Wharton 2012 - Calling All Applicants

So, Mr Unbeatable, Mr WD, this is where you've been hiding.

I am one of the Wharton/Lauder alums in Singapore to which my dear friend xerox is alluding. Everything he says is totally on point, accept for his profile picture- he was never that beautiful.

And what's with that flower anyway?

Cheers!
CP (cannedpineapples)

Aha! We haz succezz! Now two Wharton/Lauder alums are live on the forum! Canned Pineapples is one of the best sources of spot-on advice about the school. Lore has it that CP put his/her school application together in just four weeks or so, but I would just let this be a rumor and neither seek an official confirmation nor otherwise; one thing for sure - the individual is a super valuable encyclopedia of b-school admissions.

The flower is here to stay - I love it: what's not to love?

Sure: it is a part of the first-year core curriculum, and it is well structured, and very hands-on. One has to speak in front of his/her classmates and the Prof. every single time the class meets, and your speech is recorded on video -- you can pick up a DVD after class, and work with that to improve. The feedback you get from your classmates, the professor and the TA is constructive so the learning curve is usually quite steep. The profs are experienced and supportive.

The program covers things from short statements for the press a la "imagine, you are a CEO of Tesla Motors" and handling Q&A on a tough topic where Company X has a potential for a lot of heat to persuasive speech and effective use of PowerPoint.

On the technical side, you focus on all of the key presentation skills starting from your gestures to control over your voice, to clarity an eloquence of speech.

There is homework to do every week. One has to meet with a TA to work on the persuasive speech assignment.

If you want to become a TA, you need to do well in class and get a recommendation from your professor. TA's are then chosen and awarded a fellowship for the second year, called Omnicom Fellowship. As a TA, you have a lot of control over the work load you want to take on.

Hi current & past admits

I am keen to know what "techniques" if I may say so did you guys use re. introspection?
We all know a bit about ourselves but how did you scratch below the surface to bring out those singular qualities that make each of us so unique?
Being authentic I would argue is the hardest part of this application process

CannedPineapples, Xerox

It's great that you're helping applicants be better informed about Wharton.

How important is the 80th percentile in the subscores? My quant is a 72nd percentile and although I did not have a quant-heavy UG experience (some introductory theoretical math and AP Calculus!), I've taken UC Extension courses since then (Calculus, Stat I, Stat II) and gotten A's. My recommenders can certain comment on how well I've handled quantitative work streams. Is this something I need to pay additional to, or will the committee take the view that I can handle MBA math?

xerox, thank you so much for these details. This makes me even more interested in Wharton because these things will be critical to the work I want to do post MBA. It's nice to see that even though it's known as a finance school, Wharton doesn't ignore things like corporate communications and public relations. Again thank you so much.

In for Round 1. Anyone has any idea when the application will go live?

A high math percentile is EXPECTED from engineers or number crunching finance types. So in cases where such people fall out of that pattern, adcom starts questioning the applicant's professional qualities. At the same time, these applicants need to worry more about their verbal scores as in their case they are scrutinized more and give more insight into the balance in the initial skill set.

On the other hand, if your background did not involve much of the quant work engineers or equity analysts do, then it is EXPECTED that your verbal score should be in the high range. The focus then shifts to the Quant score, and the goal of the applicant then becomes mitigating the concerns the school may have about the ability of the applicant to handle the quantitative rigor of the program (and Wharton is often considered the most challenging top school from that perspective).

So here's where the 80/80 comes in: it is a universal solution, which eliminates the need to mitigate the GMAT component weaknesses in other parts of the application.

I would say that a higher math score will level the playing field for you at Wharton. Combine that with your UC Extension success, and you've got that part covered in full.

