Calling all Wharton Applicants: (2016 Intake) Class of 2018!!

I self-prepared last year and practiced with some current students. The general advice is to try to stay calm and just pretend you're in a regular work meeting. Be mindful of time limits and avoid the extremes of either a) dominating the discussion, or b) not participating. Many current students I talked to said their entire TBD group (or close to it) got in, so don't think of the folks in your group as competition, approach the situation like you're working together to collectively get in. The time goes by really fast, so the biggest thing is moving the group forward and finishing on time. That means there's no time for disagreement, try to compromise quickly and propose alternative solutions if you disagree with someone's idea. Similarly, the 10-minute one-on-one interview that follows goes by extremely fast, so its better to keep it short and specific. Remember these are all conducted by 2nd year students, so they're just human beings--try to put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would look for. It's really a great opportunity to interact with current students and your potential peers for a glimpse of what the classroom experience might be like. So really, you want to authentically fit in.

My own two cents is that the TBD really isn't a make-or-break. I stayed in touch with some folks from my group and we had an email chain going when decisions went out. One that got accepted made a couple blatant no-nos during the discussion and the other was a model interviewee. I'm pretty self-critical and don't think I did anything wrong, I think I got dinged because my application overall lacked specificity (in my essays and recs) and needed to more explicitly demonstrate fit.

Honestly, I think the whole TBD experience was what moved Wharton from my #4 choice to my #1. It's truly a great opportunity to gage how well you're going to enjoy the next 2 years.