Calling all Wharton 2011 Applicants

I'am not sure if i'll be applying to Wharton. Please remove my name from the roll.

Me me . What a co-incidence. I choose that day for the pub too. Everything is in place now. 99% Confirmed I ll be visiting. lets see.

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wp06,

I think your post makes sense partially, but unfortunately also reflects your inferiority complex.

Of course GMAT and GPA and other quantitative parameters are part of 'who you are'. I agree they are not measures of leadership or your ability to contribute in and lead teams, but it IS part of the picture that the adcom needs to measure to see if you can handle the intellectual demands of the curriculum. Wharton, for example is highly quantitative, and you could bring in all the decorated army veterans you want, but if you ain't going to keep up with your quantitative classes, you won't do well, perhaps even pass. Period.

That's why they call it a "holistic process". They HAVE to evaluate you on all parameters. 780 GMAT + no leadership is just as useless as award-winning poet or army veteran who can't keep up with the demands of the curriculum. There's perhaps no significant intellectual difference between a 710 and 730 or 750, but there is definitely a difference between a 650 and 750. At that point, one better have a quantitative transcript or experience to prove you are not going to be the laggard in your learning team.

Top schools need both, and they can fill their class with people who meet all criteria.

hdcdude,

Calm down dude. I definitely agree that top schools need both. I never implied one can be completely weak or just do terrible with grades and GMAT. I never said any of that.

All I was trying to argue was that, it is my belief that there is a whole lot more that goes into a picture of a person. I think a person with the right leadership (not just served in the Army or any organization etc) and experiences leading and making decisions with intense pressure can overcome lower test scores etc. I understand, obviously, that the chances of being admitted with a 650 are lower than a 750. I don't think I ever said or implied different so stop making stupid unfounded assumptions.

I do not think it is as simple as not having a 750 versus a 650 will result in a failure at any school. I also understand this is not your belief. I respect that you can have your own opinion.

As far as me having an inferiority complex, I have no idea what you are talking about man and I definitely see no reason for you to say something so stupid to me. First of all, I know my 650 is not amazing. I will re-take and improve my score. I took this test after a 15 month deployment and with many things going on such as memorials for my Soldiers who died in combat (4 KIA, 5 WIA)

So yes, thanks for basically saying you are a superior being because you got a 750 or whatever. Guess what, I do not care. I will get into a good program regardless and I will be successful. All I tried to do on here was make a guy with a 690 stress out a little less. Then you randomly tried to throw your weight around.

That is what pisses me off the most, you come on here on your high horse for some reason and start to try to bash me. I think you completely underestimate what I was trying to say.

If you are trying to imply I would be a laggard to a class or take a shot at me good for you, that is definitely not the case. I already took quant heavy/engineering classes at West Point. I know it is hard and I respect how intelligent people at Wharton are and have to be. I never said it was an easy or non-quant heavy school.

If your description of the process was completely true then there would be no range of GMAT scores such as the one posted on the admissions page. There would not be 25% of the incoming class with below a 650. Why don't you think before you speak.

Go hide behind your speadsheets. believe me, there is nothing I and many others on here cannot learn. I can use excel, learn quantitative concepts, etc.

You will never know what it is to lead or actually inspire people against all odds. You have no clue what leadership is.

I am also glad I am not a person like you, you say I have an inferiority complex, what have you ever done to put yourself out on the line? I am glad you have a great score and are in a top program. I am also sad that I would have the prospect of having a classmate as ignorant and narrow-minded as you. Hopefully most people at Penn are not like you.

I wish everyone with relevance to this thread the best of luck.




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Please add me for round 1. Thanks! Good luck everyone!

wp06,

Your high-handed trash talking does no one any good. The only person who needs to "calm" down here is the one who is calling other people "stupid". Perhaps that flies in whatever quarters you frequent, but it's inappropriate language for a professional forum.

