[分享]Wharton Interview Tips

netghost · 发表于 2003-3-11 00:09:00

为Wharton Interview收集的有关资料，有些文件的内容有些重复，供大家参考。根据我自己的经验，对其它的学校也有参考价值。

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-11 07:35:00

GOOD STUFF。THANK YOU VERY MUCH！

philixlau · 发表于 2003-3-11 13:54:00

为什么我不能下载呢？

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-12 08:16:00

以下是引用philixlau在2003-3-11 13:54:00的发言：
为什么我不能下载呢？

奇怪？有的人可以啊。你再试一下看。

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-12 08:32:00

下面是NETGHOST文件中的内容，再次感谢！

The questions asked - no particular order

– Telephonic with Adcom Member
Why MBA
Why NOW
Why the particular school in question.
Walk through of resume
Describe your professional experience till now
Describe a leadership role u had assumed
What would u say is your leadership style
Why MBA & What kind of an MBA program are u looking out for?
Why Olin?
Tell me an incident when u felt proud, in any arena?
How would the people who know u describe u? (Answered thru various perspective - colleague, friends, closed ones etc)
What do u like doing in your spare time?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Describe your community service involvement.
How would u contribute to the program at Olin?
What is it about your self that u want the admissions committee to know.
Any area where I can help u with your application process or the Olin program.

– Telephonic with Adcom Bosss
What do you like about your current job/what don't you like
What would your superiors miss about you when you leave? What would they say you need to improve upon.
What kind of a leader would you want?
What would you offer your team, what would u expect to gain from the team?
How would you manage a team where people do not share the same vision?
What does an MCOM program not give u (since I am pursuing one) that you think an MBA program will.

– Telephonic with Adcom Boss
Example of difference in team opinion and how you resolved the conflict
Give an example where the applicant stuck to his ethics and how did it affect the others

- Tell me about your future plans?
Tell me about your present career development?
What International Experiences had you had till date? What did you learn from them?
What matters most to you and Why?

Telephonic with 1st year student
What risks have you taken in a leadership position and what was the outcome
As a leader what was your biggest failure and if given a chance what steps would you take to ensure that it does not happen again.

Personal with adcom Boss
What do u do outside work – What do you do in your spare time
3 words to describe yourself to the adcomm

Personal
Tell me about your job responsibilities
How do you work in teams or what makes you tick.
How will you add to the community and class of the GSB

Personal with Student
What clubs at Tuck would you like to join?

(Inputs from the interview experiences that fd96049 had with CMU) Telephonic
What would your teammates say about you?
How do you handle stress?
Most difficult decision you have made in your career?
What should I tell the Adcomm of your behalf?

(Inputs from the interview experiences that XXX had with Chicago) Personal with Alumni
How did you go about choosing Chicago GSB as a school of interest?
What are you looking for in a B-school education?
When you retire, what would you like your professional legacy to be? (in a single sentence)
Anything else that I haven't asked that you would like to talk about?

(Inputs from the interview experiences that XXX had with Kellogg) Personal with Alumni
What would you do with your time if you had unlimited money
Any inflection points in my life

(Inputs from the interview experiences that XXX had with Fuqua) Personal on campus
What do you appreciate about your boss regarding his management style?
How would you describe your current work and relate it to your MBA plans to a 5 year old child?

Questions to ask the interviewer
Ask about some courses that you have doubt with.
Ask about some facility or faculty and/or the background
If you could change one thing in the program, what would that be and how would you go about it?
Is the alumni association very active in other parts of the world?
How is the social life in and around the the school?

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-12 08:33:00

I am a first year HBS student who used these boards extensively last year.
A member of my section compiled the following information from members of my section.  I hope this helps.
As an aside, we've just today finished our first semester of class with finals beginning on Monday.  I can only say that this is a great place.
Good luck!
L7
Question:
A good friend of mine has an HBS admissions interview next week and was looking for some advice on how to prepare / what to expect, etc.  I was wondering if anyone who interviewed with HBS could drop me a line or two of suggestions on what to tell him.
Reponses:
Most likely the interview will be focused around that area but it is difficult to know upfront what is it going to be. Therefore there is little point of preparing apart from knowing your own application - resume, essays - inside out, knowing what Harvard is about from the website, brochures, etc.
I guess the most important thing is to come across as passionate about what you want to do in your life and be able to convincingly demonstrate why HBS and HBS only is the solution for you.

