Preparing for this unknowable-until-you-know prompt is actually a tremendous skill-building opportunity for your entire MBA application journey. You will inevitably develop an intimate understanding of who you are, where you’re headed, why you need an MBA now, and how you’ll benefit from the offerings of a particular program given who you are. Which, at the end of the day, is the key to a successful admissions campaign. As you engage with these questions, you should start to see how they connect, and represent facets of the same diamond. If you prepare thoughtfully, you’ll minimize the potentiality to be ‘thrown’ by a curveball question. How? By understanding fundamentally what your story is, and what your goals are, you’ll simultaneously develop an understanding of the needs of the other person in this relationship, and what they need from you. Think about asking an investor for money. You may have a fantastic pitch that makes sense to you. But until that pitch fulfills a need for ‘the other person,’ it’s incomplete. MBA programs are looking to ‘invest’ in future successes, period, end of story. They want wins. And they are tasked with screening hundreds (often thousands) of typically overqualified, impressive applicants, to determine who among these are the folks: 

1. Most likely to succeed
2. In the biggest and best ways that align with the ‘brand’ interests of the school, and also 
3. Who, when introduced to other classmates whom we’ve selected, are likely to add fuel to their fire (and benefit from the same)

So, back to that idea of how smart preparation can make you ‘curveball-proof’: when you understand their incentives, you can quickly interpret ANY question to find the ‘but what are they really asking about here’ element. Every single question they’ll throw at you is in some way designed to give them more information about those three bullets above. The more you understand the connective tissue between your work history, your academic history, your skills, your goals, your motivation for pursuing an MBA, your strengths, your weaknesses… you can instantly ‘see through’ any question to locate the NERVE CENTER of the best answer in your repertoire of stories (that all interconnect), to answer the question in the most efficient way to highlight the precise ‘features’ that burnish your credentials as they relate to those three bullets above. Before we say more, let’s go through the general ‘categories’ of questions you’re likely to encounter, aka, questions that Sloan may ask, seeking insight into those three bullets:

1. Work History - ‘Interpretation’ - Show us the ‘provers’ that you have experience, you’ve ‘done’ things, led things, understand business concepts from actions. Are you just a talker, or have you walked the talk?
2. Fit / Contribution to the School - ‘Interpretation’ - Will you add value to others? If so, how? Why should we believe you? Can we picture it? Do you understand how a rigorous MBA program works, such that you have confidence in your ability to succeed? Where did you develop that understanding? Will you be ready on Day 1? Where in your past is there evidence of collaboration with others? Have you navigated tricky personalities and situations? Is there evidence that you are capable of self-examination? Are you coachable? Are you humble?
3. Maturity / Emotional Control / Self-Confidence - ‘Interpretation’ - Can you provide evidence that you have not just the intellectual but emotional fitness to thrive in a cutthroat business environment? Can you provide evidence both through anecdotes but are you also able to model this in your response itself, through your choice of words, your body language, the way you talk about others, reflect on your shortcomings, as well as your strengths.
4. Achievement / Goal-Orientation / Behavioral - ‘Interpretation’ - Have you critically examined situations in your past as they’ve occurred, such that you’re able to recall specific examples readily? Have you engaged with your goals carefully enough to be able to articulate them clearly without searching? Have you encountered challenges and grappled with them thoughtfully? If so, you’ll be able to pinpoint moments readily for when you’ve been on unsure ground, vulnerable, questioning, energized, off-balance, etc. When you’ve achieved things, have you considered why? Either in terms of the surrounding conditions and/or what you specifically brought to the table?
5. Interpersonal Skills - ‘Interpretation’ - How do you relate to others? How do you relate to others whom you don’t know, and under conditions that are either sub-optimal, not within your control? What happens when you meet others who are willful, equally (or more) talented and experienced? Can you convince us that you are able not only to stand your ground, but also learn from, or add value to, others? Do you seem like someone others would want to collaborate with? Is there evidence that you’re mindful of how others think, feel, and operate?
6. Why MBA / Why Our School? - ‘Interpretation’ - Have you grappled closely enough with why you need an MBA specifically, such that we believe you will therefore know exactly how to extract the most from an opportunity like this? Or are you someone who is following the crowd, and only looking to add this credential to your resume? Does your knowledge of {This Specific School} specifically suggest a type of forward-thinking and proactive planning that implies something about how you approach any and all ‘problems’? Does your sense of why you might connect with {This Specific School} give us the impression that you’re the type of person who, when presented with an opportunity or challenge, ‘does their homework’ to the point where we have high confidence that you will succeed no matter what is thrown your way?

When you wrestle with the ‘but what are they really asking though and why’ dimension to this, you’ll develop an ‘instant translator’ muscle that will allow you to hear a question (any question), and swiftly understand what they’re looking for, such that you can formulate a response that will satisfy with maximum impact. Take a scan through other common questions:

• What is an interesting project you worked on during an internship?
• Tell us about a time you failed, what did you do and what did you learn from it?
• Tell us about a time when you had to lead communications in a crisis
• What are your short-term and long-term career goals?
• Why do you need an MBA education?
• Why do you need an MBA education now, specifically?
• Why are you pursuing {This Specific School} specifically?
• Tell us about your career path to date. What were the important junctures?
• What have been your 2 most important activities outside of work and school?
• What makes you unique among applicants?
• How do you handle giving and receiving feedback?
• Tell me about a time when someone gave you less than positive feedback.
• What is the greatest hurdle you have overcome, either personally or professionally, and how did you manage the process?
• Tell me about a time when you exhibited initiative?
• What role has mentoring played in your professional relationships?
• Tell me about your greatest accomplishment. How did you achieve it? Why is it meaningful? 
• What characteristics do you have that help you the most in getting along with other people? How do you know this about yourself? 
• Compare the most effective supervisor you've had with the least effective.
• Within your company, what skills do you see MBA's exhibit that others may not? 
• What would you like to be doing next summer as an intern?

For each of these (and any other commonly-asked questions you’re like to see in an MBA interview, easily Google-able), don’t just listen to the stated question, ask yourself “why are they asking this” and “what are they really asking about” keeping in mind everything we’ve been discussing above.

There’s no such thing as too much practice here, other than to the point where you seem overly rehearsed. The aim of ‘more’ and ‘too much’ practice is, in fact, to ensure that you will seem not-at-all rehearsed, because you’ve notched the muscle memory to understand questions at a root-level and therefore no longer need to rely on scripted responses (which are only useful when you LACK that level of understanding). Ask yourself these questions (or, if you’re a client you can of course use our interview tool to help simulate it), and time your responses, and record them, and then study your responses as objectively as you can (or have someone experienced give you feedback). Do it again, and again. Create flashcards if you aren’t a client and don’t have access to a tool (use your phone, whatever). Practice at stop lights when you’re driving, or while you’re on a walk, or cooking. Treat it the same way you would with essay writing. Let your answers go long initially. Ramble if you have you, to ‘find’ possible avenues. Listen, hear it and feel it when you ‘accidentally’ say something that’s solid. Figure out how to say something in one sentence that took you… three, that you’d loaded with ums and ahs. Do it again, crisply, feel the way that feels. Change the question and category, do it sloppily first. Do it again, but this time with a tight time restriction. Do it again. And again. Change it up. Eventually, something will start to shift and you’ll start to ‘get a feel’ for how this whole thing works. You’ll feel like Neo at the end of The Matrix. And if you haven’t seen that movie yet, I mean, there’s only so much we can do for you, you feel us?

Good luck!