Wharton 2013 - Calling All Applicants

I agree with scleraxis -- I researched the prompt for about 2 hours (vs the 1 hour suggestion) and in the end I felt I had overprepped. After that initial 1 minute intro, pretty much 95% of what you have prepped is thrown out the window. I also showed up with nothing in my hands except for my resume, no pen/folio/paper/etc, and felt like I had done fine.

BUT, do whatever makes you comfortable. So if you want to bring your iPad, then go ahead, if only for the purpose of calming your nerves.

Yes, you're in a room with only 5-6 people and expected to give a short answer so you would probably already be dead in the water in any scenario that required notes/an iPad. I'd highly suggest not relying on it.

Seems like there's a lot of confusion over the Wharton process. I'm happy to do mock interviews with people, PM if interested (warning, it won't be free though, I don't have that kind of time unfortunately).

Obviously everyone has different styles and prepares differently. My personal suggestions:

1) Do prepare a one-minute idea for each of the 3 prompts. Keep in mind the donor's criteria. Use a stop watch.
2). Bring paper and pen/iPad if you feel you want to take notes. I think your one-minute pitches should be in your head.
3) I completely agree that it is vital you are 100% present during the discussion. It is organic. Any note-taking should be minimal and probably relate to responding to a particular idea/individual. But only have the pad -- paper or i -- present if you will be comfortable with it.
4) The amount of prep will be different for different people and it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.
5) We too are offering mock interviews for Wharton's group and individual discussions. And yes there is a fee.

Best,
Linda

Hello everyone,

How about the 10-15 min interview? What are the type of questions you were asked? Also, do you think the interviewer reads the candidate's app before?

My interview is scheduled for March 11th. I have not received any of these so called "prompts"

When are you suppose to get these?

I got the invite and the prompt on the same day.

You should have received an email titled, "PLEASE READ: Team-Based Discussion Confirmation and Logistics," shortly after you selected a spot. I would just call admissions if you never got it. I am also interviewing the 11th- good luck and see you there!

Had the interview on-campus in Philadelphia last week.

For the most part, I share the same sentiment as many here. The team portion felt very manufactured and less than organic.i assume that working in teams at wharton or any school for that matter is not that contrived.

i came out feeling the group took a really safe, unimaginative route.but of course, it's not where, but how you get there for this exercise

during my 1on1 my interviewer asked me what i thought of the TBD and after that it was pretty much open forum. she was finance-focused (go figure) so we couldn't talk about anything i was interested in. did not feel rushed, as some have felt. she said to ask away for as long as i needed, but i wouldn't go more than 25 min absolute tops, especially if someone behind you is waiting his/her turn

i'm curious to see what the formats were for the round 3 test last year and how they will evolve the format going forward

Guys,
Do you think it is still necessary to write a thank-you note after TBD? For me it seems a bit odd to thank a person who most of the time sits in the corner of the room and does nothing in terms of interaction with the group...

Posted from my mobile device

I would absolutely write a thank you note to, at least, the student who conducted your 1-1. I asked my interviewer for his card after our interview and in my thank you note asked for contact information of the other fellow who sat in on our TBD portion, but haven't yet heard back (not terribly surprised given their schedules and the # of students they interview). In my opinion, it doesn't matter if they just sat there and listened, they facilitated the interview and the thank you note demonstrates a cordial interest in the program and your enthusiasm to have met the admissions fellows.

He's still sitting there. A thank you never hurt anything. I recommend it.

Linda

I think the composition of your group makes a lot of difference--we had a really diverse group with many different perspectives and everyone was remarkably nice. We had a few different ideas floating around, but everyone seemed interested in tying themes together, which was more productive than the sort of factionalism that characterized other teams. We had enough time to even do a quick "elevator pitch" of our proposal at the end.

I would definitely make friends with people as you wait for your groups to be called in. Two of the four guys I was talking to ended up on my team, which is the sort of dumb luck that's guided my B-school application process so far. I actually ended up with a MUCH better impression of Wharton having gone through this process--I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

One tip: bring business cards. I'm the dumbass who remembered her flatiron but forgot her business cards.

Hi:

Any international candidates who have been admitted to Wharton in Round 1.

What forms etc. have you filed for Financial Aid? Do you need to file the CSS? How do you get a no cosigner loan?

Thanks

Had my interview last week. It seems like your experience can really vary based on the student interviewer and to a less extent the candidates you are grouped with. In my case, the facilitators provided zero directions or limitations on our discussion. It was literally free-for-all from the start, with no interruption except for two announcements on how much time was left. We weren't even instructed to start by goin round the table to each give a spiel on our idea (though that was the logical place to start and so we did). But there was no time limit imposed and some candidates went on for maybe as long as 5 mins! Obviously your spiel can be quite different under such scenarios, where you may be expected to give more details and make appropriate references to other candidates ideas if they are similar/opposing etc. So be prepared to be flexible about your intro spiels!

Also at my group everyone brought in a portfolio with writing pad, ostensibly to take notes during the discussion, but I would say half the group had also prepared notes for their own talking points too - it's a small round table so you can easily see what's laid out in front of others'. So it certainly won't be awkward to bring a folio with notes in (maybe not an iPad), but know that you probably won't - and shouldn't - refer to them much as all the other GC-ers advised.

for r1 admits, when was your deposit due?

Hey guys - curious if the R1 admit decisions all went out on one day or were they staggered like the interview invites?

They went out all on one day a few days before Christmas. R2 will be the same; 3/25, I think.