Sample Interview Questions: Marshall and Rhodes

 

  • The majority of the questions are directed at testing the candidate’s thought process.  Rhodes interviewers are less concerned with the applicant’s actual knowledge than with his/her ability to quickly organize his/her thoughts and display them in a concise, orderly fashion.
  • Sample questions drawn from cadets’ experiences.

 

General Questions about Scholarship/Scholarship Process/Concluding Remarks

  • Why do you want to study in the UK?  What about the UK’s educational system attracts you? (M/081)(M/111)
  • Why do you want a Marshall Scholarship? (B/093); Why do you want a Marshall? How will you be able to use it in your career? (M/121)
  • What else do you want us to know about you? (R/103)
  • Why should the British taxpayer pay for the Marshall Scholarship? (M/111)
  • What was the most important action you took to prepare for this interview once you walked through that door? (M/112)
  • What was the most important part of the application process from the beginning? (M/112)
  • How and why did you choose your field of study?  Why is it important for you to study in the UK? (M/112)
  • Role play—pretend that you are a Marshall Scholar in the UK.  An elderly citizen starts a conversation with you and at some point it comes out that you are a Marshall Scholar.  In response, he claims that “it is a waste of two million pounds to bring you Yanks out here, especially given the immense cutbacks that we have to endure in the UK government.”  What is your response? (M/112)
  • Why St Andrews? (M212)
  • We are proposing to invest a great deal of money in your education, what are we going to get out of that investment? (M/131)
  • What do you plan to do after your military service? (M/131)
  • How will you serve as an ambassador to the UK? (M/132)
  • What impact do you want to have on the world? (M132)

 

Questions testing a candidate’s knowledge of their discipline or proposed field of study

