{"id":54548,"date":"2022-04-10T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-10T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=54548"},"modified":"2022-04-07T02:46:57","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T09:46:57","slug":"applying-to-wharton-lauder-do-your-research-podcast-episode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/applying-to-wharton-lauder-do-your-research-podcast-episode\/","title":{"rendered":"Applying to Wharton Lauder? Do Your Research! [Podcast Episode]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Discover what opportunities the Wharton Lauder MBA program offers [Show Summary]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kara Keenan Sweeney, Director of Admissions Marketing and Financial Aid at the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School and Penn Law School shares how the program continues to offer global opportunities during a COVID influenced world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Show Notes]<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the 465th episode of Admissions Straight Talk<\/em>. Thanks for joining me today and whenever you\u2019re able to tune in. The featured resource for today\u2019s show is Fitting in and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions<\/a><\/em>. Your application needs to show that you\u2019re going to do both, and that\u2019s the difficult paradox at the heart of admissions. Master that paradox, and you are well on your way to acceptance. Download the free guide.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gives me great pleasure to introduce Kara Keenan Sweeney, Director of Admissions Marketing and Financial Aid at the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School and Penn Law School<\/a>. Kara has an extensive background in graduate admissions, starting with her master\u2019s in higher administration at Columbia, and then moving onto admissions positions at INSEAD, the University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, and now the Lauder Institute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you give us an overview of the Wharton Lauder program for those listeners who aren\u2019t that familiar with it? [1:45]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Lauder program was founded in the mid-1980s by the Lauder family to work with Wharton to help educate and generate a new, globally-minded group of business leaders. When students come to the Lauder Institute, they\u2019re earning a Master of Arts in International Studies at the same time, they\u2019re getting their MBA from Wharton<\/a>. Basically, it\u2019s an MA\/MBA joint degree fully integrated into the MBA program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When students come to Lauder, they focus on one of our six programs of concentration. Five of those programs are regionally focused. We have a program on Africa, East and Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America, and then what we call the SAMENA region or South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. That\u2019s our fifth regional program. We also have a global program for our students who have already had fairly significant global experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our regional program students are almost in every case also focused on a language. We have 10 languages of instruction at Lauder. When they come to Lauder they\u2019re already speaking a language at an advanced level, and then they\u2019ll continue to work on that language until they get to the superior or the fluent level over the two years as part of their studies at Lauder. It\u2019s a fully integrated joint degree. We have a small program with about 70 to 80 students a year. It\u2019s a really international community and just an amazing group to be a part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you also a joint program with the law school? [3:22]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right. Thanks for highlighting that. We do have a joint agreement with the law school as well. Each year we have a handful of students that do it. It\u2019s not really by design; it\u2019s a little bit by default. The law school has just less than 200 students a year over at Penn Law. Wharton is up to about 900. There are just a lot more MBA students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wharton program was founded to really work and fit in specifically with the Wharton school way back when it was founded. Our law school partnership is a little bit more recent, but in the class that\u2019s starting this summer, we actually have three incoming JD students. We\u2019re really happy to have them in the program. We love to have them, but we just tend to have fewer of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does the Lauder Institute only work with applicants interested in dual degrees? [4:13]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Exactly. Lauder only offers a joint degree. Students take about two classes a semester at Lauder. They take their normal Wharton course load or their normal course load over at Penn Law. At Lauder, we borrow the credits from the other degree so that they can graduate with both because some of the Lauder courses count towards the Wharton degree and vice versa. But no, we don\u2019t offer standalone degrees, only a joint degree program for students in one of the other graduate programs at Penn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does the dual degree program take the same amount of time as just an MBA or JD degree? [4:46]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Exactly. For Lauder, if you\u2019re doing law school, you complete your first year of law school at Penn Law independent of Lauder. Then your second and third years would be as part of the Lauder program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Wharton, you actually start Lauder first. We have a summer term that preempts the Wharton program and then you start the Wharton program in August each year and then you graduate on time with the rest of your Wharton class two years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has anybody ever tried to do an MBA\/JD with the Lauder program? [5:20]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s a little bit hard considering the coursework, the requirements, and also the cap on the number of classes you can take. You can do a joint degree, but I think triple is hard. We actually have an alum who did the MBA and Lauder simultaneously and then later on went to law school and did three years of a JD program. I think it\u2019s almost impossible to do all three at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We definitely have some students who are interested in both. The other partnership that you can do with Wharton is the healthcare management program. We actually get the question a lot from applicants, \u201cCan I do Lauder and the healthcare program?