I attended the Wharton admissions event yesterday in New Delhi, India. My notes:

1. The alumns were highly disappointing except a couple of them who really outshone - so basically, out of 6, 2 guys were really good and the others completely negated the 'wow' a Wharton Alumn is expected (Rather I expected) to have
2. The admissions officer gave a 10-15 minute presentation - highly generic, nothing that I or anyone else there didn't already know
3. Post the presentation - the room was opened to questioning the alumns. As mentioned, 2 of them were really good, gave great insights. The others were quite perplexed and confused to say the least
4. Met some students who are going there this year as well. Very low on confidence and they made it seem as if getting in was a fluke for them and they couldn't believe they were in
5. Met some lauder students there - who were very impressive
6. The meeting was sponsored by Yes Bank - and it was the worst presentation I have ever attended in terms of venue selection (drove past it twice and din't notice where it was - even though it is on one of Delhi's premier roads. Wharton didn't post any map), facilities (mic not working, broken chairs anyone?) and high tea (there wasn't much tea or anything else on offer).

To give you a perspective, I have attended admissions events of Tuck, Wharton (last year which was much much better), Darden, Indian School of Business and Chicago Booth. For Chicago as an example, the venue was a 5 star hotel, students and alumns were highly impressive - they knew their stuff about admissions and the school life itself, and the overall process felt highly professional.

The Wharton event yesterday was extremely unprofessional - the venue was dysfunctional and shoddy appearance of the admissions guy + alumns. You know, these events by the schools aren't really an 'attraction' meet as much as they are 'informative' meets. Even if Wharton didn't come to India - i would have applied. So just because they had a bad venue doesn't really mean the school isn't good or I won't apply. However, the primary purpose (which is information does need to be supplemented with a professional demeanour that reflects well on the school as well. I don't think it's hard to argue that for one of the most professional and well respected business schools in the world, it was a poor show. Not Impressed!

str1der ... interesting post, as I had completely the opposite experience at the Wharton reception in Paris, I attended on Tuesday. The venue was the impressive Bain office in Central Paris, great arrangements, nearly 20 alums - ranging from people who passed out in 1978 to students who have just joined ... all in all I was really impressed ... the alumni spent a lot of time afterwards to answer questions ... though I still wanted to ask more questions before the end, I was impressed by the patience and pertinence of the replies ... I guess that clarity in thought is what separates the students from the top MBA programs.

Just to add that unlike you I was not still completely sold to Wharton before attending the event ... I still had not figured out if Wharton was a fit for me ... but I received only positive vibes at the reception ... will attend a couple of more events to compare, but already I have a much better idea of the values that a Wharton MBA would add to me.

Just curious on everyone's thoughts on this: does it greatly decrease your chances if you do not do an in-person campus visit and schmooze with the admissions staff?

From the replies I got at the Wharton reception ... absolutely not ... it is an opportunity for students to come and feel the Wharton MBA community, but a visit to campus is never taken into account for MBA decisions

Well i am targeting a switch to Finance so Wharton was a permanent fixture on my list in a way. Glad to hear you had a positive experience in Paris. Unfortunately I can't say the same.

Interestingly, one of the alumns here also was a Bain partner. But I guess as Yes Bank was hosting the event, Bain's office in Gurgoan would have been ruled out nonetheless. Also I don't know how many people attended Paris. In delhi, it was atleast 75

I think a few more details would help. "Disappointing" and "good" sounds a bit generic.
What exactly did you expect?
What would have been considered "good"?

str1der: I would have loved to attend that Wharton meet, but had to miss it because of my office.
And Yeah, I really want to exchange notes on essays. Do they offer any advice on how to approach essays ?
Thanks

Sounds like you got the answers



It is sad that they blew you off like that. Check out the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative for a start: marketing.wharton.upenn.edu/ideas/wimi/wimi_exec_summary.pdf


You won't see too many people at Wharton wearing suits, unless they are interviewing for a job. This is in line with what the school really feels like. Lots of people dress preppy, so flip-flops and shorts are not unusual. The admissions guy should not have looked shabby though -- it is surprising to hear this as admissions people are usually dressed very well.


They usually post questions in early August, and I do not see why this year should be any different.

It is unclear how exchanging notes on essays could help anyone differentiate themselves, though... I am a bit puzzled here because sharing that information achieves exactly the opposite: similar approaches are born and recycled, and it does not help anyone to stand out.

If you get in at Wharton, on average your life will be $3,340,334 better. I wonder what the standard deviation is.

https://www.businessweek.com/bschools/co ... 989005.htm