Wharton MBA Admissions Interview (cont'd)
How important is an applicant's GMAT score?
It really
depends. If it is the weakest part of their application, it
is going to be quite important. That is kind of saying the
same thing for whatever is weakest for a particular
candidate, whether it is the GMAT, work experience, or any
other aspect of their application. When you apply to
Wharton, it is expected to have good things in every aspect
of one's application. In and of itself, the GMAT score is
evaluated within one's academic history. So a person's GMAT
is considered in relation to where they did their undergrad,
how successful they were, and did they take any quantitative
classes. The average GMAT has come up perhaps five points
per year in the last five years. The reason for that is
that candidates are focusing more on the GMAT, in terms that
it is now more important. Candidates are also more prepared
when they take the test. I think it is because there are
more resources out there so the candidates can maximize
their scores. We are typically comfortable with the verbal
and quantitative scores being around or above the 80
percentile.
What advice
do you have for applicants who struggled with this exam?
They must
prepare well and possibly take the test more than once.
Obviously because we evaluate it within the context of their
academic work, it shows us whether or not they can do the
course work and handle Wharton's rigorous program. So we
look at the academic record and any additional classes that
someone has taken. We don't have an explicit minimum, but
if an overall score is quite low, it is going to be
difficult.
What was
the GMAT score range for admitted applicants this year?
Typically,
the 80 percentile range is 650 to 750.
What should
applicants most heavily emphasize in their work experience?
People have
a misperception that in order to get into a business school
like Wharton, they have to come from the banking or
consulting industry. This is not necessarily the case.
There are a variety of industries both for profit and
non-profit or whatever that could be appropriate. What we
are looking at is a person's evolution within their chosen
career, what choices were made if they switched careers, and
what they learned from their experiences. We are also
looking at how their experience is formulated into their
plan and their goals going forward.
What
specific applicant traits are you using the interview to
gauge?
The
interview for us is a blind interview. That means the
candidate is interviewed without the application. A lot of
the questions are similar. The applicant wants to think of
the interviewer as another person reviewing their candidacy,
but instead of reading about the candidate, they just chat
and talk. From this interview, we clearly get a sense of
verbal communication skills, a little more sense of
emotional intelligence, we are able to probe a little more
into getting underneath decisions that someone has made and
things like that. The best way to prepare for the interview
is simply to feel good about your essays and choice of
business school.
Who can an
applicant expect to interview with at Wharton?
We use
alumni and admissions professionals, as well as second-year
graduate students.
How are re-applicants viewed by Wharton and what do they need to do
to be successful the second time around?
The
first thing they should do is get feedback. We have limited
resources we can provide. Then they should figure out what
the issues were, and then prepare the reapplication. The
candidate should address those issues. The reapplication
instructions are a little different in terms of what essays
to write. The admit rate of re-applicants is higher than
first-time applicants. I think there are good reasons for
that. (1) We do provide feedback and that translates into a
level of self-selection where people can get a sense of
whether it is worth reapplying and (2) there is a learning
curve associated with writing good business school essays.
So clearly if you are applying a second time around, you are
going down that learning curve. You will be more effective
in communicating the issues through the application.
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