\u201d You can\u2019t do both at the same time, however, you can do Wharton Lauder and then take a lot of the healthcare courses. For anyone who\u2019s interested in international healthcare, whatever the case may be, you can do Wharton and Lauder and still take a lot of the healthcare coursework and program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has Wharton Lauder, a program that reveled in travel, adapted and adjusted its plans during the pandemic? [6:32]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Just like the rest of the world, we were particularly affected a lot in terms of graduate programming, because as you mentioned so much of our programming is focused on the immersions for our students. Historically, all of our students have done a summer immersion as well as other immersions over the two years of the program. In March 2020, we put a halt to all travel, not just at Lauder, but throughout the university. We were really thankful that our two largest classes came through over those two years of COVID. We have 80 students in each of our current classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last summer, we were able to actually have the students come to Philadelphia and do a Philadelphia immersion, which was great considering most of our students are not from Philadelphia. A lot of our students are from outside of the U.S. actually so it was great for them to be able to come to campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The classes were virtual, but we did have a lot of Philly cultural experiences for our students. They were able to take tours. They explored some of the different ethnic neighborhoods in Philly. There was a lot that they could do in Philadelphia. Last year all of our students were taking classes virtually, but there were opportunities for students to meet outdoors. We moved most of our programming online pretty seamlessly. I think our students were still able to build culture and build community. Of course, in the language classes, a lot of those things still took place. The great news is that as of last August, our students were actually able to start traveling again. We had about a year-long pause on travel, which of course was not just us, but everyone really and then last August we had our first intercultural venture start up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students went to Alaska to study indigenous communities, which was great. A little later on, in the fall of October, we had a group of students go to Iceland to study gender equity and women entrepreneurship. We were one of the first groups at Penn and certainly at Wharton and Lauder to start traveling again. Our students have been doing smaller immersions and actually right now over spring break, all of our students are traveling. We have about four locations around the world. Senegal, Israel, Poland-Hungary, and India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re fully ramped up. We\u2019ve also had students traveling and doing research as part of their master thesis project with the Global Knowledge Lab and we\u2019re planning on summer immersions taking place this coming summer of 2022. I would say things are fairly robustly returning to normal for Lauder. Maybe not fully the way they looked pre-COVID but quite similar to the way they were in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is the war in Ukraine affecting travel and the Lauder immersion program to Poland and Hungary? [9:43]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All of us were cautious about the students traveling to Poland and Hungary during this time. They are in safe locations. Initially, with the world and how volatile it is right now, we were concerned about COVID protocols. Of course, the students had to test and do everything they would do as part of the country\u2019s requirements. That was our focus pretty much leading up to the trip, then of course the terrible situation with Ukraine happened. Our students still did go. In fact, they\u2019re blogging about their experience, which will be part of some of the social media posts that we have over the next couple of weeks about their experience going to these countries during this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now we\u2019re trying to maintain as much normalcy as we can for our students. There have been different ways for our students to seek out support if they feel like they need to do that as part of what\u2019s going on. Of course, we have students coming from that part of the world or have family origins in that part of the world, and really everyone\u2019s affected at this point, whether it\u2019s directly or indirectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re making sure we\u2019re there for our students in sort of an emotional support way and also making sure we educate our students. In the last couple of weeks, I can\u2019t tell you the number of talks, sessions, and lunchtime talks that there have been at Lauder and throughout the university on the situation so our students can understand it better. We have alumni hosting events as well. There\u2019s a strong focus on that region, but also a strong desire to have things be as normal as possible for our students now and of course, going into the summer