EAB Research Associate interview questions

Passed first two rounds of one on one traditional interview and one case with behavioral questions. Case was not along typical lines but interviewer was very supportive. Most behavioral questions were the normally expected ones.

I had my resume submitted through the referral portal and was contacted immediately. I set up a screen interview with an HR person and she was very personable and put me at ease. The normal questions: How did you hear about the company? Why are you interested in the job? Can you tell me a little bit about your experience with research? Do you have any questions for me? Gut check on salary question, etc. Then about a week later HR scheduled a 90 minute writing exercise and two case interviews. The 90-minute exercise was a case about a higher education institution facing a financial crisis and the need to attract out-of-state tuition and to write a memo advising the university's administration on what to consider. The two case interviews each lasted about an hour, asking about university operations, however the first one was somewhat bizarre and veered from the topic of education. I am not sure if the interviewer didn't like me and was trying to throw me off, or if it was meant to see how you respond to uncertainty in a client-facing environment. I knew leaving the building that I would not get hired. A week later I got a format email from HR saying they were not going to pursue me as a candidate.