  • What are the key tenets of development? (M/091)
  • Are you familiar with Gordon Brown’s foreign policy as it relates to development within Africa? (M/091)
  • What do you say about the accusation that AFRICOM represents the US’s militarization of Africa? (M/091)
  • Will it overshadow the State Department in Africa? (M/091)
  • What are the three key institutions in global government today? (M/091)
  • Looking at these three organizations (UN, World Bank, IMF), what changes would you make to each of them if you could? (M/091)
  • You seem to hint in your application that the military should change its policy on development; isn’t it up to the government to make policy?  Where does the military and your proposal fit? (M/091)
  • You mention Dr. Mustapha and Professor Stewart in your personal statement; have you made any effort to contact these individuals? (M/091)
  • Do you know if you meet the requirements for the program you have proposed? (M/091)
  • If you had to implement an energy solution today using current technology, what energy solution would you choose and why? (M/092)
  • Do you see improved efficiency and production as the key to resolving climate concerns? (M/092)
  • Are politicians capable of enacting sustainable energy policy? (M/092)
  • Tell me about carbon sequestration and efforts to enhance oil extraction. (M/092)
  • Do you thin Exxon Mobil’s profits are outrageous? (M/092)
  • You’re involved in the FalconSat program.  What is your role in the program, and what did you mean when you said, “you use space for the benefit of mankind”? (R/091)
  • What kind of attitude sensors do you have onboard FalconSat? What are the accuracies of a Star Tracker versus Sun Sensors? (R/091)
  • What techniques are you using for attitude determination?  Questions about Kalman Filtering. (R/091)
  • Don’t you think the horse is out of the barn in terms of weapons in space?  What makes you think that you can keep space peaceful? (R/091)
  • If you had everything go as planned, how do you see your career panning out?  How does being an astronaut fit into that career? You have a very technically focused career.  How do you see yourself influencing space policy?  Do you know of anyone who has made that shift from cockpit to influencing policy? (R/091)
  • What would you recommend to the President if asked about how the space budget should be spent:  on continuing the shuttle program or speeding up the replacement?  How will Russia use our lack of spacelift capabilities for their benefit? (R/091)
  • What potential for conflict do you see in space? (B/093)
  • There seems to be two developing theories of space thought concerning how space should be utilized by nations.  Can you discuss pros/cons of both? Which do you support and why? (B/093)
  • What do you think China’s space policy or intentions are? (B/093)
  • Through what mechanism should the international community cooperate in space?  Should the U.S. be the leader or should another country take a lead role?  Should Iran be given representation in the organization/mechanism? (B/093)
  • How do you distinguish between civilian and military uses of space assets? (B/093)
  • Should commercial space companies be given representation in this international space cooperation organization? (B/093)
  • Given the economic downturn and the wards being financed on many fronts, how do you suggest we continue to finance space exploration and investigation?  China possesses the money and the capability, but how do we keep up? (B/093)
  • If there a past/historic example of an agreement which you would propose be used as a model for the peaceful use of outer space? (B/093)
  • Can you discuss a little about the nature of the program at King’s college? (B/093)
  • Please describe what a RAM and SCRAM jet is. (R/101)
  • Many locals in the Middle East feel that is the U.S. were to give control of their UAVs to local forces, the local forces would be able to make better decisions as far as collateral damage and the effect on the local population.  What would be your stance on this issue?  (R/101)
  • Wouldn’t having the local population controlling the attacks cause more civil unrest because the people would begin to hate each other? (R/101)
  • What is the largest problem in the US-Latin America relationship? (M/101)
  • How should the US engage Venezeula? (M/101)
  • What should be done with the Cuban embargo? (M/101)
  • You say the US should remove the embargo, how would you defend this position to Cuban Americans who may be against your position? (M/101)
  • If you were a US diplomat, what would be three things you would do to improve US-Latin American relations? (M/101)
  • What should be the two roles of US special forces/CIA in Latin America? (M/101)
  • What should be the US priority, in terms of development, in Latin America? (R/102)
  • Your passion for Latin America came through in your essay, what about passion for your own country?  There are many problems in the United States, why did you decide to use your talents to address problems in Latin America? (R/102)
  • Cuba has made large strides in education, should the US look more favorably upon Cuba for this reason?  Should we change the way our relationship currently functions? (R/102)
  • What do you find the most important (human rights, democracy, economic development, etc) aspect of Latin America that the US should protect and develop in the near future? (R/102)
  • What is the value of astrophysics to the Air Force and even more importantly the world?
  • Why are we spending billions of dollars on Hydrogen Collider when we could use this money to feed children in Africa or fight the polio outbreak in Sudan? Tell us about the Hydrogen Collider. (R/103)
  • Tell us in layman’s terms what Quatum Physics is all about.  Why do electron tunnel?  What is that factor that allows electrons to tunnel and not humans? (R/103)
  • What is the future of space – where are we headed and how is the military involved? (R/103)
  • Quote—“Operations Research is the most important field of study that nobody has ever heard of” What does this mean? (M/112)
  • You say you want to make efficiency-focused decisions to minimize waste.  Give one example of how you would do this in the military.  How would you implement such a policy, especially with the difficulties of getting bills through Congress? (M/112)
  • You clearly show a quantitative process of reasoning.  Are there other important issues to consider aside from quantitative aspects? (M/112)
    Are you familiar with chaos theory?  If so, is it even possible to hold a quantitative approach regarding this idea? (M/112)
  • Tell me about your research at Lawrence Livermore. (M/112)
  • Earlier you talked about the deterministic nature of chaos theory, yet you are taking classes in quantum mechanics and quantum computing, both of which involve vast uncertainty.  How is it possible for something so uncertain and abstract to be any use?  What physical entity would you use as a Q-bit?  Can you explain entanglement? (M/112)
  • What is your interest in the “diplomatic graveyard” of the Middle East? (M/121)
  • In three sentences, what is the US interest in the Middle East?  Was the US too slow in responding to the revolutions of the Arab Spring? (M/121)
  • What is your opinion on the current situation with Iran?  Will your learn Farsi? (M/121)
  • In Britain, we sometimes are of the opinion that the US feels it must always be out front and leading on the Palestinian/Israel peace issue.  What is your opinion on the matter?  Should the US be the one to lead the operation? (M/121)
  • So, with your background in the Middle East, the past year has been tumultuous to say the least, what do you think is happening around the region—why the revolutions? (M/122)
  • I see that you have an extensive background in the Middle East – while I see that you learned German in school – why is that? (M/122)
  • Is the deficiency of monetary capital the problem in Latin America? (M/133)
  • How important is business training? (M/133)
  • I see you’ve been involved in medical humanitarian trips, tell us about those. (M/133)
  • You’ve visited the Dominican Republic…can microfinance work in Haiti, their neighbor to the West? (M/133)
  • What do you make of the pivot toward China in terms of our foreign policy in Latin America?  How is China involved in Latin America? (M/133)
  • Why did you choose to study at LSE in the UK…it seems you would be better suited studying in Latin America where you would be getting immersion experience. (M/133)
  • Rate the American response to the Arab Revolutions. (M/132)
  • How would you respond to the crisis in Syria? (M/132)