as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you go through an application? [11:53]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The great thing with Lauder is you can actually apply simultaneously with your application to Wharton<\/a>. You complete the Wharton application online, your Wharton essays, letters of recommendation, standardized tests, and then within the Wharton application, you indicate that you\u2019re also interested in applying to Lauder. It\u2019s a supplemental application built into the Wharton application online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Lauder, we ask for a couple of specific things. We ask for the results of your language score. All of our students who apply to Lauder have to take something called the Oral Proficiency Interview or OPI. It\u2019s administered by a third company called The Language Testing Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For anyone who\u2019s listening, you can find all of that information on our website. It\u2019s actually quite a good resource. There are audio clips of language tests that have taken place in the past and also more helpful information on preparing for the OPI. Our students take the OPI, it\u2019s a 30-minute phone conversation in a different language. In order to be admitted to Lauder,  students have to test at least at the advanced low level or above in one of the 10 languages that we teach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If they\u2019re interested in applying to our global or our Africa general track, they have to test a superior level in any language other than English. Essentially that means being fully bilingual. It can be in their native language provided it\u2019s not English. That\u2019s for anybody who\u2019s a non-native English speaker who also, of course, is fluent in English<\/a>. The global program is designed for students who have had fairly significant international experience already and are looking for more of a macro level experience studying global studies from that wider lens, looking at issues across regions, that sort of thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Africa general track is also for students who are fluent in any language other than English, and are interested in focusing on the entire continent of Africa. Historically, we had called it the Anglophone Africa track, but that was kind of a misnomer because our students were really studying the entire continent, not just English-speaking Africa. We also have an Africa Francophone track which is for students who can test at the advanced level in French. The language component is important as part of the application as well as over the duration of the two years in the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does every Lauder participant know at least two languages? [14:38]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I would say every Lauder applicant has advanced knowledge of a language in addition to English. English is the language of instruction at Wharton and a lot of classes at Lauder. You also have to be either fluent or advanced in any language other than English, or one of the 10 languages that we teach at Lauder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the 10 languages that you teach at Lauder? [15:02]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll break it down by program of concentration. For Africa, we have a French track. For our Europe program, we offer Spanish, Russian, French, and German. For Latin America, we offer Spanish and Portuguese. In Eastern and Southeast Asia, we have Mandarin, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Our last program of concentration is the SAMENA track and we offer Arabic and Hindi. Those are the 10 languages. When you\u2019re applying to the program, you\u2019re taking an OPI in one of those 10 languages if you plan to pursue regional studies with language. Or you\u2019re taking the OPI in any language other than English for our Africa general or global program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about students who speak a different language outside of the 10 offered languages? [15:52]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We only have 10 languages right now. We are always adding more. A few years ago we added Korean. We have seen interest in a Vietnamese track. We\u2019re getting a lot more interest with students in that language profile. It\u2019s not to say that we won\u2019t add languages, but right now those are our 10 languages. There are opportunities through the school of arts and sciences to take advanced language in some of the classes that Lauder doesn\u2019t teach, but we have a formula for Lauder. It\u2019s those regional programs with one of the 10 languages global Africa track. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other components of the application are two essays for Lauder. Our first essay asks you to talk a little bit about why you\u2019re interested in Lauder and why you\u2019re applying to your chosen program of concentration. Our second essay is actually new this year. We ask applicants to talk about what they might like to research as part of the master thesis project at Lauder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who are unfamiliar with that, it\u2019s called the Global Knowledge Lab. It\u2019s definitely another opportunity to go to our website and read about the GKL, as we call it, to learn a little bit more about the project. Basically, it\u2019s a master thesis project. Students can write about virtually anything that they\u2019re interested in doing, as long as it relates to their program of concentration. We\u2019ve had students write about things coming from the arts and entertainment perspective and the sports world. We\u2019ve had students write about blockchain, finance, history. Some of our students have actually leveraged the GKL to transition to a job after Lauder. We had a student a few years back who wrote about the NBA in China and was able, through contacts that he made, to take a job with the National Hockey League in New York. He was really able to