But then again, I think I seem to have figured out where you are coming from. Ever seen the movie "A Few Good Men"? You seem to have the Colonel Jessop complex. The complex that since you are serve in the army, civilians need to bow and allow you to brandish your arrogance around as if we owe you something. Listen, I appreciate what you do for the country, but staying true to the topic of discussion, you cannot deny - as much as you may have an incentive to - that it's eventually a holistic picture that is important, and THAT INCLUDES NUMBERS, period. Sure, you may have thought that it was a better use of your time to do army exercises while someone else designed engines, and others wrote poetry. You don't get to feel superior over anyone else for that, though. Besides, anyone only gets credit up to a point for a deficiency in candidacy. The fact is, while I empathize with you on how you've had less of a chance to prove your credentials at school or in tests, there will be other veterans who will demonstrate both credentials AND leadership. It's sometimes simply not an either-or, in such a competitive process.

And yes, of course you can compensate for one weakness with another. What you cannot compensate for is your arrogance, and the interview process will weed you out if you continue to demonstrate it. I am sorry if you take it personally when I highlight why Wharton (or any top school) tends to use rough guidelines such as the 80th-percentile test for the subscores - I simply pointed out a general mechanism used to test for the 'minimum' intellectual horsepower needed for the curriculum, not to take a shot at you. However, knowing that you fall short of that mark on your sub-scores, you already know that you can make up for it in other ways, though the odds will still be stacked up against you.

Your rant is not well received. My description of the process, as even anyone's sub-par reading skills should still help them verify, was that it is HOLISTIC. So that's perfectly in keeping with a wide range of GMAT scores. You just wanted to long post to sound like you are onto something revolutionary, so you can feel better - poor excuse for throwing around words like "stupid' to multiple people on the forum.

"What have you ever done to put yourself out on the line?", you ask me. I ask you, what the hell do you know about me to know whether I have put myself on the line or not? I just don't need to seek credit for it on public forums, my man. I did not claim that I had a great GMAT score, or any score for that matter - what I did claim was that I couldn't care less that you felt entitled to something extra because you spent your time "providing us the blanket of freedom we enjoy" or something of that sort. I appreciate your line of work, but I give no one license to be pissy. I am sorry that you are irritated that I acknowledge and accept a holistic process that values and emphasizes each element - how is that "narrow minded" on my part?

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck. Xerox was right in saying that GMAT/GPA are the quantitative parts of "who you are' for the adcom, just like you were right in saying that leadership is the other important, qualitative portion of who you are. Don't be mad just because I called you out for being mean and arrogant, when you called him "stupid", and declared that only you somehow knew what the deal was, since you had "done your homework".

The homework you ought to have done in the army was to learn to show some humility.

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wp06,

I appreciate your realization, accept your apology, agree that we should immediately refocus back on helping each other with information, advice and help.

I only posted because I was irked by some of your words, but if you did indeed just say it all in the heat of the moment, it's no problem. Yes, let's be productive. Apologies if any of my words bothered you.

Also, I had used 750 for illustrative purposes in my explanation. I haven't scored 750, and can't claim to be an spreadsheet king

Best of luck, hopefully you are doing well on the essays...

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If you read my post well enough, it says "school-relative GPA", which means that 3.8 at a challenging institution is not the same as 3.8 at a "very easy undergrad". In general, wp06, I think you are mixing two things: MBA admissions and everyday life.

In my day-to-day, I could care less about anybody's GPA or GMAT to understand who the person is.

MBA admissions is a whole lot of a different process, where both of the numbers matter quite a bit.

wp06 and hdcdude, I actually enjoyed the argument (now that it's resolved, of course). I think I learned some new things about the both of you and I can tell that both will be great in business school in terms of initiating and expressing ideas, which is awesome because I would love to be surrounded by peeps like that. Anyway, I just wanted to add in my 2-cent and perhaps a bit of silver linings in light of the argument, that's all. I wish you two both well and good luck on the application!

Yup good discussion indeed!

Posted from my mobile device

xerox,

noted, i got it.

I'm 99% confirmed too. When I'm 100% I'll PM you and we can plan to meet up. It'll be fun to meet GMATClubbers in the wild!

In for R2

In for R1!