What McCombs Video Assessment Questions Actually Look Like
The McCombs video assessment is your chance to talk to the admissions committee without an interviewer in the room. You get a prompt, maybe 30 seconds to prepare, and then you record yourself answering. It's through a platform called Video Interview or MyInterview depending on the cycle. The prompts shift every year but they generally fall into behavioral, situational, or fit categories. Here's what I saw when I went through this process last cycle. You might get asked something like "Tell me about a time you worked with a difficult team member" or "Describe a situation where you had to make a decision with incomplete information." Some years they throw in a creative prompt like "If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?" Others stick to straightforward leadership and teamwork scenarios. The whole thing usually takes about 15 minutes. You get three questions total. Each one gives you two minutes to answer. The prep time is roughly 30 seconds per question. That's it. No detailed outline. Just read the prompt and go.
I remember sitting there with my second question and realizing I'd misread it slightly. The prompt asked about a failure, and I started talking about a challenge I'd overcome. I caught myself halfway through the first sentence and redirected. That's the kind of thing that happens under pressure when you're not used to thinking on your feet like this. I'd recommend doing a few practice rounds where you literally read a new prompt every 30 seconds so your brain gets used to switching gears fast. One counter-intuitive thing nobody tells you: your setup matters more than your answer content for most of these. I had a friend who gave a solid answer but the audio was echoing because she was recording in an empty living room. Another person had terrible lighting where her face was completely shadowed. The admissions staff watches hundreds of these. They notice technical quality even if they say they don't. Make sure your background is plain and your room has some ambient noise absorption. A carpeted room with furniture is way better than a tiled bathroom or an empty space. I use a cheap lapel mic plugged into my laptop and it made a noticeable difference compared to the built-in mic. The difference isn't huge but when you're going through 400 video submissions it adds up.
How to Actually Prepare for This
Don't write out full scripts. You won't remember them under pressure and you'll sound robotic. Instead, build a mental bank of stories you can adapt. I had five or six core experiences I mapped out beforehand. Things like leading a project under a tight deadline, dealing with conflict, failing at something and recovering, working across cultural differences, making an ethical call when no one was watching. For each story, I wrote down the situation in two sentences, the action I took in three, and the result with a specific number if possible. That's all I needed as a reference. When the prompt showed up, I'd pick the closest story and adjust the framing on the fly. Practice matters more than you think. I recorded myself on my phone about a dozen times before the real thing. Watching those recordings back is painful but necessary. You'll catch yourself saying "um" every four seconds or leaning too far into the camera. I also timed myself strictly because two minutes goes faster than you expect. Most people run out of time on their first attempt and realize they didn't finish their point.
Get the Full Details
Here's something people miss: eye contact with the camera lens, not the screen. If you look down at yourself on the screen the reviewer thinks you're avoiding them. Point the camera at your eyes or put a small sticker right next to the lens as a reminder. I used a Post-it note with an X on it placed directly over the camera. Sounds silly but it changed my delivery noticeably.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The biggest mistake I see is treating this like a standard interview response. In a live interview you have a conversation going back and forth. Here you're just performing. Some people ramble because there's no interruption. Others go too short and seem rehearsed. The sweet spot is about 90 seconds of substantive answer with a clear beginning middle and end. Another trap is trying to sound overly professional. McCombs wants to know who you actually are. A little personality goes further than a polished corporate answer. I had a classmate who gave a very generic response about being a team player and it fell flat. Another person talked about their experience organizing a community event and mentioned getting soaked in rain while setting up tents. That one stood out because it felt real. Don't bring up anything controversial. Politics religion personal health issues. It's not worth the risk. Keep it focused on your professional and academic experience. And definitely don't mention that you practiced this or that you've done it before. That comes across as insincere even if it's true.
Also, the environment around you should be quiet and private. I noticed one candidate's dog barking in the background on a practice run and realized I needed to lock my door and put a sign on it. Small things matter more than you'd expect when someone is watching 100 videos in a row.
Technical Checklist Before You Hit Record
Check your internet connection. A dropped connection mid-answer means you start over and you've lost time. I had a friend who switched to mobile hotspot because her Wi-Fi kept cutting out and it stabilized everything. Test your camera and mic in the actual browser you'll use. Chrome works best for the Video Interview platform. Firefox and Safari have caused issues for other applicants. Close every other tab and application. Notifications will ruin your take. Put your phone on silent and face down. Have a glass of water nearby because your mouth will get dry. I also kept a small bottle of water next to my laptop for this reason. If you blank during a question, don't panic. Pause for a second. Say "let me think about that for a moment" and collect yourself. A two-second pause looks normal to the viewer. Rushing through a confused answer looks worse. I did this on my third question and it didn't cost me anything. The platform allows it.
You can usually retake one or two questions depending on the platform version. Use that opportunity if your first take is clearly bad. But don't overthink it. A good first take followed by a mediocre retake is worse than just going with the first one. Only redo if something actually went wrong. I've seen people stress over this part way too much. The assessment is one component of your application. McCombs looks at your GPA your GMAT or GRE your resume and your essays first. The video is meant to give them a sense of how you communicate and whether you'd fit in. It's not a pass-fail gate. Treat it like a conversation with a group of people who want to know if you're someone they'd enjoy working with in a classroom setting. That's really all it is.
