UNC, Kenan-Flagler Business School

Kenan Flagler MBA interview process occurs between a highly competitive pool of students just as in any other top B-School . The applicants need to work hard on their Kenan Flagler application essays and GMAT scores(average GMAT score is 690) to get an interview call.

Kenan Flagler MBA admissions committee does not issue interview invitations. Applicants themselves have to approach adcom and schedule interview by the deadlines corresponds to the application round. Kenan Flagler interviews are generally conducted over a skype call if the applicant is outside U.S. or the alumnus.

Alumnus (off campus interview), Adcom (campus interview) take the interview generally. Average time per interview is 30-40 minutes.

1. Long term and short term goals
2. Accomplishments in your professional and personal life
3. Questions on your current and previous jobs
4. Leadership role
5. How would you contribute to class

Round 3 Applicant. Interview was 45 minutes and surprisingly had fewer behavioral questions than I expected. Most of the discussion was about post-MBA goals.

1. Where did you grow up? Where were you before college?
2. Why did you choose your major?
3. What was your most significant accomplishment in your first job after college?
4. Why did you choose to leave this job for the second job?
5. What do you want to do post-MBA?
6. Where do you see yourself in 30 years?
7. What are some companies you want to recruit for?
8. Why UNC?
9. What do you hope to contribute to UNC?
10. What extracurriculars did you participate in during college?
11. Would you say your GMAT/GRE is reflective of you as a person? If not, what does it say about you and how would you describe your score?
12. If I were to call your recommender right now, what’s two strengths and a weakness that he would tell me about you?
13. What types of opportunities are you looking for at UNC? And job-wise?

It was really quick and informal. It was a woman who worked in the admissions office.

Questions

1.) tell me about yourself
2.) tell me more about your current job
3.) why unc?
4.) how will you contribute to the unc community?
5.) what is the difference between a leader and a manager?
6.) tell me about a time when you had to lead
7.) tell me about your management style
8.) how would your colleagues describe you (pos/negative)
9.) what are you hoping to get from an mba (short term / long term)
10.) any questions for me

Conclusion

Like I said, it was really informal and quick. She was super nice, but wasn’t able to answer some of the questions I put to her, which was surprising. Other than that, it was low stress and very conversational.

Round 2 applicant. The blind interview was conducted by AdCom over Skype, lasting approximately 40 minutes. The interview was very conversational, as the interviewer often interspersed and followed-up my responses with narratives and anecdotes. This made the overall experience very positive, as I was more at ease and could respond without over-relying on the script in my head.
This proved helpful because the questions were somewhat not typical and required one to think on their feet. The focus, I believe, was more to understand your rationale behind your decisions and overall thought process.

Questions:

1. Where did you grow up and how did that influence you?
2. Which high-school did you go to and what activities were you part of?
3. Why did you choose your particular undergraduate major?
4. How did that lead to your first job upon graduation? How did it help you in your first job and thereafter?
5. In your current role, how many people do you manage, directly and indirectly? Follow-up: What are your lessons about qualities a leader should possess?
6. What are your immediate post MBA goals?
7. Why pursue an MBA at UNC? What specifically attracted you to the program?
8. How have you researched the program? How will you contribute?
9. Does your current supervisor support your MBA decision?
10. Putting yourself in your supervisor’s shoes, if I were to call your supervisor up, what 2 words would be used to describe you?
11. Similarly, what major point of feedback would your supervisor mention?
12. Without revealing your GMAT score, do you believe it best represents your abilities?
13. Any questions for me?

Interview was conducted in the office of an admission committee member.

45 minute interview

• How did you pick your college major?
• What sparked your interest in your major?
• What clubs do you see yourself participating at UNC?
• Why UNC?
• What kind of interactions have you had with the UNC community?
• Behavioral questions regarding group based work environment. How did you resolve a conflict in this situation? or How did you go about in receiving constructive criticism?
• Why healthcare specialization at UNC?
• 5-10 minutes allocated for questions to ask the committee member.

Very friendly and relaxing interview. Time goes by very quickly.

I had a self-initiated interview, on-campus during Women’s Workshop weekend with an Adcom on campus in the MBA office.

The atmosphere was lively and welcoming, though, some of that may have more to do with me- I’m a bit gregarious and I’ve never met a stranger. I arrived 15 minutes early for my mid-afternoon interview. There were conducting lots of interviews and there were a lot of people coming in and out of the office. When my interviewer came to get me I was welcomed warmly and instantly felt at ease.

Interviews are blind and I was nervous about how my interviewer might make sense of my non-traditional resume/background.

The line of questioning proceeded as I anticipated but always felt more like a conversation than an interview.

