Any aspirant who has gone through the online Personal Interview rounds of a B-school admission process understands how painful the waiting screen is. You sit there emotionless yet anxious, trying to gather your thoughts for the one last time and then thrice more. Seconds feel like minutes and minutes, hours making you consider every worst possible outcome.
Luckily, SJMSOM Admissions Team came up with an amazing process to help fight the blues and simulate an offline Interview Experience and they did an outstanding job at that. They employed the help of an online portal called Gather. Imagine Pokémon in the Metaverse, a top-down view of the map and different characters – all of whom are there for the interviews.
We designed our avatars and jumped onto the map. Various rooms for registration, waiting and interviews made it feel similar to how the process would be in an offline environment. The Team guided us through the process and divided us into multiple groups. We waited in the auditorium along with our groups where one person from the Admissions Team was our POC and helped us navigate the entire process.
The Auditorium in itself was an exciting place. We had Mr. Bean playing on the big screen (note to the Team: THANK YOU!). We could discuss amongst ourselves in the group, understand others’ backgrounds and get helpful tips. No more waiting for your turn alone and cracking under pressure even before the interview begins. This was a great stress buster and was well-appreciated.
When it was time for my interview, the POC guided me to the interview room where I waited for my turn. Again, the Team had thought of everything and a student sat there to greet me, brief me about the process and give some seriously useful pointers.
The interview in itself was one of a kind. The panel was warm and welcoming and consisted of professors from different domains and alums. Unlike other interviews, I was unable to drive the interview to areas of my interest. I was asked questions from my undergrad domain, mathematics, finance, global news and everything in between. It was demanding but because of how kind Gather had been to my stress, I was able to keep my composure and finish the interview without any major setbacks.
So now, with the interview done, I headed back to the auditorium and shared my experience with the group. The POC guided me to another room to fill in a quick form and I was told my interview process was finished. I felt relieved, content and extremely grateful to the team for this wonderful experience that I will cherish for a long time.
Verdict: Converted