Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates : MBA Archive

xerox

Current Student

Joined: 01 Feb 2007

Posts: 462

Location: Silicon Valley via Russia, China, Canada and Wharton/Lauder

Schools:Wharton/Lauder (Mandarin Chinese)

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

18 Sep 2009, 00:58

gmatbschool wrote:

Can someone give me an example of "complex problem"?
Example:
Once upon a time in Manhattan, you were working for a respectable guru of wealth management Mr. Madoff. One afternoon, he entrusted you the task of delivering some documents from the HQ to the corporate lawyers at Baker and McKensie LLC. You took the case with a bunch of extremely sensitive confidential corporate information with you, and left the building. As you were crossing the sreet, a female dressed in a black leather bike attire on a super fast Ducatti bike grabbed the case right from your hands as she was passing by you and sped away. It all happened so fast that your bodyguards and accompanying security guys did not have time to react. You set to solve the crysis! A week later Mr. Madoff turned himself in.

What about "something significant"?
Example:
You had a terrible smoking addiction since Kindergarten, and one day in Junior high you decided that you had enough of it. After a rocky year of fighting the addiciton, you conquered the devil inside you. It has been ten years since you last lit up a cigarrette now. What's more significant, you are the engine behind Canada's anti-smoking legislation that emposed strict packaging and retail product display requirements on all tobacco manufacturers and retailers. Result - millions of prevented smoking addictions +1 eliminated smoking habit (your own).

javaexe

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Joined: 24 May 2007

Posts: 93

Location: Phoenix, AZ

Schools:Stanford R1(W/o Int), HBS R1(W/o Int), Kellogg R1(Ding), Haas R2(W/o Int), Wharton R2(W/o Int), Darden(W/o Int)

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

18 Sep 2009, 10:43

Just a marker for me to know that the names have been updated till here.
Shiva

2012dreams

Current Student

Joined: 02 Jun 2009

Posts: 332

Schools:Wharton Class of 2012 w/ fellowship

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

19 Sep 2009, 18:00

praz wrote:

Here you go, I don't remember where I got it from, I just googled I think.
1) How long have you known the applicant and please describe your relationship to the applicant.

2) How has the applicant’s career progressed over the time that you have known him/her? How does this growth compare to his/her peer group? Please describe the peer group to which you are comparing this applicant.

3) How would you describe the applicant’s personality in the areas of personal integrity and disposition? Please provide examples.

4) What are the applicant’s most salient strengths? Please provide an example of each strength referenced.

5) Provide an example of a piece of constructive feedback you have provided to the applicant. How did the applicant receive this feedback and what efforts has the applicant made to address the concern?

6) What observations do you have concerning the applicant’s leadership abilities, team and/or group skills. Please provide an example of a time when the applicant has been particularly successful interacting with others or in a team; why was the applicant successful?

7) Please choose one of the following three questions based on your knowledge of the applicant.

* a. Provide an example of when the applicant has made an error in judgment. What happened? How did s/he handle the setback?
* b. Provide an example of how the applicant has adjusted his/her style to better meet objectives and/or engage people.
* c. Give an example of a time when the applicant has been successful at empowering either a person or a group of people to accomplish a task.

8) Please provide examples to support any bottom 20% ratings that you provided in the rating matrix and any additional comments you think would assist the Admissions Committee in making its decision.

HBS2011 wrote:

does anyone know where you can see the recommender questions?

thanks, i've been looking all over the net for this.

for someone who's been with their employer only about a year at time of app (a small business at that), would it be acceptable to get the second rec from a former manager? the only other person at my corp i can ask for a LOR from is our client and she would throw a sh*tfit if she knew i was thinking about leaving plus she can be kind of snarky

gregarious

Current Student

Joined: 11 Apr 2009

Posts: 212

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

21 Sep 2009, 00:46

Anyone else feel the Round 1 deadline creeping up and thinking about deferring to Round 2? Out of H/S/W, I'm only applying to W so I'm not sure if I want to test the "first application is the weakest" theory that some friends have told me about (from their own app experience). On the other hand, it sure would be nice to get have a decision before Christmas . . .

HCGirl10

Manager

Joined: 31 Aug 2009

Posts: 72

Schools:HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

21 Sep 2009, 08:45

gregarious wrote:

Anyone else feel the Round 1 deadline creeping up and thinking about deferring to Round 2? Out of H/S/W, I'm only applying to W so I'm not sure if I want to test the "first application is the weakest" theory that some friends have told me about (from their own app experience). On the other hand, it sure would be nice to get have a decision before Christmas . . .

