Wharton EMBA (Philly/SF) 2019 Intake: Calling all Applicants!

Good to know. Are you applying in Philly or SF? Hopefully we will be meeting in person week 1!

I'm a Philly applicant as I'm ~6 miles from the campus. Are you in for SF? I noticed the "(S)" in your post profile - have you already submitted?

Makes sense. Yeah, I'm over on the west coast, so SF is a much easier commute. I have not submitted--I'm taking the GMAT on 12/10, so planning to apply round 2.

Anyone going to the orientation tomorrow at Philly? I’m planning on being there. Hopefully I get to meet some of you.

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I am not - I went to one in October. They're very informative sessions with a lot of opportunity for networking among other prospectives and the AdCom. I should mention that I left that session feeling VERY inadequate as I compared myself to the other prospectives that I met. I took solace in thinking that (1) not all will be applying this year or even to Philly, and (2) everyone is sure to cast their highlight reel at these things (and I'm comparing that to my perceived shortcomings).

Thanks for the response. Yes, I had a phone chat with an admissions committee member based in Philly about this a couple of months ago. She mentioned that there were plenty of resources available for people looking for a career switch and that they can help with job search or internships to facilitate a switch. It seemed as if a switch can be done with the EMBA program but obviously depends on each specific case.

I’m applying for the SF program, will likely apply for Round 2, still working on getting the company sponsorship as I’m a fellows applicant. I’m not super concerned about the GMAT score for the reasons you specifically mentioned. I have a 48Q score too and have 2 engineering degrees- so have had my fair share of quant heavy courses.
I’ll probably schedule an interview in the upcoming weeks to learn more. Hope to meet some SF applicants here.


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Just submitted for R1, Philly. Keep my fingers crossed!

Good luck.

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Some really fruitful discussion happening here. Here I've compiled all important posts/comments about EMBA applications made so far in this thread as I intend to feature it in our weekly newsletter which get published every Thursday.

Importance of GMAT in EMBA Apps

GMAT is less of a concern at the EMBA level than it is in the FT program, especially if you work (or have worked) in a quantitative role. I had my phone chat a few months ago and asked about my 48Q (then a 74%ile score, now a 67%ile score - 70%ile seems to be the common threshold) and they explained exactly this. Fortunately, I work in M&A, am a CFA charterholder, and aced my undergrad quant courses (for what that's worth). The reason I scored lower on quant was because I aimed lower, recognizing it was easier to get my overall score up by focusing on boosting my V score.

Work Experience and Career Prospects after EMBA

• Quote:
  Would it be useful to do this EMBA program if you have under 8 years experience? It seems as if the class profile has an average of 10-12 years exp. I am also looking for a career switch from Biotech R&D to Business development/product development, does this program include enough coursework and networking/alumni support for such a career switch?
  At <8 years experience, you'd be considered a Fellows applicant and they'd like to see full company sponsorship (indicating a significant investment in you as a future senior management candidate, which signals to Wharton that you'd be a valuable contributor to the EMBA community). For this reason, they wouldn't support you in a career switch the way it seems you want. For Traditional applicants, there is a strong career advisory presence for those that need it. If you explain to them exactly what you explained to us, I suspect they'd direct you to applying to the FT program. But that's just an uneducated guess.
  .
• I had a phone chat with an admissions committee member based in Philly about this a couple of months ago. She mentioned that there were plenty of resources available for people looking for a career switch and that they can help with job search or internships to facilitate a switch. It seemed as if a switch can be done with the EMBA program but obviously depends on each specific case.

Admission Interview

You need to set up your own interview - it is required as part of the application. Before doing so, you're advised to set up a 15-minute "phone chat" with someone from admissions. During that discussion, you can ask questions about your candidacy or the program. I've found admissions to be more of an open book when compared to the admissions team for the full-time program. The whole phone chat and interview process is very casual. It's much more conversational than the full-time interview process (and obviously lacks the TBD aspect).

I'd advise you to make sure your resume is "bschool-ready" because you're required to submit it when setting up your phone chat and you don't want to submit a different one with your application.

Good luck - stay in touch on here as you agonize over it every day until the decision!

I'm submitting for Philly tonight.

Good luck to you too!


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Submitted for SF yesterday.

Good luck everyone!

What kind of question they ask during phone and on campus interview? Do they ask "walk through your resume" and "why MBA" questions only or some behavioral like "tell me about situation when..." as well?

Phone "chat": Very informal. This is an opportunity for you to understand whether the EMBA is right for you. I recommend you come armed with a couple [relative] softball questions that you can't find answers to online. For example, I asked about years of work experience and job titles. In my case, I have eight years of experience (right on the borderline between a Fellows and Traditional applicant) and my job title does not include "manager" but I have management responsibilities in my role.

I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but it was recommended to me that the resume I submit as part of the request to schedule a phone chat should be a final version that I expect to submit along with my application. The committee doesn't like to see major overhauls between the phone chat and application. I made a single change: the addition of a bullet describing my accomplishments in a recently announced major acquisition.

On-campus interview: More formal; however, less formal than the FT MBA interview process. There's a clear interest in greater transparency in EMBA admissions than in the FT MBA admissions process. I was asked all about my resume and then given an opportunity to ask questions. I was asked a lot about projects in which I demonstrated leadership or assumed management responsibilities. I was asked what kind of manager I am. I was also asked an interesting, unexpected question on ambition and at want point in my career progression will I feel like I've "made it." The "Why MBA?", "Why Wharton?", and "Why now?" all crept in there one way or another. In fact, I think "Why Wharton?" was something I circled back on when Diane asked the last question, which was "is there anything you wanted to discuss that we haven't touched on yet?" So I was given a fair opportunity to make sure I sold myself the way I wanted to. Overall, it was much more conversational than the FT MBA process. (full disclosure: I went the FT MBA application route a few years ago and among the schools to which I applied was Wharton)

Hi cgottuso,
Thanks for the interview details. I believe you had earlier said that you were only interviewed for about 30 minutes. When you look back at those 30 minutes, don't you think that the adcomm members have done so many of these interviews that they are able to keep it to 30 minutes and yet ask all the right questions to gauge the candidate?

I've read other accounts where candidates reported interviews lasting 45-60 minutes so I was a little uneasy leaving my interview which only lasted about 30. However, Diane was able to hit most of the questions you'd expect to face and I was able to answer them concisely. Again, it was still very conversational and we found ourselves on tangents from time to time.

In short, yes. I do believe they're able to assess our candidacy fairly in about 30 minutes.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and information. I just have one comment on the resume. I also heard that its best to have the final version ready before a phone chat, but I don't think people should be discouraged if they've already had their phone chats. It's probably best to submit your best application even if the committee prefers to have had a final version earlier.

Hi Everyone,

The transcript from today's live chat session with Wharton Round 1 admit cnweke has been posted here https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-it-to-win ... l#p2201741