Wharton Healthcare Management Program

Question

Has anyone here applied to Wharton with the Healthcare Management Program? If so, can you please share your insights? What is the interview process like and what did you write about in your essays? How healthcare-oriented is the admissions process compared to the normal admissions process?

terry12 · Answer

I applied and thought long and hard about going there. It's an amazing program, arguably (probably?) the #1 healthcare-related MBA program out there... unparalleled reputation if you're looking at hospital administration, big pharma/medical devices, or healthcare-related IB/PE/MC. Also very good for earlier-stage ventures and VC. As an added bonus, HCM students form a very tight-knit group within the larger Wharton population. A really great bunch of people.

Essays- You just have to make a good case for why you want to do the HCM program, and how it fits with your goals. Most applicants tackle this one in essay 1 ("Why MBA, why Wharton, why now?"). A healthcare background isn't necessary as long as you're able to explain why you want to do the program. I think you have a bit of background in the field, though, so that last point is moot.

Interviews- You have two interviews. I believe the same percentage of HCM applicants (~40%) are interviewed as in the general applicant pool. One interview's with the usual Adcom/student/alum, the other's with June Kinney. June runs the program and is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Ideally you'd interview on campus so you could meet June in person; if you're unable to get to Philly, though, I know she does phone interviews as well. The interview with June is really a conversation... I think she wants to make sure you understand the program, and that you'd be a good fit with the rest of the group.

June's very amenable to people reaching out to her via email/phone in the summer and early fall to talk about the program and ask questions. It's a good way to get a feel for the program, and to introduce yourself to June. I wouldn't do it now (it's early, and I think June's still dealing with R3 and WL), but keep it in mind for later. Just google "Wharton HCM" and you should be able to find her contact info. There's also a bunch of great info about coursework, etc. on the HCM website that should help you formulate some good ideas and write effective essays : )

Hope this helps!

agold · Answer

Thank you very much Terry!

helg · Answer

I had a phone interview with June and I second Terry that she's really nice. It was indeed more a conversation rather than an interview, and she was really eager to give me as much info about the HCM as she was able to.

agold · Answer

Helg or Terry,

Do you know if the Wharton HCM program is binding? ie. if you get admitted to HCM, are you allowed to change your mind once you get to Wharton and decide that you don't want to do it anymore? Is this frowned upon?

helg · Answer

Terp06, I really do not know. I suggest you ask this on Wharton's s2s forum, there will be someone to answer your question.

terry12 · Answer

Sorry didn´t get to this until now, I'm on the road.

I don't believe the HCM program is a contractually binding sort of thing... that said, though, I haven't heard of anyone dropping out of the program. Once you're in, it's a pretty sweet deal. June knows almost everybody associated with healthcare-associated IB, PE, and MC in addition to the expected roles in pharma/biotech, medical devices, and hospital administration. So you're in no way expected to go into hospital administration or something along those lines... you can stlill do whatever you want, you just have the prestige of Wharton HCM added to your resume.

The negative of the program is that you do have an extra class (the general HCM seminar) throughout the first year. And first year at Wharton isn't exactly a walk in the park

As helg said, though, you might want to ask on s2s to get a clearer picture.

helg · Answer

I most strongly second that. The employment stats of WHCM were awesome last time I checked - from McK healthcare practice to VC/PE in California to IB with the major banks.

isa · Answer

I'm really interested in the HCM program at wharton as well but am wondering:
WHen you apply to HCM, do they consider you first for the major or for the school? As in, will they ever say "you're in at Wharton but not in at HCM"?

I know that at some schools, they consider your application first for the overall MBA program, then for the major or sub-program within the MBA progra; just interested in whether HCM at Wharton is similar in that regard....

thanks,
ac.

SV6 · Answer

Did any normal people from GmatClub got admitted in Wharton HCM?

I just saw 2008 class profiles...Its unbelievable. Most of them had undergrad or MS from Harvard , MIT, Kellong.....after looking at these profiles, i am not sure normal people can even try their luck..
All my work experience is in Pharama/Healthcare companies in IT deparment. I am very much interested in Health Care Entrepreneurship/MC. But not sure, given my IT Engg background whether i will stand a chance among these types of oustanding profiles.

terry12 · Answer

Hi SV6-

Some of the posts I've written above may help answer the questions you raised in the Wharton 2008 thread.

With respect to your question here... I'm not quite sure what you mean by normal. Yes, there are a bunch of folks in the program with stellar resumes. But it's Wharton, so I don't think that the "quality" of resumes in the HCM program differs substantially from the general student population. Further, not everyone in the program went to an Ivy or similar school. I met students from a variety of undergrads at the admit weekend. Most importantly, I think everyone had done pretty impressive things in the workplace, typically in the health care realm.

