Blast from the Past: Interview debriefs of previous Wharton applicants
imr wrote:
Hi guys.
I was admitted to Wharton / Lauder last year (LatAm, consulting) so maybe sharing a bit of my experience with the interview process can help someone out there. Assuming the process hasn't changed...interview was with an admission's officer.
Group dynamics: very hard to tell what really matters. I, for instance, made a huge dumb mistake during mine (literally said something that made no sense at the time, but quickly came back saying nevermind, it doesn't make sense, back to previous point) and it all worked out. I do think that you should try and "embody" a role play, be it the leader, the conciliator, the challenger, etc. Take a stance instead of being lost and going with the flow. Don't show off, it's not necessary. Be yourself on how you behave and push yourself to take a stance on the topic being discussed. In my group, "the leader" was admitted, the challenger wasn't and the conciliator was. That was not the case for other groups so...hard to tell.
Blind interview: DONT FORGET YOUR RESUME. Or you'll find yourself begging for the recepcionist to find a printer before you're called back to interview. It was literally 5 minutes and two questions: "do you think you were yourselve in the interview and why?" and "tell me anything you want me to know about you". So (i) good to be yourself so you can defend how you behaved in the group dynamics and (ii) I suggest you have a good elevator speech mixing your (QUICK) story recap with the 5-7 things you want to leave an impression on. It's really a monologue so it's good not to sound boring, pedantic, etc and also to flow a logic storyline. It's 5 minutes to make a (sticky!) good impression. Practicing may help. In my case, I spoke about my life trajectory and how it connects to my professional goals finishing with a "why" I thought Wharton was the place to go given everything.
Lauder was such an easygoing nice interview with a current student. We spoke about international experience, passions, a few classic "tell me a situation..." questions, but that was it. It was more of a conversation that anything else.
Hope that helps!
Cheers
imr wrote:
TopDogMBA wrote:
I think the on campus interviews are with Admissions Fellows (it sounds like yours was done off campus in that case?). I went to Philly and met the Admissions Fellows instead.
It shouldn't make a difference but I always think the dynamic is a bit different between a "professional" admissions director and, essentially, a current student.
Off campus indeed. No idea on the difference to actual students...good point. I assume everyone is well trained, as much as possible, to level interpretation.
Arriving early to interact with the group is also a good tip to connect with potential classmates and build some sort of connection, but, honestly, you're only going to see their behavior when the real deal starts. Consulting-wise (pls no prejudice, just common beliefs!), if it's a Mck or a BCG guy, you can kind of tell how they're likely to behave, but it's still a guess and I wouldn't count on it to build a strategy 15 minutes before the TBD. Know the topic, know your position, have your set of arguments and then dive in open to whatever outcome just making sure you take a stance. To be more clear, my TBD involved a new class for Wharton and one of the pillar was social innovation I think. So I brought my NGO experience and point of view. Another guy brought social entrepreneurship ...and etc. In the end, instead of the best individual suggestion, the group proposition was a mix of everyone's idea.
I def agree no one will rip you, after all, we're all grown ups who know are being assessed on behavior. It's almost too fake it you frankly ask me. Everyone strives to be so polite to make sure they're not cut off. But it's part of the deal. I REALLY believe you should be as close to your natural self as possible...but that's just me.
On the one-on-one, many people take it for granted and forget to prepare eventually getting caught off-guard without structured, well thought answers. Don't do that. One-on-one matters as well as the TBD.
Good luck all!