Here are some suggestions
1.

ractice answering some common questions
•       Tell me about a time you showed leadership?
•       Tell me about your job?
•       Why do you want to go to business school? Why HBS?
These are often asked and practicing with a friend or family member beforehand is helpful

2.  Now, think of things that make you stand out and come ready to talk about interesting things about yourself
•       Any interesting experiences in travel or other activities?
•       What book are you reading now?  Do you like it? What is it about?  Do you agree with it?
•       What do you do in your free time?  Why?
•       What are your long-term goals in work and life?

3.  Try to develop a rapport with the interviewer.  Let her talk about HBS, herself, whatever (if you can get her talking about her self, that is a good thing)

4.  Again, practicing beforehand can be helpful.  Good luck to your friend.  If he/she is anything like you, acceptance should be forthcoming.

Tell him to make sure he knows and can discuss everything on his resume and in his application.  Most of the questions will be based on what he's written.  He should essentially consider the interview his chance to augment what he has already sent in.  So, he should be able to discuss any weak points in his application (i.e., if his grades were low in college, he should be able to explain it in a "creative" way).  Overall, the interview isn't bad at all. It is really no different than a job interview - without any technical questions.

My interview was not the standard admissions interview.  I walked in ready to tell my boring life story and my canned reasons for wanting HBS.  Instead the interviewer (admissions staff person) asked me just 4 completely random questions-- from "Why I chose to live in DC" to "What book are you reading right now."  I don't quite remember the other 2 questions, but then she asked me if I had any questions for her and after just 15 min my interview was over.  The takeaway for me was that she was either tired that day or had a plane to catch, so all she wanted was to verify that I wasn't a drooling vegetable before they let me in.  Either that, or I look really, really cute in a suit and won her over immediately!

For every essay regarding leadership, teamwork, challenges, etc., they asked me for another example of such experiences that did not appear in my essays.
They also asked: Why HBS?  Why an MBA?  How does an MBA help you achieve your goals?  What is unique about you?  What will you contribute to class?
Candidates should emphasize that they believe in the case method and are seeking an MBA to become a general manager with a broad array of skills, as opposed to extensive training in any one functional area (e.g., finance).
Other: Be passionate.  I think they want to see that you’re very excited about HBS.  Also: review every word in your application and essays, and think about what your referees said about you.  The interviewer will know your application just as well as you do.
Be yourself.  Smile.  Laugh.  Demonstrate your personality.

I interviewed before I received my acceptance letter.  I must say that it was one of the toughest interviews of my life, but I survived.  Tell your friend to review her application before she interviews. The admissions committee will expect her to be able provide more detail about most of what she has included in her application. Remember that at the end of the day, there are no right answers, so she should be just fine.
On a positive note, I was told by a reliable source that if you’ve been asked to interview then you have a very good chance of getting in.

It depends on the interviewer.  I had a 3 hour interview with this guy in his office, and he grilled me on why I'd give up my high paying i-banking job to go for 2 years of no pay and massive cash outflow with an expensive degree from HBS.  Man he was tough.
I believe the interviewers are given a set of questions or at least a direction for questioning, I think so because they supposedly have access to your essays and files, or the Admissions Office tells the interviewer to look for certain aspects based on one's application.  So be prepared to defend oneself, and remember to go through the submitted documents just to make sure you're not mixing up what you wrote to Wharton with your conversation with the HBS interviewer.

But stay relaxed.  I don't know if the Admission Office sends out the letter this year but last year I got a letter saying being selected for interview means I was already running ahead of 80% of the rest of the applicant pool.  Though not all interviewed are offered admission and not all admitted students were required to have an interview, but just being granted an interview is by itself a good indication.  So relax.

I would suggest reviewing your application. Know what you wrote about and be prepared to discuss.

I was asked to describe a typical day.  I thought the interview was peppered with questions that started with Tell me more about...meetings I held, the company I worked for, why I want to go to business school, what I want to do afterwards.
It was pretty standard.  She went through some resume stuff, asked about my current project, what a typical day was like, and how I was being a leader.

Remind your friend to go through his resume and make sure he can answer why? to all the points.  In his response, he should recall what he learned and how he does things differently because of the learning (impact on himself and/or others).  As you know, HBS really likes the reflective, self-awareness stuff.

In my interview, they had very specific questions about my resume for which they were looking for direct answers.  Fortunately I had anticipated some of them, and responded just fine.  However, I understand that the interview process is definitely not a 'make or break' to a person's chances.  The admissions committee is trying to interview up to 90% of those accepted this year.  I would tell him to re-read his application and resume to prepare, and then to just relax for the interview.  It's not too big of a deal.

