Executive MBA (EMBA) programs have become increasingly popular among aspiring business leaders in the last decade. Among the most popular and prestigious is the EMBA program offered by Wharton.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the United States’ oldest business school, offers two distinct MBA programs: the regular, full-time MBA offered at the Philadelphia campus, and the EMBA, offered at both the Philadelphia and San Francisco campuses. While the curriculum, academic rigor and benefits of the degree are largely the same, the main differences between the programs lie in the makeup of students and the programs’ structures.
Wharton, in the heart of Philadelphia, is one of the world’s top-ranked business schools, having been ranked number one by the Financial Times each year from 2000 to 2009, and again in 2011. The EMBA program certifies students with a fully-fledged MBA degree and is aimed toward a student population where the average candidate has ten or more years of work experience. (In my experience, however, candidates can be successful with less work experience than this, and many of the applicants I have assisted to gain admission have been between the ages of 28-35.)
Wharton EMBA students are held to high admissions standards and academic requirements. Admission for the Wharton EMBA is generally one of the most competitive among the top EMBA programs. EMBA students follow the same academic curriculum and are taught by the same world-ranked faculty as full-time Wharton MBA students. With over 91,000 alumni in over 140 countries, Wharton offers all of its graduates a larger alumni base than any other top U.S. business school, supplying its students with resources that continue on far past graduation.
As opposed to the 20-month length that is required of the full-time MBA, the MBA for executives runs over the course of 24 months, starting and ending in May, and requiring students to attend classes during alternate Friday/Saturday weekends. In addition to mandatory weekend classes, EMBA students are also required to participate in a one-week international study trip, where students venture with their program to a foreign country to witness firsthand business growth, entrepreneurship, marketing dynamics, and other aspects of business building. Additionally, students in the residential EMBA program form tight bonds as they not only learn together, but live together on campus.
Currently, over 40% of Wharton EMBA students hold advanced degrees before entering into the program. With this picture, EMBA students are placed side-by-side with like-minded participants who share a love of high-level learning and will be able to apply their knowledge obtained at Wharton directly to their work from week to week. With such an integrative curriculum that allows for building close friendships and key knowledge bases, the Wharton EMBA offers not only an unparalleled MBA degree, but an unparalleled experience.
-- Dr. Shel Watts and the Staff of MBA Admit.com
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