I feel ya. I was getting a bit worried last week and thinking I may have to delay, but after a productive weekend and some time spent calming myself down, I think I'm going to push through for R1. My mistake was spending so much time on the first two applications I did that I didn't really allow myself as much time as I would have liked for Wharton. Not great given that Wharton's essays require a fair amount of new content versus what I had already put together.

You definitely shouldn't hit submit if you're not really ready. Have you written any other apps? Spent a lot of time writing your Wharton essays and having them reviewed? Do you feel like they could markedly improve with a few more months of seasoning? You just have to figure out if you're psyching yourself out or really do need more time.

Crazy that we only have 10 days til the deadline, huh?!

jankynoname

Manager

Joined: 28 Dec 2007

Posts: 126

Schools:Stanford R1, Wharton R1 w/int, Chicago R1, HBS R2

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

21 Sep 2009, 23:35

ya, no kidding... this deadline is getting serious. anyone know if the recommendations need to be in by the 1st too? we're slammed at work and i'm quite sure my boss isn't going to get around to writing it until after the 1st.

gmatbschool

Manager

Joined: 18 Jul 2009

Posts: 112

Schools:MIT

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 04:44

xerox wrote:

gmatbschool wrote:

Can someone give me an example of "complex problem"?
Example:
Once upon a time in Manhattan, you were working for a respectable guru of wealth management Mr. Madoff. One afternoon, he entrusted you the task of delivering some documents from the HQ to the corporate lawyers at Baker and McKensie LLC. You took the case with a bunch of extremely sensitive confidential corporate information with you, and left the building. As you were crossing the sreet, a female dressed in a black leather bike attire on a super fast Ducatti bike grabbed the case right from your hands as she was passing by you and sped away. It all happened so fast that your bodyguards and accompanying security guys did not have time to react. You set to solve the crysis! A week later Mr. Madoff turned himself in.

lol ok. but isn't that an ethical dilemma?

i have a story for this question but im concerned that i will be focusing on team + people dynamics part of the equation. The actual problem itself wasn't that hard.
Do you think that could work?

HCGirl10

Manager

Joined: 31 Aug 2009

Posts: 72

Schools:HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 06:56

The recommendations definitely do have to be in by the deadline. I think they will make exceptions if they come in RIGHT after, and it's only 1 rec, since they know how senior people can be about these things, but I would be terrified if that happened to me because it may result in you being pushed to R2 after all your hard work.

I would sit down with your recommender and impress upon him how important this is. See if there's anything you can do to help him complete them on time - laying out suggested talking points, etc. Ideally the person you chose is someone that gets it and wants to take the time to make sure you succeed here. I know how frustrating it is though... my boss is definitely a "last minute" guy, so no matter what I do, he'll have me biting my nails about them getting in on time.

From the Wharton discussion forum:
All parts of the application need to be submitted before the deadline to guarantee that you make it into round 1. There's a slight chance that if your recommenders submit their applications in between the deadline and the time that your application is checked for completeness, you may still be considered before round 1. But the order in which applications are checked for completeness is random and there is no way to predict whether yours will be checked 1 hour or 1 week after the deadline. So to be safe, I recommend that you communicate the importance of the deadline to your recommenders.

Also, note that you can submit your application before the recommendations are submitted. And you need to do so before the deadline in order to be considered for round 1.

javaexe

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Joined: 24 May 2007

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Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 10:08

I am out of first round for Wharton. Going with H/S for first round. Still working on those apps.
Shiva

gregarious wrote:

Anyone else feel the Round 1 deadline creeping up and thinking about deferring to Round 2? Out of H/S/W, I'm only applying to W so I'm not sure if I want to test the "first application is the weakest" theory that some friends have told me about (from their own app experience). On the other hand, it sure would be nice to get have a decision before Christmas . . .

HCGirl10

Manager

Joined: 31 Aug 2009

Posts: 72

Schools:HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 12:25

Essay 2 is killing me guys... Just brutal, for 750 - 1000 words!

If it weren't for that, I'd be in much better shape.

sharstarz12

Intern

Joined: 04 Aug 2009

Posts: 43

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 12:44

Recommendations wise---I would definitely push to have the rec in a few days ahead of time. Give them a date a few days ahead of the deadline within the recommendation deadline. 4 of my 5 recommenders have already submitted, but I erred in telling one of the recommenders to have it in by deadline. He's taking his time

It's probably a mistake I won't make again.