I applied in second round last year and I interviewed with HBS admission. Just to let you know, the interview was on the phone, as I could not travel from the country I lived in. They asked me mainly about myself, and especially for my leadership skills. The first question I remember was What it is your leadership style? They also ask me for specific actions I did that explained why I considered myself for example a team player.

I would suggest your friend to go over his essays and resume and be prepared to give more examples about what he wrote or to be more specific (actions, speech) on how he managed a situation or why he succeeded or whatever. At the end of the interview, you ask you
- If you want to add for the knowledge of the HBS admissions or clarify any point (I think I explained something better)
- if you want to ask any question (I did not ask any)
I was very disappointed and frustrated after the interview because most of the questions were very unexpected and it was hard to explain myself on the phone. But I was admitted

Be really prepared and passionate!

I did an interview they basically asked me and a lot of other people

1.)    What is your definition of a leader
a.    Is a team player
b.    Has a vision and can energize others towards it
c.    Empowers and creates other leaders
d.    Listens
2.) How have you demonstrated leadership?

I did the interview by phone. As I remember, some of the questions were:

1. Talk about a recent leadership experience (what role did you play, how many people involved, achievements and mistakes)
2. What is your leadership style?
3. What are the three things that make you unique? (i.e. what you will bring to the class that others can't)
4. Why do you want to earn an MBA?
5. Strengths and Weaknesses (typical)

I had a very good experience in the interview. They know the high level of anxiety that you are experiencing and try to make you relax before start asking questions. I felt that the most important thing was to be very honest as opposed to try to come up with perfect academic-formal answers... Hope this helps and good luck!
_____________________________________________________________________________
I know that there are a lot of HBS interviews coming up over the next few weeks, so I thought I should share my interview experience with my BW Fam.
I interviewed yesterday on the HBS campus - if you've never been, it is very impressive!  The HBS interview is the only one that I've had that hasn't been 'blind' (the interviewer has read through your app extensively and therefore has very targeted questions in terms of your candidacy).  As such, I did the following for preparation:
•    Read through my app very closely trying to anticipate what questions I would have if I were the interviewer - This was very helpful, because I correctly guessed that he/she would probably have some questions about my career goals, due to the short length of the essay that addresses that topic
•    Examined my resume with the same eye for detail
•    Researched the HBS curricullum including faculty names and expertise
•    Thought about the last few books I've read and what I go out of them
•    Further defined my career goals - so I could easily address bullet #1
The interview went well.  It was much more laid back than I anticipated - I think who you interview with largely determines this.  I had the opportunity to interview with the assistant director of admissions and he was great.  Very kind, articulate and laid-back.  Because he had read my essays his questions were much more targeted and the interview ran more like a dialouge than a question/answer session.
Some questions that were posed were:
•    Tell me more about your career goals and what you would like to accomplish
•    What would be your dream job when you graduated?
•    What is your biggest weakness?
•    Tell me about a time where you exhibited leadership?
•    How do you deal with clients that are uncooperative
•    Tell me more about your business plan and how you think it will be effective?
•    What do you like to do outside of work?
There were a lot of follow-on questions that were framed just for me (for example we talked a lot about my views on generic drugs, business plans and some community service activity that had caught his eye).
Final Tips/Thoughts
•    I don't think I could have been better prepared - I would suggest following the same steps for preparation that I took
•    Questions I could have been asked, but surprisingly wasn't -  What will you add to the Harvard dynamic, how are you unique, why HBS, why now
•    I always try to bring a little bit of humor into my inteviews, once I feel comfortable.  I succesfully cracked a few jokes and made him chuckle a few times - this shows that you aren't all academic
•    Smile and always show your passion for the program, for your career goals and for life in general!

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-12 08:34:00

Interview Tips

Attire

-  Business Suit

Preparation

-  Extensive study of the school
-  Resume / Looking back over your career path
-  Be there 30 minute ahead of the appointment
-  Self-confidence: Never forget how cool you are

Checklist

Criteria     Check point    Ready?
Academic Ability    Factors influencing college choice
    Rigor of undergraduate major
    Inconsistencies/ career and major
Work Experience    Factors influencing career choice
    Teamwork-related challenges

rogression of responsibility
    Leadership experience
    Expertise
    Explanation on the gap between jobs
Personality    Emotional intelligent
    Extracurricular commitments
    Maturity
    Communication Skill
    Creativity
    Sense of humor
    Analytical thinking
    Ability to learn from experience
    Self-awareness/introspection
    Self-confidence
    Life balance/the width of interest
Others    Well-organized
    Degree of readiness
    Consistency
    Overall positive & persuasive