o   Why do you think the US is not doing that? (M/132)

  • You mention normalizing relations with Russia, what does that like look (end state)? (M131)
  • Russia is a state dependent upon oil revenue, with a declining population, and a military that is in tatters, is it really that relevant? (M/131)

 

Questions directed at finding out what type of person the candidate is (goals, hobbies, beliefs, etc.)  These questions will likely relate to the essay or letters of reference.

  • What was it like being homeschooled? (M/091)
  • I see you’ve traveled to France.  How did your visit to Normandy influence your decision to join the military? (M/092)
  • What formation does your soccer team play?  Why would your coach put you on the outside if the leader on the field usually plays in the center?  Do you score goals?  What is your role on the team? (R/091)
  • You worked in conjunction with a school in China.  How do you balance the sharing of knowledge so that people are given their due for the work they have accomplished?  What technologies does the United States have export restrictions on?  What type of export restrictions does the United States place on knowledge? (R/091)
  • You’ve been to China three times, what led you to study Chinese at the Academy? (B/093)
  • Where have you seen Cricket played in Europe? (B/093)
  • Do you see yourself taking more of a policy route or technical route proceeding into your future career? (R/101)
  • Why did you choose to go to USAFA? (M/101)
  • Tell us more about your role as group commander and its associated experiences, challenges, rewards, etc. (M/101)
  • How does graduate study play into your career as a future military officer? (R/102)
  • How long have you studied Japanese?  What makes the Japanese Japanese.  They seem so much like America today.  What are the costs and benefits of Japan investing in military and especially nuclear development?  How does Japan view nuclear power and how can Japan defend itself against nuclear development in China and North Korea? (R/103)
  • You are an athlete and athletics is often about successes and defeats.   What is your greatest athletic disappointment and how did you turn that into a positive experience? (R/103)
  • Tell me about your Cadet Leadership position, and what leadership traits do you try to practice in that job.  Can you give us an example? (M/111)
  • Tell me more about the FalconSAT program, what does FalconSAT do? (M/111)
  • What do you do for fun? (M/112)
  • I see from your transcripts that the only B- you received at the Academy was in Boxing.  Were you able to overcome this? (M/112)
  • Are you the norm in the Air Force? (M/121)
  • How did you decide to spend a year in Jordan?  Is that something that cadets normally do? (M/121)
  • I noticed you went to the Naval Academy for a semester.  What made you decide to do that? (M/121)
  • If you join the Foreign Service, what will you bring to it that others don’t have? (M/121)
  • Your proposed study looks at Central Asia – very interesting – how do you foresee this region playing out in the next ten years, and how does it relate to future U.S. relations and interests in the region?(M/122)
  • You reference Jim Olson and the ethics of espionage; do you think spying is, as Nathan Hale said, good by virtue of its necessity? (M/131)
  • How do you apply Olson’s situational framework when addressing the higher principles you referenced? (M/131)
  • Isn’t espionage necessarily deceitful? How do you rectify that with the idea of higher principles? (M/131)
  • Explain the interaction between engineering and public policy?  (M/132)

o   Your response sounds tactical; how does this apply on a strategic level? (M/132)

o   Why does the leader need to be an engineer?  Couldn’t he just rely on aids? (M/132)