leverage that research. We\u2019ve had other students work on just passion projects. A few years ago, we had a student who was really interested in the history of North Africa so he wrote about that even though that\u2019s not his personal background. It\u2019s just an opportunity for our students to do master\u2019s research as part of the MA degree. It\u2019s definitely different from what you would do at the MBA program and they\u2019ll actually do on the ground research as well to build research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second component of the GKL project is a group project. When students are approaching the application, they don\u2019t need to know fully what they would like to research. They\u2019re not committed to it, but we want them to understand that the master\u2019s thesis project is a big part of Lauder. You\u2019ll have a ton of support as you do this project over two years, but we want you to be thinking about what you might like to research. Show us that you\u2019ve gone to the website and have read a little bit about what the GKL is so you\u2019re coming fully educated on what the project is.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you plan to keep the same application questions for next year? [19:07]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a great question. We\u2019re not totally done with this admission cycle. I think we might revert to having one question that encompasses two parts. There are two required essays for Wharton<\/a> and two for Lauder. We realize that\u2019s four essays to apply to the program. Presumably, we\u2019re not the only program you\u2019re applying to, so we want to be mindful of the applicants and how much time they\u2019re devoting to it. I think that knowing why you\u2019re applying to Lauder, your chosen program of concentration, and knowing what you might like to research as part of the GKL will still be part of the essay questions in some form whether they\u2019re duplicative of what we have this year, perhaps not but I think you can think about that as part of your applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the OPI and essays are two really big things. We\u2019ll ask you to tell us a little bit about any international experience that you\u2019ve had. We look at that as three months or more outside of your home country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you submit your application, it is a joint application to both programs. I emphasize that because your application is not reviewed independently by two admissions committees. It\u2019s reviewed jointly. The Lauder admissions committee actually takes the lead with the review of your application. Myself, my colleague, our second-year students, who are trained to read applications, will read your Wharton and Lauder application from start to finish and we\u2019re actually trained to evaluate your Wharton application as well. We\u2019ll read your Wharton essays, all of that in tandem with your Lauder application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Accepted to Wharton: Watch the Webinar >><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good thing about that is you\u2019re only evaluated in the pool for the Wharton Lauder pool. So with Wharton and Lauder, it\u2019s a highly self-selected group of applicants who have applied to the program. They know the language requirement. They\u2019ve had some international experience. They want to do two degrees. Often, people will be concerned that they disadvantage themselves by applying to Lauder, but really it\u2019s kind of the inverse. You\u2019re actually only applying amongst a much smaller pool of really highly qualified applicants versus the 5,000-7,000 applications that Wharton gets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do make a joint decision with Wharton. We\u2019ll meet as part of a joint admissions committee so that you\u2019re jointly offered admission to both programs, but Lauder does take the lead with that application review. The last component for the Lauder application is actually after you\u2019ve submitted it. For Lauder, there is a dedicated interview in addition to the Wharton team-based discussion<\/a>. You\u2019ll do the normal Wharton application interview process and then at Lauder, you\u2019ll have about a 30-minute interview with a current student or an alum or a staff member specifically focused on your interest at the Lauder program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What gets you excited about an application to Lauder? [22:42]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most of our applicants are coming with, not necessarily tons of international experience, but we do see that most of our students have had some international exposure. It\u2019s sort of a given that they\u2019ll have that. What excites me about an application is when they can tie that into the program, to their interests at Lauder, and to their long-term goals. Seeing how it\u2019s relevant not just to something really interesting on their resume or interesting on their CV, but something that really is telling about what they\u2019ll bring to the classroom. Maybe you spent two years working in Egypt after you graduated from college, that\u2019s great. Maybe you were working, let\u2019s say you were doing consulting, but what did you learn that are the intangibles that you can bring to the classroom, to the class discussion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really, what we\u2019re looking for at Lauder is evidence of that cultural or global mindset that you don\u2019t necessarily have as perhaps somebody who spends time outside of your own country. You can seek that out or you could kind of live in that bubble that some people tend to do when they travel or work abroad. It\u2019s important for our applicants to show evidence to the admissions committee that they\u2019re really culturally curious about the world, they see the value of culture and language. Travel is an amazing experience, but I think learning from that and what you can bring back to the classroom and then take to your profession