Calling all Wharton MBA Applicants: 2022 Intake [Class of 2024]

Practice, practice, practice.

People say that its like a normal business discussion, but its much more intense. If you are with a group of 6, you really don't have a lot of time individually. Also, its strange but this isn't an individual interview - yes you will be assessed individually after, but what works best is if you operate in a manner that brings out the best in your team, not just yourself. And that comes with practice.

I myself did like 6 practice TBD's - 2 with my consultant and 4 arranged informally with members on Gmat Club and Reddit. My first practice TBD was horrible, I was overwhelmed with the pace of things, and I just wasn't used to the manner in which we had the discussion.

Practicing allowed me to do a few things:

1. Get comfortable with the fast-paced nature of the discussion, and learn a way to speak that kept the conversation moving
2. Learn the different types of rolls in the discussion and find the one I prefer (like time-keeper, note taker, idea generator, dot-connector, etc.)
3. Pick up some tricks I could employ along the way (for example, emoting more which is super important in a virtual TBD)
4. Become much more self-aware of my tendencies - sometimes I can be a little too quiet. I like listening, synthesizing, then putting an idea forward. But the pace of this discussion is really quick, and its easy to get lost if you start off a bit reserved and don't recover.

While 6 practice TBD's is a lot, you should try to do at least 2 - 1 to see how good/bad you are at it, and 1 to implement changes and new learnings after some reflection.