  • What about the experience in DC left you disheartened?” (M/132)
  • You will likely encounter this self-serving ambition in your career.  How will you respond to this? (M/132)
  • Describe your 5-15 year plan in the military (M/133)
  • Do you plan to stay in the military long-term (M/133)
  • What is going to happen to Capital for a Cause when you study abroad? (M/133)

 

Questions on leadership or military-related (Air Force, USAFA, current conflicts) topics

  • What makes a leader effective? (M/091)
  • Who is the #1 developer of guidance and navigation technology for the U.S. Air Force? (M/092)
  • Who do you look up to as leader or mentor, other than George C. Marshall? (B/093)
  • Can you discuss an example of facet of your leadership? (B/093)
  • What do you see as the primary focus for the Air Force in the future? (R/101)
  • Should the US institute some form of mandatory military service? (M/101)
  • If you had 5 minutes with President Obama, what would you recommend in terms of strategy about the War in Afghanistan? How, if at all, would you restructure aid programs in Afghanistan? (R/102)
  • What are three things we could have done better in Iraq? What can we learn from the Bits by looking at their in Afghanistan? (M/111)
  • Why has DADT been existence for so long?  What should we do about it now? (M/111)
  • How do you see the role of the military changing in the next 20 or 30 years? (M/111)
  • Do you think that Dr. Gates efficiency plans have worked?  Do you agree with the cuts in the F-22 program?(M/112)
  • In your Air Force career you want to be a pilot – what do you enjoy about flying? (M/122)
  • What do you think about UAV’s – what are their legal and cultural implications – do you think they are an effective tool? (M/122)
  • You say the Air Force is in a period of transition – how is it changing and how will your proposed study influence its future? (M/122)
  • What is a recent event or example of personal leadership that you have taken part in or accomplished?(M/122)
  • What leadership experiences will you have as a pilot that directly relate to your proposed field of study and inter-cultural relations?(M122)
  • How do you think the military will engage social media in the near future?  What purpose might it serve in the military? (M/131)
  • Of all your leadership experiences at the Academy what is one in which you learned something about yourself and your propensity for leadership and what did you learn? (M131)

o   Did you surprise yourself or have a revelation in that experience? (M/131)

  • Describe a leadership experience at the Academy and how it has formed your leadership style (M/132)
  • Have you ever felt discouraged at the Academy (M/132)
  • Why should the military be doing something that USAID is already doing? (M/133)
  • You talk about being an extraordinary leader…what does that mean to you? (M/133)
  • Was is hard for you to decide that you weren’t going to be a pilot? I imagine there was a lot of pressure on the part of your friends (flyting team) that was hard to confront.  (M/133)

Other

  • Where does Vladmir Putin fall in the political spectrum in Russia? (R/091)
  • My company received a contract with the government.  The last law concerning publishing research was passed by Reagan, where he said the government must either classify the project initially or allow all findings to be published.  With my company, however the government asked to be able to review the research findings before making a decision on whether or not the company can publish the material or whether the government will classify the material as classified.  What do you think of this situation? (R/101)
  • If you change one aspect of US healthcare policy, what would it be? Are you familiar with the CHIP (Children’s health insurance program) program and its outcomes? (R/102)
  • What would you advise Obama to do as president? (R/103)
  • You mention the importance of allowing these nations to transition themselves, is there ever a time when US or NATO should become involved? (M/121)
  • Should the US have gone into Iraq? (M/121)
  • What do you think will be the relationship between the U.S. and UK in ten years? (M/122)
  • You mention that intelligence gathering has changed as well as how we use this information – how has it changed and how will it change in the future? (M/122)
  • Do you know what nation building is? What is gender mainstreaming? (M/133)
  • What do you think the biggest technical challenge facing the US and UK in the foreseeable future?
  • What role do you see UK playing in Europe?

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