gives you those intangible skills. I think that\u2019s really important. Bring that to your essays, bring that to your interview discussion. I think it\u2019s really important to show us that you have the soft skills as well in addition to that, maybe on-the-ground experience outside of your own country.https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5UgdI6fa4uk?feature=oembed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the wrong way to approach these questions? [24:38]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s something so simple but we do see it every year, it\u2019s folks who have not done their research. It\u2019s such a simple thing to do and spend some time reviewing the website, listening to a podcast, reviewing a webinar or video, really learning about the program so when you\u2019re approaching the essays, you\u2019re telling us specifically why you\u2019re interested in the program<\/a>, specific classes for faculty members or the opportunity, what you really would like to research, showing that you\u2019ve done your research on what the GKL project is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have students or applicants who will write essays about how much they love to travel and how they\u2019ve traveled to so many countries. That\u2019s great, I love to travel too, but you really want to make it a substantive argument about why a master of arts dual degree program makes sense for you as part of your MBA studies. Show us how you see that adding value to your student experience as a business school student, how you see it adding value to your career goals, and show us that you really understand what Lauder is. I think some people just see the master of arts and international studies and think they get to travel, but really it\u2019s about showing us you understand the different components of the program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the applicant who is multilingual, has international experience and global career goals but their undergraduate GPA is not something they\u2019re terribly proud of? [25:50]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The great thing about Wharton when we\u2019re taught how to review is really to look at the application from a read-to-admit perspective. I think that\u2019s an amazing way to approach the application review from the standpoint of an admissions reader and also from the standpoint of an applicant. We\u2019re definitely looking at what is amazing about this applicant. We are not looking for reasons to ding an applicant. We\u2019re looking for reasons to admit them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve gotten this question a ton throughout my career from applicants. Nothing ever boils down to a GMAT or GRE score or a GPA.<\/a> You need to think about your application and show evidence to the committee. Really what we\u2019re looking for when we talk about GPA or, or standardized test scores, is if you can handle the rigor of the program and on the Wharton side. Obviously, the first term is very heavily quantitative. Can you handle the quantitative rigor? Have you taken calculus? Do you have some of the preparatory work that\u2019s going to help you handle that? On the Lauder side, we\u2019re looking to see that you\u2019ve written a research paper or have taken some arts and sciences classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, we\u2019re going to look for those things. Having said that, we absolutely have students in the programs who are below the average in terms of their standardized test scores or with the GPA that maybe they\u2019re not crazy about<\/a>. Something applicants can do is utilize the optional essay as part of the application. Don\u2019t just tell us, you have a 2.5 GPA and a 550 GMA without any context. Let us know, you were working full time while you were going to college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you were an undergraduate with a major in history, but you\u2019ve taken post-bacc coursework and stats or some other quantitative courses that would help you prepare for an MBA. That\u2019s a great thing to do by the way if you don\u2019t have a strong math background or you didn\u2019t take math classes as an undergraduate. Go online and take a couple of classes. Focus on quantitative work so you can brush up on that skill set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you only take the GMAT and GRE once? If you only took it once and you didn\u2019t do great, it kind of makes sense to do it again so you can improve your score. Give us some color there if you\u2019re at all concerned about it. Most of our applicants have some quantitative aspect to their job so highlight that. Maybe you\u2019re not a great test taker, but maybe you\u2019re running numbers all day at work and you\u2019re doing really well, then have your recommenders highlight that in their recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about other ways in your application in which you can bring in those strengths that you think might look a little negative in one part of your application and see how you can offset that in other parts of your application. You can do this through your essays, recommendations, the optional essay, and then of course, perhaps taking some preparatory work pre-MBA coursework to show that you can do this work and that you can handle it. They\u2019re definitely not doomed, but really think through strategically about approaching the application so you can be successful.https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OHpNmWrbc2Q?feature=oembed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it possible to refer an applicant from the Lauder pool to the regular MBA admissions if you see they\u2019ll be a better fit there? [31:08]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m glad you asked that because we do get that question a lot as well. On the application, applicants can check a box that indicates if they\u2019re not admitted to Lauder, they would still like to be considered for the Wharton-only program. Be sure to check that box if you\u2019re still interested in Wharton. In reviewing the application, we actually have the ability to do exactly what you\u2019re saying, \u201cThis person for X, Y, and Z reason isn\u2019t maybe a fit for Lauder, but would be great for Wharton.