I can't give you a definitive yes-no answer regarding your chances, but I don't see why your background would hinder you in any way. As long as you're able to effectively answer why you want to go through the HCM program and tie that into your goals, you'll at least have a shot.

terry12 · Answer

Wharton has on occasion accepted HCM applicants into the general, non-HCM program. I don't know how often that happens, but I got the sense it was a pretty infrequent occurrence.

Take the following with a big grain of salt, it's the best I can remember: when you apply to HCM your application is simultaneously reviewed by HCM and two "general" Adcom members. The review by the general adcom members determines whether you get an interview. When you interview, you have the usual Adcom interview as well as an interview with HCM. Both interviews are used to determine acceptance, though I think HCM has a pretty prominent say,

agold · Answer

I concur, the profiles for people in Wharton HCM and HBS' Healthcare Club are really out of control. Almost everyone in Wharton HCM or HBS' Healthcare club seems to come from 2 backgrounds: a) they already have one of the desired post-MBA jobs for someone looking at healthcare (big pharma strategy, MBB HC consulting, HC banking, etc.) or b) They're an MD or PharmD. I really didn't spot anyone from any sort of lay man's track like Healthcare IT.

SV6 · Answer

Thansk terry.."NORMAL" i meant people not with a good grad/undergrad from ivy's and no work experience in a big /renowned companies. Overall no stellar resume as you mentioned.

That said, i am planning to visit Wharton sometime in end of July. Is it a good time to visit the school if i want to attend the class as well as meet adcom? Is it possible to get some time from you. I am really interested in the program and no matter what might be the final outcome i am planning to apply.

Now...getting back to your thread in Wharton 2008..64 pages...so much to read :roll:

agold · Answer

Terry is going to be at Stanford - not Wharton. Personally, I don't plan to apply to Wharton because I don't see a whole lot of opportunities that Wharton can provide me that Chicago or Columbia (2 schools that I am already applying to) would not. They both have pretty much the same companies recruiting, with the exception that Wharton has a few more PE/VC firms conducting on-campus interviews. However, if you're good enough for PE/VC out of Wharton, you're definitely good enough for PE/VC out of Chicago or Columbia too. If you don't have a blue chip healthcare resume and you're not a MD, DDS, PharmD, etc. then I wouldn't bother applying to Wharton HCM and I would just apply to the normal Wharton program (provided you have 80/80 percentiles on the quant/verbal GMAT).

isa · Answer

thanks terry, for your insight. I'll do a bit more digging and see what I can find but I got the sense (from reading the website) that when you apply to HCM you're pretty much applying to a subprogram within Wharton and so that can either increase your chances of acceptance or dramatically decrease your chances based on your profile/previous work experience. I'm going to see if I can't find some numbers on how many applicants there were to the HCM program, how many accepted, etc. I'm also going to see if I can find some more pages on the HCM program - it seems that they have pages devoted to their curriculum, to the different concentration combinations you can pursue but few student profiles. The healthcare club has a few profiles of the students on the board but that's about it...there's got to be more somewhere that I'm overlooking

cheers, ac.

isa · Answer

I am wondering though if the profiles they posted on the HCM/Healthcare Club websites are the "more stellar" ones of the pack....can you tell I'm really hoping that's the case? :wink:

With regards to Healthcare IT, I did see one person who'd worked at a large EMR firm on the board of the Tuck (I think, could be wrong - will check my notes) Healthcare club so there's some hope. That being said, no idea what the guy's role was within the firm - implementation/strategy/etc. Terp06 - are you considering healthcare concentrations at any of your schools? cheers, ac.

terry12 · Answer

AC, I don't know about the Health Care Club, but I'm pretty sure they list resumes of all HCM students in the online HCM resume book.

Terp, I'm not denying that Columbia and Chicago will provide the possibility of doing a lot of the same things with many of the same companies. But don't underestimate the Wharton name, or June's connections. The latter especially might help you get some jobs you wouldn't otherwise have had a shot at. If I weren't planning into heading into more early-stage healthcare kind of stuff, I might have chosen Wharton over Stanford. It really is a terrific program. If your numbers match up reasonably well with the Wharton averages, I would consider throwing in an application.

isa · Answer

Hey terry - can non-recruiters see the online book? if so, guesses on how to find it? I've googled, etc and no luck....

Thanks!
ac.

terry12 · Answer

Yeah, you gotta google "wharton hcm;" googling "wharton health care management" etc. won't bring up the right link.

https://hc.wharton.upenn.edu/programs_mba_students.htm

Click on the little HCMG Resume Book logo on the right of the page to download the pdf.

Wharton Healthcare Management Program

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