Category Archives: Wharton

Yesterday Wharton Dean Thomas R. Robertson announced in a letter to faculty that he plans to step down when his term ends on June 30, 2014. While he will no longer lead the school, he will stay at Wharton to return to teaching and research. When he steps down, Robertson will have been at the school’s helm for nearly seven years.

In the letter to faculty, Dean Robertson wrote:

I realize that any success that I have as Dean is with your support, dedication, and good counsel. I rely on all of you to conduct leading-edge research, teach to the highest standards, and meet with alumni and world leaders. Your collegiality, the professionalism of our staff and the excellence of our students are the mainstays of my tenure as Dean.

I want to take this moment to thank you sincerely for your willingness to pursue the course with me, for your support and encouragement, and most of all for your friendship. It is a privilege to represent you and the Wharton School, and I value our relationship.

Under Robertson’s leadership, the school overhauled its MBA curriculum, relocated and rebranded its West Coast offering (now known as Wharton San Francisco), and renovated parts of the school’s Philadelphia facilities. Robertson also pushed to grow and strengthen the school’s faculty, expanding headcount by about 10%.

“Wharton is a fantastic brand name. We can get in almost any door in the world,” said Robertson in a Bloomberg Businessweek article. “It is important going forward to be true to the school’s founding goals to create future leaders and be a force for good.”

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In our new “Get to Know” series, every so often we will profile one of the world’s top MBA programs, uncovering some of the less well known facts about a school to help you learn each MBA program better. For our first installment, today we take a closer look at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School

Wharton is one of the most prestigious MBA programs in the world, and every year the school attracts thousands of applicants from all over the world. Whether or not you get in may come down to how well you know the school. Today we dig into three things that contribute to Wharton’s unique, high-energy learning environment. If reading about these attributes make you even more excited Wharton, then the school might be a good fit for you:

Experiential Learning to the Core
Nearly every elite business school is advertising its “action-based” or “experiential” approach, but Wharton deserves credit for the way it puts a premium on student involvement in campus activities and organizations. Gaining knowledge and putting it into practice is seamlessly integrated into the student experience through initiatives such as the Global Consulting Practicum.

Leadership Everywhere
Building leadership acumen is a core of the Wharton program. While we’d be hard pressed to say that leadership is more important at Wharton than it is at Harvard, opportunities to build this skill abound at this school. Wharton features a dedicated Center for Leadership and Change Management, which spearheads multiple leadership-driven initiatives including Leadership Ventures (outdoor experiential leadership experiences and global leadership treks) and the Leadership Fellows Program (a leadership development/mentor program). Leadership is also baked into the Wharton experience through its entirely student-led community and the many opportunities to be a leader outside of the classroom through programs such as the International Volunteer Project and Wharton Community Consultants.

Heavy Student Involvement
Inside and outside of the classroom, students play a leading role in defining the Wharton experience for themselves, their classmates, and for future students. The expectation is that Wharton students will be active members of the community — a standard that manifests itself in all aspects of the Wharton experience as evidenced by more than 100 student run clubs that evolve each year depending on student leadership, the existence of the Dean’s Graduate Student Advisory Committee and the Wharton Graduate Association, and student participation in the admissions process.

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Wharton has released its MBA application deadlines and admissions essays for the coming year. Last year Wharton really stirred the pot by introducing radically different essays. Let’s dig into this year’s application and see how much things have changed this year.

Here are Wharton’s deadlines and essays for the Class of 2014, followed by our comments in italics:

Wharton Admissions Deadlines

Round 1: October 3, 2011
Round 2: January 4, 2012
Round 3: March 5, 2012

These deadlines are virtually identical to last year’s deadlines. Note that applying in Round 1 means that you’ll receive your decision by December 20, giving you time to adjust your Round 2 application strategy if you don’t receive good news from Wharton.