Questions:

1.) Tell me about yourself/career/experiences?
2.) What are your short/long term goals?
3.) What do you think makes a good leader? A good teammate?
4.) Tell me about a time you faced a difficult situation. How did it turn out? How did you grow from that experience?
5.) Why an MBA? Why UNC KF?

Conclusion:

The interview took all scheduled 30 mins and few more (again- I’m chatty). I really enjoyed my interview experience. In chatting with some of the other women who had interviewed that weekend, they all had similar experiences; nice conversations with friendly interviewers.

Mine was in-person and was blind if I remember correctly. Unfortunately I cannot say 100% one way or the other how the Skype interviews are conducted. I do know that all the interviews are very casual in content (dress is still business professional) but they really want to see how you portray yourself, if you can effectively communicate your strengths, and if you are the kind of person who would fit in with the school culture. This is also a good time to address any glaring flaws in your application (like if you haven’t taking a math class since 8th grade algebra but plan on taking stats at a local college in the coming months).

I was extremely nervous going into mine since it was my first b-school interview. I fumbled a few places, but my interviewer didn’t seem to mind and helped move the interview along such that she could get the info she needed. Depending on the interviewer there might be a behavioral interview question. The interviewers are not there to sabotage you. They want to see you succeed, so be friendly, put honest effort into the interview, know your story, and do your research – make sure you can answer the most common questions, such as “why UNC K-F?”, “why an MBA?”, “why an MBA now?”, “where do you see yourself in 5 years? In 15?”, etc. I’d suggest you find 2 or 3 things that really draw you to the school and be ready to talk about those.

My interviewer was a senior Adcom member. Very friendly and conversational. We started off by talking about my current city in Chile. He came here a few years ago and had lovely memories of this city. He had a copy of my resume and told me that he had not seen my file, so it was a blind interview. Towards the end, he talked a lot about UNC and the kind of opportunities that exist there. Also, he told me that they have decided to trim down to 290 admits this year. Overall, good interview.

Questions asked:
1. Tell me about the city you are from.
2. Why did you choose your UG major?
3. What kind of extracurricular activities were you involved in at your college?
4. Tell me about a professional accomplishment that you are most proud of.
5. Tell me how you work as a teamplayer. What do you think are important aspects of working in a team?
6. Why did you leave your first employer (he asked me because I worked there for only 6 months)?
7. How many employees does your employer have globally and in Chile?
8. What is the typical team size that you work with? What is the nationality mix, if any?
9. Who wrote your recommendation? Why did you choose them?
10. If I were to ask your recommender of your strengths, what are the two words he would say?
11. What would your recommender say about your one weakness?
12. Career goals (ST/LT). Where do you see yourself 25-30 years down the line?
13. Did you take GMAT or GRE? Without telling me your score, tell me whether you think this score shows your academic potential.
14. Any questions for me? (I asked about concentrations, experiential learning opportunities, and partner opportunities)

Had an interview at UNC on-campus. Lasted for about 40 mins.No surprise questions. Interviewer made me feel relaxed and was friendly and conversational.

The questions were more about getting to know me… why MBA, why now, why UNC, strengths, weakness, what motivates you etc.

My already great impression about the school was improved further with a campus visit and I would suggest taking on-campus interview as you get to talk to the admissions team member directly. Very different than some of the other schools where you interview with SY student. I experienced at one school a SY student busy taking notes and not paying attention to your answers.

Anyway, hoping for the best result now and awaiting interview invitations from other schools…

Right dot on time. Very friendly and easy.
Questions were varied and fun.
– Who is your inspiration?
– Why UNC and what you expect to gain from UNC MBA?
– Why MBA and what are your short-term goals?
– What is your plan B?
– Explain your volunteer work.
– What is your proudest accomplishment – professionally and personally?
– Anything you want to add?
– Questions for me.

The interview was conducted on November 1, 2017 via Skype with admission committee officer. In total it lasted around 45 minutes (35 minutes the interview itself and 10 minutes for my questions).

The interviewer was very friendly from beginning, we spoke more in professional manner, instead of educational one. The interview was conversational, no any strains attached.

1. Tell me about yourself?
2. Why you choose your undergraduate major and how you came to your industry?
3. Why MBA and why now? How your career development let you to MBA?
4. Your greatest accomplishment, that you are proud of?
5. What did you recently to enhance your team?
6. How do you manage conflicts at work? Tell me about specific situation?
7. What do you do besides your job. (I told about sport, books, music. Surprisingly he asked me what extracurricular activities I did at the university).

Question that I asked:
1. How can I combine 2 concentrations?
2. Housing options for international students?
3. What is the best time to arrive to NC?

I received admission offer and highly review UNC for my MBA.