Interview policy

Interview policy is the school’s rule for whether an MBA interview is required for admission, optional, or not used, and who may sit it. GMAC’s GME Admissions Reporting Standards ask programs to pick one of those three flags and report the percent interviewed. The policy is the rule; the interview is the meeting.

What GMAC asks schools to declare

Three boxes: required for admission, optional, or not required. If interviews happen, the school should also state what share of applicants sit them. That percentage is how you tell an “everyone who asks” policy from a “we interview 15% and admit from that 15%” policy. GMAC’s definition of the meeting itself is wide: in-person, phone, video, or online, with a program representative. The standards do not define “open” versus “invitation-only.” Those words come from school pages.

Stanford’s policy is the invitation-only plus required-for-offer pattern: after the written file is reviewed, the school may invite you; every candidate must interview before an offer; interviews run about two to three per seat; no valid test score, no interview. Harvard’s policy is similar: invitation only, at the Board’s discretion; if invited, you must participate to complete the process; a 24-hour written reflection follows. Neither school will schedule a courtesy interview because you will be in town.

Open or guaranteed-interview policies still exist at a smaller set of programs, sometimes only if you file by an early date.

Example: 5,000 complete applications, 900 interviews, 400 admits, 400 seats. Interview rate = 900 / 5,000 = 18%. Required-for-admission = yes. Invitation-only = yes. An applicant who was not invited is not “still waiting to schedule.” The policy already answered.

Policy versus the event versus the decision

Layer	Question it answers
Interview policy	Who is eligible, and is the meeting required for an offer?
Admissions interview	What happens in the meeting?
Admit	Did the school issue an offer after the file, including the interview?

A school can run multi-source review and still refuse to admit without an interview. Those are compatible. Waitlist policies are separate: some waitlisted candidates are later invited; that does not make the original policy open.

Common errors

Emailing Stanford or Harvard to request an interview. Treating “optional” as “unimportant” at a school that interviews anyone who asks. Reading GMAC’s “required” flag as “they interview 100% of applicants.” The flag means no offer without an interview, not that every applicant is invited. Confusing alumni-led interviews with unofficial chats that do not count.

FAQ

What does “required for admission” mean in GMAC terms?+

No offer without a completed interview. It does not mean every applicant is interviewed. Stanford and Harvard both require the interview before an offer and both issue invitations to a minority of applicants. The percent-of-applicants figure is the number to read next to the flag.

What is an invitation-only interview policy?+

The school decides who is eligible after reading the written file. Candidates cannot self-schedule. Stanford will not grant an interview without a valid test score on file. Harvard will not grant one without an invitation. Travel plans do not create a slot.

If interviews are optional, should I still do one?+

Yes, if the school will give you a slot. Optional in GMAC’s box means the school will admit some people without a meeting. It does not mean the meeting is wasted. An open-interview school that never hears from you has one less source on the file.