Especially since Wharton recs are probably the most in-depth questions I've ever seen.

mba12tech

Current Student

Joined: 09 Jun 2009

Posts: 181

Schools:Fuqua Class of 2012

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 12:59

sharstarz12 wrote:

... Wharton recs are probably the most in-depth questions I've ever seen.

Yeah my boss is having a fun time filling those out, but maybe that process will serve as a good base for filling out the recs for the remaining schools/

* On a side note, typing these essays with a post-surgical (recent) shoulder is NOT fun.

HCGirl10

Manager

Joined: 31 Aug 2009

Posts: 72

Schools:HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 13:23

I "lied" to all my recommenders and told them the deadlines were 2 days before the actual deadline, knowing some of them are big procrastinators.

Have one in and the other will be in by 9/29 (the "deadline").

sharstarz12 wrote:

Recommendations wise---I would definitely push to have the rec in a few days ahead of time. Give them a date a few days ahead of the deadline within the recommendation deadline. 4 of my 5 recommenders have already submitted, but I erred in telling one of the recommenders to have it in by deadline. He's taking his time

It's probably a mistake I won't make again.

Especially since Wharton recs are probably the most in-depth questions I've ever seen.

jankynoname

Manager

Joined: 28 Dec 2007

Posts: 126

Schools:Stanford R1, Wharton R1 w/int, Chicago R1, HBS R2

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

22 Sep 2009, 14:15

Yeah, thanks HC Girl! I guess I'll have to try to coerce them to get the letters done soon.

Anyone else going to the Silicon Valley info session on Thursday?

sharstarz12

Intern

Joined: 04 Aug 2009

Posts: 43

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

23 Sep 2009, 13:21

Has anyone started that fellowship essay yet? It.is.killing.me. I can't think of ideas that aren't not so stereotypical. I think my creativity ran out with the other essays

gmatbschool

Manager

Joined: 18 Jul 2009

Posts: 112

Schools:MIT

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

24 Sep 2009, 06:03

HCGirl10 wrote:

Essay 2 is killing me guys... Just brutal, for 750 - 1000 words!

If it weren't for that, I'd be in much better shape.

Same here. This one is harder than the Stanford "What matters most".
I think I'm giving up on making this one strategically sound, PC, etc etc. I'm just going to PURGE

sm332

Current Student

Joined: 14 Apr 2008

Posts: 449

Schools:F2010 - HBS (R1 - denied w/o interview ), INSEAD (R1 - admitted), Wharton (R1 - waitlisted & ding), Ivey (R2 - admitted w/ 60% tuition)

WE 1: 3.5yrs as a Strategy Consultant - Big 4

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

24 Sep 2009, 18:41

sharstarz12 wrote:

Has anyone started that fellowship essay yet? It.is.killing.me. I can't think of ideas that aren't not so stereotypical. I think my creativity ran out with the other essays

yeah ... this is not simple at all. I mean everyone's will sound similar unless you have a really distinctive personal story that tugs the heartstrings.

gregarious

Current Student

Joined: 11 Apr 2009

Posts: 212

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

27 Sep 2009, 01:19

Just a couple more days to go, essays are almost done. Good luck everyone and we can all take a deep breath on Oct. 1st.

mba12tech

Current Student

Joined: 09 Jun 2009

Posts: 181

Schools:Fuqua Class of 2012

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

27 Sep 2009, 11:42

For Essay #1, how specific do you all think they want us to be for our goals? Do they want a general goal similar to the one they used/quoted for Wharton, or do they want us to lay out our actual short/long-term goals? (i.e. "After graduating I want to work as a _____ for a _____ firm" or "Long-term I would like to start my own _____ firm specializing in _____")

My instinct was to stay general with the goal, show how that has played into my career thus far, and then explain how an MBA from Wharton would help me better achieve that goal, etc. So, I don't end up going into much detail at all as far as what specifically I'd like to do.

Thoughts?

gregarious

Current Student

Joined: 11 Apr 2009

Posts: 212

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

27 Sep 2009, 11:50

For Essay #1, I started off in general terms about "Why MBA" as a goal but eventually did have a short paragraph discussing my goal of working in biotechnology and why I'm interested in it. I also followed that with a couple sentences on how I might want to work as a product manager and why my current experience relates to that. Like you were saying though, I'm wondering if that might actually be too specific so I'm thinking about taking it out.

gmatclubot

Re: Calling all Wharton Fall 2010 Candidates [#permalink]

27 Sep 2009, 11:50

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