typical” fit for their program, whether it’s a leadership-focused professional at HBS or an entrepreneurial startup founder at Stanford. 

By asking the interviewer about these common traits, you can discover if you fit the profile, which may help you decide whether or not to join the program should you be accepted.

Strategically, after the interviewer describes the profile, you can respond by connecting your own profile and traits to what they’ve just described and fill in any gaps that you may not have mentioned yet. This helps the interviewer see that you are a fit for the program.

This question can be asked of the admissions committee or alumni.

 

Question #6: How will this program grow and change in the next year? 5 years?

An especially important question to ask if you’re pursuing a career in technology or an emerging field, it’s wise to discover what the program plans to add or change in the short and medium term.

This question can, like others, confirm your interest in the program or help you understand that the program sits a bit behind others in its development. It can also allow you to describe how you can be one of the leaders who brings in these changes, contributing your own expertise or knowledge to this growth of the program.

This question would be best for the admissions committee who has inside knowledge of changes and plans.

I do not recommend this question for alumni interviews. 

 

Question #7: How did this program influence your post-MBA path and plans?

Like it or not, we all love talking about ourselves—and MBA interviewers are no different.

Asking questions about an MBA interviewer’s personal experience and career allows them to talk about themselves and connect with you on a more personal basis.

Tailor this question to the interviewer as much as possible. For example: how did the Stern program influence your post-MBA path and plans, moving from consulting to investment banking in Singapore?

This question is ideal for alumni whose profile you’ve researched extensively.

 

Question #8: What do you wish you’d done differently during your MBA?

Questions that allow an interviewer to talk about themselves and reflect on their MBA experience can be powerful tools for building rapport and understanding the person you’re speaking with.

This question is thought-provoking and allows you to speak more candidly with them, likely ending with them offering you advice about how you might spend your time during the MBA program.

This question is for alumni only.

 

Question #9: Why did you choose this program?

This question is another opportunity to learn about the program and understand what values the interviewer holds dear. Find a way to connect your own motivations for choosing this program with theirs.

For example: I agree! Your point about choosing INSEAD for its diverse campus and international reach resonated because that’s a key benefit for me as well… 

Building rapport and commonality with your interviewer is a powerful strategy.

This question can apply to alumni or the admissions committee; both groups chose to study or work at the program.

A bonus tip for asking these post-interview questions: keep the conversation rolling! 

Watch footage of famous journalists interviewing people and you’ll notice how they don’t just ask a question, nod at the answer, and move on. Each question brings a follow up or clarification question, further showing curiosity and social skills.

One more tip! As you consider which questions to ask, remember: it’s more than an answer you’re looking for. Yes, it’s important to gain information or hear their perspective, but you should devise questions that strategically shape the conversation and show your fit for the program. Their answer is important, but the reason why you’re asking the question and what you’ll do with their answer is far more critical. 

When your questions paint you as a curious, prepared, and engaged applicant, you’ll greatly raise your chances of succeeding in your MBA interview, which is important; after all, 50% of MBA applicants are eliminated after their interview!

That’s the approach we used with our client Catarina, who was admitted to HBS. In her words:

 “Ellin, I really want to thank you! I just left the HBS interview, and many of the questions you asked me were also asked by the admissions office. The follow-up questions you asked me made me aware of what was important to share, so even if they didn’t ask those specific questions, I was able to add the ideas you pushed me to add. I really wanted to thank you for your coaching!

If you’re eager to succeed in your MBA interview, especially after investing so much time and energy into your education, career, and application, let our team of MBA interview experts help!

We’ll assist you in preparing for your MBA interviews with planning and mock interview sessions tailored to the programs you’re applying to and the unique traits you offer. With this one-on-one guidance, you’ll gain the confidence you need to shine on interview day.

Want to put the Ellin Lolis advantage to work for you? Schedule your preparation session with our team of interview experts today!