How to best answer this interview Q: Where else did you apply for school? Did you get in anywhere else?

The question is:

Where else did you apply for school? Did you get in anywhere else?

I go to a top 50 nontarget university. My dream school was NYU Stern but I didn't get in. What's the best way to answer this kind of question? On the plus side, I can say I got a huge financial aid package (which I did), solid business education, etc...

 

Then that's what you say. You did it for financial reasons. If you had good scores, that sounds even more credible.

I went to a top 10 state school, not because I couldn't get in anywhere else, but because I couldn't afford to go anywhere but the school down the street. I paid 100% of my own costs by working while in school and winning some big scholarships. I say that on my resume and I know for a fact that it helped me break into the industry -- a lot of people love prestige, but there is a niche in the industry for incredibly hard working, self made people as well.

 

^ love NYC, good school for Finance, and didnt know shit about target/nontarget stuff back then so Stern was my top choice.

Problem is that I only got into more non target schools, should I still just emphasize the financial aspect?

 

I've never had this question be a big issue in an interview. Just say that you looked into and got into other schools but say that you fell in love with the school you went to or that it made the most sense for you given your financial situation and goals at the time. No one holds this question against you. They typically ask because they are curious and figure you could have gone to other schools and are looking to get a bit of background on you and your personality. Worst thing you can do is try to apologize / make excuses for why you didn't go to other schools or talk about how you didn't get in.

Saying something like, "I looked at other schools and was fortunate to have a few options such as x, y, and z, but after visiting my alma mater, I just fell in love with the school and loved the campus environment. Since I knew it had a great reputation for the program I was interested in studying, it was naturally great fit and I couldn't be happier with the choice I made."

No one can really argue with or ding you for the above answer.

 

Yes this is a hard question.

Maybe be honest, I hope you had a reason for going to the school you chose. My school sold me on the location, gave me scholarships, and has small class sizes, for example. Sadly, this was before I realized that the only real value of school is to get you a job, so I wouldn't go here again if I had the chance not to.

The real reason I didn't go to my #1 choice: my HS counselor didn't send in my transcript.

Nothing short of everything will really do.
 

At the end of the day your undergrad caliber is totally meaningless and most likely the interviewer is an ivy prick who just wants to flaunt his Harvard alma mater. What matters more is how intelligent and prepared you are for the interview.

With that said, where you goto grad school follows you around so be sure if you go MBA or Law it's top 10 or bust.

Good Luck!

Wharton UG Kellogg MBA

 

Is this a hypothetical question or did you actually have it in an interview? When I was going through the process the only permutations of this type of question I received were: why did you choose the school you went to and when you were deciding between schools why did you choose xxx over your other choices. I was never asked to talk about the schools I got into and applied to.

 
Michael Scarn:
How can they possible check whether or not you got into the schools you say? Couldn't you just say, "I got into Princeton, Yale, and Duke but I thought that school X was the better fit for reasons x, y, and z." How do they confirm that you actually got into those schools?

They can't... but be serious... if you said I got into Princeton, Yale, and Duke but decided to go to Middle Tennessee State because it was a better fit, they are unlikely to believe you are telling the truth.

 
rufiolove:
Michael Scarn:
How can they possible check whether or not you got into the schools you say? Couldn't you just say, "I got into Princeton, Yale, and Duke but I thought that school X was the better fit for reasons x, y, and z." How do they confirm that you actually got into those schools?

They can't... but be serious... if you said I got into Princeton, Yale, and Duke but decided to go to Middle Tennessee State because it was a better fit, they are unlikely to believe you are telling the truth.

No I know. But if you go to USC/Boston College/NYU then maybe you could say something like Vanderbilt/Brown/Cornell or other schools ranked ~10 spots higher in US News.

 
Best Response

If you went in-state, the answer is obvious. You had thrifty parents who FAFSA said could afford more than in-state tuition, but didn't want to pay more. If you're in a top ten US News program, it gets even more obvious.

When I got asked that question, I think I told a joke that went something like this:

"If I told you that I went to the seventh ranked school and paid double the #3 school's tuition- and turned down a spot doing research at the NCSA, you wouldn't want to hire someone who spent money that foolishly. But then you're not going to hire me if I told you I turned down Dartmouth for Illinois. So I guess there's no winning here!"

You'll think of something. It's really not that big of a deal. Worst comes to worst, you just say that your parents always went to state schools, you went to a state school, and at 18 or 19, you realized there was a game being played that you didn't even know was going on. Shrewd interviewers will respect that.

If your parents won't cover their EFC for Harvard, go in-state and study engineering at your flagship school.

Graduate at the top of your class, and you'll be just as competitive and $100K richer.

 

Much like our educations, when recruiting , we tend to accept the offer from the best firm possible. You're seldom going to see a kid that got in Harvard and Princeton and ended up going to rutgers, absent some extenuating circumstances. As an interviewer, you don't want to hear this though.... At least the dumb ones don't. This is variation of the how did u decide to go to ur school question. The smart ones don't ask these types of stupid circle jerk questions.... Like why'd u choose to go to x school? Because I just fell in fucking love with the campus, I loved that it was a big school but still had a close knit feel, and I just prematurely ejaculated when I saw how much the teachers took an interest in the students development. Dumbest fuckin question ever.

But that's not helpful. This question is asked for 2 main reasons.

  1. To understand your thought process in making this choice. (were you focused on fit?)
  2. Are you a brand whore that is going to refuse my JPM offer because you also got an offer from GS? So if you're answer is I chose Dartmouth because it was the best school I got into.... Which is how 98% of kids make their college decision.... It doesn't bode well for you "is this kid gonna accept our offer"-quotient.

It is partially just to guage how good you were too... If you went to Dartmouth and you got into brown, Columbia and Duke.... You obviously took your pick of the litter. If you went to Dartmouth and also got into Cornell, Baruch and Seton Hall..... Not so much.

Ways to get this question wrong: - give a not well thought out answer - blatantly lie, I got into Harvard, penn and Princeton, but chose SUNY New Paltz because I just loved the campus culture - come off as a prestige/brand whore

 

Firstly, I would not discuss or bring up the places you didn't get in or wish you would have got in and did not. It brings up a negative and you always want to, in a sincere tone, speak positively.

That said, I would focus on where you did get in. I would start by saying what kind of schools you applied to and why (i.e. had strong business programs, were in x region of the US, were y size, had a, b, and etc.). Then, based on that criteria here is why I picked my school. Here is why I like it. Here is what it has done for me.

Furthermore, if you are interviewing for banking, I would throw a dab in there about when you were applying for school out of HS you had no idea what you wanted to do, did not know you wanted to be an I-banker and maybe didn't even know what i-banking was. I think this helps b/c it makes you look human. In my opinion, you look like a major d-bag if you give some story about how you wanted to be an i-banker about the same time you were deciding on what car you wanted mommy and daddy to buy in high school... This allows you to transition into you interest in i-banking, WHICH is the most important part of the interview!

 

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