Wharton Admissions Essays

Required Question
What are your professional objectives? (300 words)

This question carries over from last year, when it was new. Although it’s phrased differently than other schools’ questions, you can still consider this a “Why an MBA?” essay. (Note that this question doesn’t come up in any other essay here, so you will need to address it here.) Also note that, while this mandatory question only requires 300 words, Wharton gives you 600 words for each of the other, more introspective essays. Clearly, the Wharton admissions committee is more interested in getting to know you as a person than as a professional. We always hear MBA admissions officers sat this, but Wharton is really putting this idea into action.

Think of this essay as your chance to properly “set the stage” for the rest of your candidacy. It’s only 300 words long, but after reading this essay admissions officers should clearly understand where you want to go in your career and why a Wharton MBA makes sense for you now. Wharton doesn’t ask “Why Wharton?” and you don’t have many words to spare, so don’t devote too many words to answering this here. You have 1,200 more words (across your other essays) to help lead them to the conclusion that you’re a great fit with Wharton.

Optional Questions (Choose Two)

1. Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today? (600 words)

   This question carries over from last year, and we love it as an “introspection” question. MBA admissions officers really want to see self-awareness and introspection in applicants, and this question provides that. Don’t worry if the opportunity that you turned down seems small — you don’t need to blow them away with the “sexiness” of the opportunity. Also, note the emphasis on your thought process; that matters more to the admissions committee than what the actual opportunity was. Help them understand why you made the decision, what you learned about your wants and values in the process, and how it’s shaped you as a person. Also, answering “No” to the last part of the question is okay. Having the humility to wish you could make a decision over again is one terrific sign of introspection and maturity.

2. Discuss a time when you faced a challenging interpersonal experience. How did you navigate the situation and what did you learn from it? (600 words)

   This question is new this year, although it is not radically different from one of last year’s essays. The difference to note is that, while last year’s question only asked about navigating a challenging relationship, this new version specifically asks for how you did it and — perhaps most importantly — what you learned from the experience. Our bet is that last year many applicants didn’t place enough emphasis on this last point, and now Wharton wants to make clear that this is a critical part of this essay.
   
   This essay is your chance to demonstrate empathy, maturity, and a willingness to consider others’ points of view. Where it differs is that it takes a little emphasis off of the idea of diversity and explores tough relationships of all types. As we’ve said before, it’s most important here that you can make clear why the situation was challenging, what you did to overcome it, and — hopefully — how you were successful. Even if you weren’t successful, though, what’s most interesting here is what you learned in the process.

3. “Innovation is central to our culture at Wharton. It is a mentality that must encompass every aspect of the School – whether faculty research, teaching or alumni outreach.” – Thomas S. Robertson, Dean, The Wharton School. Keeping this component of our culture in mind, discuss a time when you have been innovative in your personal or professional life. (600 words)

   This question is entirely new this year. “Innovation” can be interpreted in multiple ways, and if no example from your past immediately springs to mind, then think about the word “creative.” How did you creatively solve a problem at work or in your life? How did you go beyond your normal job description or come up with a solution that had never been tried before? While it’s so trite that we’re reluctant to use this phrase, think about a time when you “thought outside the box.” More than anything, here the Wharton admissions committee looks for signs that you’re not content to just follow your job description, you do more than simply work on assignments as they’re handed to you (but do no more than that), and you’re not afraid to dream big now and then. Don’t think “innovation” necessarily means “science” or “tech” here!

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Recently the faculty at the Wharton School voted overwhelmingly in favor of approving the first overhaul to the school’s curriculum in 17 years. As reported by Bloomberg Businessweek, the school will introduce parts of the new curriculum in the fall of 2011 before fully implementing it in 2012.

The new curriculum represents more than a shuffling of electives or tweaks to first-year requirements. Most significantly, Wharton announced that it will deliver executive education to its alumni free of charge. All MBA grads will be eligible to attend enrichment classes every seven years. The school provided few details about the new lifelong learning mode, but it will be interesting to see how other schools respond.

Many of the other changes announced, while still significant, sound more similar to those announced at other top business schools over the past several years. These include reducing the number of required courses for first-year students, placing more emphasis on ethics in coursework, opening more opportunities for global exposure, and requiring that every student participate in a leadership coaching program that spans the two-year curriculum. Wharton will also put more emphasis on oral and written communication, adding a required course in this area for first-year students.

