Wharton: Calling all applicants - Class of 2016!

Agree completely - this is a great synopsis of how to strategize for this essay. Nicely said dukealum7.

Application is live (1 day early!)

Helpful essay tips from Admissions Director Ankur Kuman in a Wharton blog post today.

She explains why they reduced the number of questions (we agree, last year's essay choices were opaque and difficult) and she gives some seemingly obvious, but actually quite crucial, advice on how to answer the essay questions.

Good luck on them everyone!

Given my GMAT prep schedule, I'm unlikely to make R1 but R2 is a certainty. I already have an MA in Religious Studies and an undergrad background in religion, philosophy, and the social sciences. I know I need to score in the 98th or 99th percentile and that I must use the essays to discuss how my previous academic trajectory differentiates me. Unlike the majority of GMAT test takers, verbal has historically been my strong suit. In all previous standardized tests (SAT, ACT), I've scored in the 99th percentile. In Quant, it's been between the 82nd and 85th. Those tests were years ago and without any prep. If I pull off admission to Wharton, it'll probably be the most improbable accomplishment of my life thus far. Wish me luck and perhaps I'll meet some of you at orientation next August.

Hey NeanderthalMan! Welcome to GMAT Club.

A bunch of not-quite-rights in your post that we wanted to comment on.
Not true; people get into Wharton all the time with a total score in the 85th percentile or above. Average GMAT for accepted students at Wharton is currently 725 - yes that's high but it's 95th percentile(ish) and remember that it's an average, there's plenty of people with lower scores. Having both quant and verbal each > 80th percentile is recommended. The schools are flexible, they look at the whole package.

Not true; there's nowhere in your essays where you could discuss this, and anyway, they see straightaway from your app what your academic background is. Instead of discussing how that "differentiates you", you should focus on the specific essay questions and talk about why an MBA is the right next step (the angle of "how I'm prepared, given this specific background" is always helpful for everyone and will be especially so for you).


Lots of people applying to bschool are better on the verbal side; this is true for probably half the applicants we see.

You definitely have an interesting background and the schools are often very open to those coming from a different path into bschool - but there's also challenges as a nontraditional applicant, in terms of showing how the MBA is the right next step. Lots of resources here at GMAT Club so you're in good company with everyone else applying! Good luck to you on the test and everything else!

EssaySnark

essaysnark,

Thanks for the feedback!

It's due to my relatively nontraditional academic background that I feel the need to score above the average of those accepted. Perhaps this isn't actually necessary for acceptance but it would probably increase my overall confidence and perhaps even my odds.


Of course, I must answer the specific questions asked by the essays and emphasize why I'm seeking an MBA. Yet, I'm not sure how this can be done without describing my academic background and explaining how it has prepared and led me to what's essentially a change of course. It seems that a bit of this could be worked into the goals essay, essentially answering the implicit, "Why bschool? question. One way of approaching the second essay - "Academic engagement is an important element of the Wharton MBA experience. How do you see yourself contributing to our learning community?" - would be to describe how my academic engagement in the past, in addition to my work and non-work experience, makes me a good fit. Should I be thinking differently?

Hey NeanderthalMan - you are thinking about it the right way but we want to make sure you're focused first and foremost on THE CAREER GOALS - everything you say in the essays must serve that. Without knowing more about your specific background and future plans then obviously we can't say for sure, but it had sounded like you were going to do a lot of explaining about why you took the path that you have thus far and what your past has been... whereas we're trying to make sure you discuss how you're prepared to go in a specific direction based on those past experiences. We realize that this may come across as merely semantics, but it's not; it's how the essays are executed.

Definitely your past academics can be useful as part of the discussion in essay 2 but we'd be concerned that too much of your limited essay content was eaten up by that - it needs to be geared around those goals and how you'd leverage the Wharton opportunity. Yes, reference concrete stuff from your past, but your challenge will be in moving your profile beyond what the adcom can already see from the basics of biography and transcripts - that's how you really "differentiate" yourself, and prove that the MBA is necessary. Many nontraditional candidates have trouble untangling that.

There's certainly no rules for it and it sounds like you have a good handle on things!! Hope this helps in what we were trying to point you towards.

EssaySnark

Thanks, again. Helpful stuff. I'll be sure to follow up with you post-GMAT, once I start developing my essays further.

This may be a bit trivial, but I was a bit confused on one specific section of the application.

In the employment section, they ask about your bonus, and under the space it states, “only list actual bonuses earned in the last 12 months of employment with this company”. This makes sense, but the next question states "is this a projected bonus" followed by “when do you expect the bonus to be”.

So which is it - only list bonuses paid in the last 12 months or include a projected bonus? Are they differentiating between "earned" and "paid" here? Meaning if you have "earned" your annual bonus, but it has yet to be paid, you can list it.

I warned you it was trivial! Any thoughts?

Thank you.

My annual bonus gets paid out in November, Round 1 is due early October. I personally will know what my bonus will be in September so I will put the value down as projected bonus. If I didn't know I would have probably put last years bonus rate as the projection since bonuses are very consistent in my field.

Thank you for your response aalba005.

I am in a similar situation where I have a fairly strong idea of what my upcoming bonus will be. I was just confused when they specifically stated "only list actual bonuses earned in the last 12 months of employment with this company." How can it be a projected bonus if the question directly asks for actual bonuses.

My gut is that they are differentiating between earned and paid. Meaning you have already earned your bonus, but you have not yet been paid it. Or in the more likely case, I am just overthinking it .

My plan is to do exactly what you are doing. The wording just threw me for a loop.

I'm also a bit confused about the bonus section - what is the purpose of that anyway? My bonus last year was exactly $0, as I left the company 4 weeks before bonuses came out (but so happy I did). Will that look weird if I'm saying I did all these nifty things, but got paid 0 for it?

I believe they use the salary/bonus information as an indication that your career has the correct trajectory. I can't recall where I read that, so take it with a grain of salt. I think as long as you can show that your career is progressing, that is the important part. Good luck!

Yea, more information here:
salary-history-144940.html

Hi There,

26/ F/ Re-applicant ( WL and Withdrew in 2010)/ 710 GMAT/ 4 years work experience with the UN
UG: Communications ( 4.0) / Masters (Ivy) 3.8

Any reapplicants out there ? Thoughts on tackling the additional essay.

Thanks

Just check on the website whether you are a 're-applicant'. Some schools mention that you need to have applied in the last cycle to be called one. Not sure what's W's policy.

Wharton's reapplicant window is 2 years. No schools that we know of have a 3-year window.