Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania
Business School Admissions Interview
Established in 1881, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was
the first business school in the U.S.
Wharton also boasts the world's largest faculty with
261 standing and associate members across 11 academic
departments and 19 research centers.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect about the school is
the graduates it produces. The school's alumni enjoy a
well-deserved reputation for being smart, working hard, and
putting politics aside and looking out for the best
interests of their organizations.
Below is the three-page transcript of our interview
with Alex Brown, Senior Associate Director of Admissions.
Describe
how the MBA program at Wharton is evolving?
The program
goes through an evolutionary process each year as a
consequence of our faculty's understanding of how the realm
of business is shifting. As a result, new electives come
into the offering while others may be dropped. There are
about 200 electives, which is quite a large selection for
the students to choose from. The core curriculum also
undergoes a review in terms of what is appropriate and how
the courses are best presented. Outside of the academics,
there are always new clubs and activities which are student
generated. There are a lot of feedback loops in place to
assess and evaluate what we are doing which gives us
guidance and direction to go forward in a meaningful way.
How does
this year's class compare to classes from previous years?
The
application volume dropped significantly this year, similar
to the experience of other schools. However, with regards
to those we have admitted, the quality of our students has
held strong and at least as strong as the last couple of
years. Just measuring GPAs, GMATs, and work experience,
they would suggest that this incoming class is as strong as
we have seen in recent years.
What
general advice would you like applicants considering
Wharton's MBA to know?
In general, applicants need to understand how intense the application
process is. You can't put a reasonable application together
in a week or two. This definitely takes a lot of time, a
lot of analysis, introspection, and a lot of
self discovery. In terms of selecting schools, you've got
to do the research so you can apply to the right schools.
Over the years the candidates are sending applications to
less schools as a result of doing more research before
applying.
When do you
encourage applicants to apply?
We have
three rounds. I think a myth exists that you have to apply
early. The reality is to try not to apply late. Avoid the
third round, if you can. Apply in round one and two. It's
really a question of when your application is ready. The
only advantage of applying in round one is that the
candidate will get a decision before winter break and the
round two deadlines come around.
Are there
specific characteristics that you target in an application
to help you identify a "best fit" candidate?
That is a
tough one to answer because I think a lot of schools look
for the same sort of characteristics. We want candidates
who have demonstrated leadership, are well-rounded, who are
successful at work and have open personalities. We also
like to see team players who have strong value systems. This is a community that believes that sharing and helping
each other is better than going it alone and doing your own
thing. So we want candidates that fit in with that kind of
culture.
Page 1
2
3 |