Most noteworthy among the announced changes is the introduction of continued executive education for its graduates. Not only is it smart for Wharton (because it keeps alumni more closely tied to the school), but it also shows that the school puts its money where its mouth is in terms of developing business leaders well beyond those students’ two years at Wharton. We wonder if other top MBA programs will follow Wharton’s lead.

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The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School recently released its application deadlines for the coming year. They are almost virtually the same as last year’s.

Wharton Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 4, 2010
Round 2: January 4, 2011
Round 3: March 3, 2011

Note that, just as it was last year, Wharton’s Round 1 deadline is in the beginning of October. (Harvard’s and Stanford’s Round 1 deadlines are also in early October.) We won’t be surprised if more top business schools follow suit and start moving their deadlines to the first half of October to give them more time to release Round 1 decisions before the holidays (and before the Round 2 deadline). Note that Wharton’s Round 3 application deadline is still in March, leaving just Stanford and Harvard as the top schools with April deadlines right now.

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Recently Wharton released its application deadlines for the coming admissions season. Now, the school has released its admissions essays for the 2009-2010 admissions season. If you plan on applying to Wharton, even if you don’t start working on your essays for a couple of months, this is a good chance to familiarize yourself with the subject matter you will need to cover in your Wharton application.

Wharton’s essays are below, and our comments follow in italics.

Wharton Application Essays

1. As a leader in global business, Wharton is committed to sustaining “a truly global presence through its engagement in the world.” What goals are you committed to and why? How do you envision the Wharton MBA contributing to the attainment of those goals? (750 – 100 words)(This is a new essay question for Wharton this year, but don’t be fooled. At its core, it’s still looking for you to to describe why you want an MBA, and why a Wharton MBA specifically will help you in your career. In this way, it’s very similar to other schools’ “Why MBA? Why this school?” questions. However, note the emphasis that the school has placed on “global business” and “engagement in the world.” This isn’t a sign that you need to have international or multi-cultural experience in order to be a fit with Wharton, but the school is clearly looking for applicants that can frame their experiences and goals in a global context, and who will engage in the communities around them.)
2. Tell us about a time when you had to adapt by accepting/understanding the perspective of people different from yourself. (750 – 100 words)(This is also a new question this year. It is another hint that the school seeks a great deal of diversity in its applicant pool, and wants students who will thrive in this environment. Don’t let this question intimidate you if you feel that your global experiences are minimal — any situation where you accomplished something by working with someone who has a different background or outlook than you is fair game. That can include someone’s personal beliefs, cultural background, professional experience, or academic background. An applicant’s tendency here will be to automatically go for the most obvious case of a cultural or language barrier, but it’s more important that you can make clear why the situation was challenging, what you did to overcome it, and — hopefully — how you were successful.)
3. Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? (500 words)(This question carries over from last year. As with all failure-related questions, the key is to put enough emphasis on what you learned. This sort of self-awareness is what admissions officers typically look for when they ask a “failure” question. Also, ideally you will be able to describe a later time when you applied what you learned to a new situation to avoid a similar failure.)
4. Choose one of the following: (500 words)- Give us a specific example of a time when you solved a complex problem.

   - Tell us about something significant that you have done to improve yourself, in either your professional and/or personal endeavors.

   (Both of these essays are new this year. The first question gives you the opportunity to take the reader through how you broke down the problem at hand, whether it was an analytical problem or an organizational challenge. The word “complex” will often take people down the path of a story that shows off their analytical abilities, but think broadly about the definition of this word. A story about how you overcame multiple organizational or cultural challenges to achieve something is also fair game. The second question gives you another opportunity to demonstrate self-awareness and a commitment to self-improvement.)

5. If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)(As we always tell applicants, it’s tempting to use this type of question as an opportunity to pour out a list of excuses for weaknesses in one’s background. Avoid this temptation, and only use it if you must address a glaring weakness in your application. Address it, explain what happened, and move on.)

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