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the actual admissions committee, when we\u2019re going through every applicant, we\u2019ll maybe talk about, \u201cHey, this person really doesn\u2019t have international exposure.\u201d We do sometimes have people who apply before they have their language score, they get their language score, and no matter how hard they work on it, they\u2019re not able to get to our minimum score of advanced low. In that case, we really can\u2019t admit them for Lauder, but they can certainly be admitted for Wharton. Each year there are a handful of students who are admitted to Wharton only. I would say if you\u2019re a good fit for Lauder and you\u2019ve got a great Wharton application, there\u2019s really no reason why you wouldn\u2019t be admitted unless it\u2019s something really glaring like the language score or something like that. But yes, you absolutely will still be considered for Wharton only if for some reason Lauder isn\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the Lauder interview like? [32:28]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s probably a little bit more to what our applicants might be thinking about in a typical MBA interview, but a 30-minute conversation. We\u2019ve been doing them over Zoom for the last couple of years but historically we have done them on campus or really all over the world for a lot based on where our applicants are living. So if you\u2019re in Tokyo, or London, or S\u00e3o Paulo, we have alums in all of these places who can conduct interviews. Right now we\u2019re doing them on Zoom, we\u2019ll see if that continues. For Lauder, it\u2019s really a couple of things. The most important thing for us is why not just Wharton on its own? Why Lauder? What\u2019s key about the Lauder program that you won\u2019t get through Wharton on its own? Of course at Wharton, you can travel. There mini immersions that you can do but what are you really looking to gain through Luader? Why does our program make sense for you? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll ask about short and long-term goals. We\u2019ll ask about your language skills. Why do you want to study a language if that\u2019s a part of the program for you? What would you like to research? We\u2019ll ask for evidence of that cross-cultural mindset. We\u2019ll ask you to give some examples of times when you were dealing with a cultural barrier that you had to navigate. They\u2019re our typical straightforward questions. I don\u2019t think anything that\u2019ll be too shocking, but definitely good for our applicants to prepare for that, similar to how you would for a job interview. I always tell people you want to come prepared<\/a>, bring your resume, be prepared to talk about your strengths, about your gaps, about your goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do a lot of grads get you jobs? [33:58]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We have the usual suspects to some extent in terms of post MBA outcomes for Lauder students with a caveat that a lot of our students are doing that work may be for Amazon, or McKinsey, or in finance internationally. We have quite a lot of international students at Lauder who are looking to stay in the U.S. for a couple of years and gain some U.S. experience. They\u2019re going to New York or to the West Coast or to Chicago, wherever the case may be. We also have students whether they\u2019re from the U.S. or not looking to work in region. I would say students come to Lauder for a couple of reasons. Some of them are really going to work the two years because they want to do private equity in China or private equity in Nigeria and that is the focus for them. So they focus, they work on their language, they work on all of these things to have that as a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some of our students, it\u2019s private equity anywhere. It doesn\u2019t matter. So maybe the industry or the role is the primary driver and location is second or third. But our typical outcomes are technology. Amazon is the number one hire for Wharton and Lauder for the past couple of years. Not by a huge number, but definitely number one and after that it\u2019s consulting and financial services but we are seeing an increasing number of students go into social impact, into NGOs, into some development work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, each year we see more and more students both at Wharton and Lauder interested in entrepreneurship. So I would say those are the five areas that jump out which are fairly similar to the MBA. We see about one out of every three Lauder students working outside of their home country after graduation with a lot of the international students wanting to stay in the U.S. for a few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some questions from an international listener. \u201cWhy are most compulsory admission essay prompts so personal? On a personal note, I cried trying to unearth memories I had buried so deeply, so I could write truthfully. It was a worthwhile experience and a reconciliation with the past that made me feel very vulnerable.