Last week, I polled several hundred MBA candidates about the biggest challenges they face in the MBA admissions process. Here is what they said.

The thing is, every single one of these categories is easily mitigated if not eliminated with some strategic thinking and preparation.

Knowing the questions in advance is not impossible - they will all be about you! And you can be prepared for any kind of question if you learn how to build a bank of stories and how to tweak a story to answer different questions.

Thinking on your feet becomes much easier when you practice for your MBA admissions interview. Preparation, including mock interviews where you time yourself, is also the cure for rambling.

Finally, when you put in the work to research and prepare for your interview, I can guarantee you that confidence will follow. I see this kind of transformation in candidates every time we complete an interview prep session. It removes the uncertainty and reminds them their dream MBA program invited them for an interview because they saw the great potential and value they will bring to the class. They light up and become excited about the opportunity to tell their MBA stories in person. They learn how to think of the MBA admissions interview as a time to make a connection and get the MBA adcom excited about their candidacy.

If you want to seize the opportunity to shine at your interview and turn it into an “admit”, come work with me.

Onwards and upwards,

Petia

P.S. Did you know that Get Unstuck is the best value for interview prep? See how one HBS admit used this service to up her interview game.