Tuck interview

Background -
Tuck, unlike most other schools, does applicant initiated interviews. I did mine in conjunction with a campus tour. I setup my visit such that I did the class visit and information sessions before I did the interview. I figured this would give me a better feel for the culture before I actually started talking about why I wanted to attend there.

Interviewer -
The interviewer was a second year student. The only info he had on me was a copy of my resume that I dropped off earlier in the day. I think Tuck makes an attempt to match the interviewer based on some basic info you provide. I was matched with an older student who had a fair bit of work experience as I did.

Format/Topics -
The interview was fairly relaxed starting with a quick walkthru of the resume. The rest of the interview mostly worked thru Why MBA? Why Now? Why Tuck? Also, there were a few inquiries that led to leadership and teamwork type answers. These were typical questions that are usually seen in job interviews. For example, How would you deal with a situation where the team is at an impasse and something needs to happen to break the deadlock? I just drew on personal experience to walkthrough what I've done in the past in similar situations.

My take -
Even though I hadn't submitted my app, I had already reviewed and drafted most of my essays. This helped me to approach the 'Why' questions effectively. Also having been in town a day and visiting a class and getting to know the campus environment helped me to be relaxed and share my views.

Overall, I felt pretty good about the interview and also felt like those involved in the process really cared. The interview was scheduled for 30 mins but I think it ran a few minutes over.

Before I went up there I had met several Alumni and I was looking to see if their enthusiasm and caring was at least partially due to the institution. After my 2 days in Hanover and attending an event, I wonder if there's some type of brainwashing chamber that makes Tuck grads so loyal and giddy about the school.