\u201d Is vulnerability in an essay whether perceived, real, or imagined a good element? [35:41]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know about vulnerability in particular, but I would say when you\u2019re writing your essays, you want to draw from your personal experiences. Business schools are looking to bring students who have had interesting professional experiences and have a strong aptitude for whatever they\u2019re looking to do afterward, but they\u2019re also looking to bring in good community members. I know that\u2019s a big focus for Wharton in particular. You don\u2019t have to tell us a sob story about your upbringing. The funny thing is, I do feel like now we\u2019re seeing more and more personal stories come to light whether applicants think that\u2019s what we want to read or not. I feel some of our applicants now generationally are maybe more attuned to talking about themselves on a personal level. I feel that years back, you would have seen people keeping it very professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s good to have a combination. It\u2019s not a therapy session. I don\u2019t think you need to go to the heart of something that you would find upsetting. I think you want to write about something that\u2019s really personal and important to you<\/a>, but also something that has practical applications to the community of Wharton, perhaps in some ways your professional experience, your backgrounds, your goals. Think of it in a practical or strategic way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think you need to get so personal with us that it leaves you feeling uncomfortable. You want to feel like you wrote a good essay that shows part of your character and how you can bring that strong character to the graduate program. For Lauder, our essays are a bit more directive in terms of academic experiences, but of course, we\u2019re bringing individuals to our programs and we want to make sure they\u2019re good community members. Some of those essays are looking to find that you\u2019re going to be a good contributor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second question from our listener is, \u201cHow do you consider international students who apply to universities and cannot pay at least 5% to 10% of the fees? Do you get irritated and wonder if they consider the university a charity home?\u201d [38:20]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No, definitely not. We have a ton of international students at Lauder. We have students coming from all over the world, of course, where there are huge disparate salaries but we do expect that students have done their research and frankly, I don\u2019t know of a ton of students receiving 100% full funding to both programs. At Lauder, we\u2019re very lucky to be very generously funded by the Lauder family. For Lauder, most of our students are receiving the average award for fellowships of $40,000 and the cost of the program is around $45,000 to $50,000 each year, depending on some of the travel components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the Lauder students are actually receiving full or near to full funding for the Lauder program. On the Wharton side, you have to approach it as if you\u2019re applying to an elite business school. It\u2019s a huge investment. Studies on MBA programs show that within five years, the return on investment is really worthwhile. You have to think about the financials.<\/a> Do you want to take out a loan? The average student isn\u2019t getting full funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we\u2019re reading your application, we\u2019re not thinking about that at all. We\u2019re looking at the quality of your application. In terms of finance and funding, that comes after you\u2019ve been admitted to the program. For Lauder, every student who comes to Lauder is admitted to the program and receives at least a merit-based award and then you have the opportunity at Lauder to apply for need-based funding on top of that. At Wharton, they have generous funding, but again, not everybody is getting a full scholarship. You have to come into it knowing that realistically, you\u2019re probably going to have to fund part of the program through your loans or through your financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would you have liked me to ask you? [40:30]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a good question. You asked me a little bit about what makes me excited about reading an application. I think maybe one question is like, \u201cWhat\u2019s our ideal student?\u201d It\u2019s sort of unfair to say there is such a thing as an ideal student. I think something that maybe is probably more practical is, \u201cWhat makes a successful student in the program? What do we see from the application stage which then makes them successful?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In talking about the community aspect or being a good community member, I think that\u2019s more and more important as years go by, especially with what COVID taught us. You\u2019re going to have unprecedented challenges. COVID of course, is this huge world crisis that kind of threw us all for a loop and hopefully, we don\u2019t experience something else like that in our lifetime, but for our students, when they\u2019re in the program and long term, they\u2019re always going to have challenges that are thrown their way whether they\u2019re big or small. Know that coming to a rigorous place like Wharton and Lauder, you\u2019re going to be very busy, you\u2019re going to have a ton of demands, but still make an effort to be a good community member, to be collegial, to be kind, to have these intangibles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, with COVID in the U.S., we had a big societal upheaval with Black Lives Matter and other sorts of social crises, political change in the country. I think everyone is feeling in general worn out from the last couple of years. Knowing that experience has been really difficult for everyone, whether you\u2019re a student, a staff member at a university, a professor and coming to the program and filming with the mindset of being a good community member, somebody who\u2019s going to make a good contribution, be positive, patient, be kind I think those are the things that I personally am looking for to see in applicants, in addition to having a strong academic and professional background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where can listeners and potential applicants learn more about the Wharton Institute\u2019s joint MA\/MBA and MA\/JD programs? [43:03]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can learn more about Lauder by going to our site, which is lauder.wharton.upenn.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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