Rotman Commerce
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
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2027 Admissions Interview Question Bank* (UTORONTO ROTMAN BCOM)
What are two accomplishments or endeavors outside the classroom that you are most proud of, and why?
Analysis
- Why asked: Probes for the dimensions of your life beyond academics — the 'most proud of' framing and the 'why' together test genuine depth of engagement and reflection.
- Expectations: Strong candidates name two accomplishments from genuinely different domains, explain specifically why each matters to them, and show that their engagement was real and sustained.
- Strong answer: Name two accomplishments covering different domains (e.g., community and athletic), briefly describe what you did and what made it challenging, and explain specifically why each makes you proud.
- Common mistakes: Naming accomplishments that are actually academic, giving superficial reasons for pride without personal reflection, or choosing accomplishments that appear impressive but you can't discuss with depth.
Should governments, rather than private companies, be primarily responsible for addressing the challenges of climate change? Why or why not?
Analysis
- Why asked: This question tests the ability to reason about institutional design, market failures, and the appropriate division of responsibility between public and private actors — a sophisticated policy and strategy question.
- Expectations: Strong candidates articulate the specific reasons why climate change requires government intervention (externalities, public goods, coordination problems, long time horizons), while acknowledging the essential complementary role of private sector innovation and deployment at scale.
- Strong answer: An outstanding answer demonstrates economic and policy literacy: the candidate explains why markets alone will not solve climate change (market failures), why governments are necessary but not sufficient, and what the most effective division of responsibility looks like — using specific policy mechanisms (carbon pricing, R&D investment, infrastructure, regulation) to show where each actor has comparative advantage.
- Common mistakes: Candidates often argue simplistically that either governments or companies should be responsible without acknowledging that both are necessary, or they support government responsibility without demonstrating understanding of why market mechanisms are better at deployment-stage scaling than at internalizing externalities.
What is one thing you are passionate about, and why is it important to you?
Analysis
- Why asked: Tests genuine passion and depth of conviction — the 'why is it important' forces you beyond the activity itself to articulate its deeper significance.
- Expectations: Strong candidates name one specific passion with genuine conviction and explain its importance in terms of personal meaning, broader impact, or a formative experience.
- Strong answer: Name the passion with specificity (not just 'education' but what aspect of education), explain why it matters to you deeply with a brief personal origin story, and connect it to how it shows up in your life or goals.
- Common mistakes: Naming a passion that's really just a career interest, explaining importance in generic terms without personal grounding, or choosing something strategically safe but empty.
Do you agree or disagree with the statement: 'Technological advancement leads to higher unemployment.' Explain your reasoning with examples.
Analysis
- Why asked: This question tests economic reasoning, knowledge of labor market dynamics, and the ability to engage with a controversial claim with analytical precision — avoiding both naive techno-optimism and Luddite pessimism.
- Expectations: Strong candidates take a specific position, explain the economic mechanisms (automation of tasks vs. jobs, comparative advantage, new job creation, productivity-wage-demand cycle), support their argument with historical examples, and acknowledge the distributional dimensions that complicate a simple aggregate answer.
- Strong answer: An outstanding answer demonstrates economic literacy: the candidate distinguishes between task-level automation and job-level displacement, explains why technological advancement historically raised employment in aggregate while creating distributional challenges, and identifies the specific conditions (rate of transition, education and retraining capacity, policy support) that determine whether the aggregate outcome is positive or negative in a given context.
- Common mistakes: Candidates often give an aggregate answer (yes or no) without engaging with distributional effects and transition costs, or they rely entirely on historical precedent without examining the ways current AI capabilities may differ fundamentally from previous waves of automation.
*Disclaimer: This question bank is compiled and generated by MockMore (mockmore.com) based on applicant feedback, historical data, and our proprietary AI model. MockMore is an independent platform and is not affiliated with any university or video interview platform (such as Kira Talent, VidCruiter, InitialView, Vericant, etc.).
Interview Experience Records (from Real Candidates)
* The records were obtained from publicly available data or contributed by users of MockMore (mockmore.com), then reviewed and refined by our AI models.
* The records were obtained from publicly available data or contributed by users of MockMore (mockmore.com), then reviewed and refined by our AI models.