Do & Don’t

    Do

-    Be self-confident and be yourself:
The best answer for how to prepare or do an interview comes from the adcom member of a b-school. She answered the question, “ Just recognize how great you are. Be self-confident, be yourself, and show him/her who you are.”
-    Answer in real, professional terms:
When you are asked about the hypothetical situation in terms of teamwork or leadership, try to speak in real, professional terms.
-    Show an interviewer how well-informed you are of the school:
If you are interested in international perspective of the Wharton, tell him/her which programs or classes can help develop your career in detail. Do not forget  How & Why
-    Imprint your strength into an interviewer:
If your strength is “passionate” (it is mine.   my nick name is “Walking Energizer!”), then show him/her your passion. What you are passionate for, What you have done for it, Why you are passionate for it, How it has changed your life, and How your passion is related to the decision to go to Wharton.
-    Big Smile & Positive thinking:
Never bother yourself with what you have already said during the interview. Even if you made a stupid mistake in your eye, the interviewer might think you are cool just because of it. Think positively.

    Don’t

-    Never pass the fine line between self-confidence and arrogance:
As you already know well, Wharton is looking for down-to-earth types of people. While you need to remember how great you are, you also need to keep in mind how great other peers are. It might not be anything wrong even if you are so confident of your accomplishment. However, do not overact to impress the interviewer.
-    Do not bring up GMAT unless asked:
Unless asked, you may not want to bring up GMAT. It wouldn’t matter whether your score is 800 or 600. 30 minutes are too short time even to articulate your passion and goal. You may not want waste your time talking about vague numbers. And then it may have a negative result.
-    Be ready but do not rehearse:
Unintentionally you might need to make up a story because of a lack of readiness. Study your resume enough. Think about your life-past and future. Be fully ready to answer any question. Sometimes we hear applicants were too nervous to remember the name of an author whose book they had read recently when asked. Check every stuff, which will be asked. However, Don’t rehearse the answer over and over. The interviewer can tell when people do this

Interview questions

-    WORK EXPERIENCE/CAREER GOALS

•    Walk me through your post-undergraduate work experience and describe transitions you’ve made.
•    Tell me about the person with whom you have least enjoyed working. How did this relationship function?
•    What are some of the frustrations/rewards you've experienced as a manager?
•    What are your plans if you’re not accepted into an MBA program of your choice?
•    Of what accomplishment at work are you most proud?
•    Describe your ideal work environment.
•    How do you vent work-related stress?
•    How does your current job relate to your career goals, where does an MBA fit in?
•    Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years?

-    WHY MBA/WHY MBA NOW/WHY Wharton
•    Tell me about the decision to get here – to apply for an MBA.
•    Why now?
•    Why do you feel you are a good fit for the school and vice versa?
•    What kind of value do you can add to the Wharton?

-

ERSONAL QUALITIES
•    Describe a difficult team environment in which you have been involved and how you responded to it.
•    What role do you usually play in-group situations and give some examples?
•    What happens when you feel strongly about an idea that a majority of your group is against?
•    Tell me about a conflict you had with a co-worker.  How was it resolved?
•    Tell me about specific situations in which you’ve had a leadership role.
•    How would others describe your leadership style?  Would you agree with this assessment?
•    If you suddenly had an afternoon off, what would you do with it?
•    In what non-job related activities do you participate? Describe your involvement.

-    OTHERS
•    Is there anything else you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you?
•    Is there anything you would have liked me to ask you that I didn't?
•    What would you say is the greatest weakness in your application?

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-12 08:34:00

Why Wharton/ Why now/ Ever disagreed with my manager/ Ethical dilemma/ What other career path I would have chosen if back 10 years/

I had my interview for the first round. It is blind, all they see is your resume, so be prepared to talk about it. Also be prepared to talk about leadership, and more importantly, teamwork examples. Also this question is guaranteed: in looking at your application, what would the admissions committee be most concerned about?

Alumni interviews are basically the same as 2nd year student and adcomm interviews--at least in terms of the questions asked. However, from my personal experience and from what I have read in this forum, alumni interviews seem to last a bit longer than 2nd year or adcomm interviews.

erhaps that's because interviews are not lined up back to back and it's a bit less formal.
I had two interviews--one for Lauder and one for Wharton.  My Lauder interview actually went a lot longer than typical.  Both interviews are pretty similar and very relaxed.  As many others have posted, typical questions include:
1.  Walk me through your resume, starting with your choice of college.
2.  Why MBA, why Wharton.
3.  What can you contribute to Wharton.
4. Describe the real you outside of work.
5.  How would others describe you.
6.  I indicated that I'm interested in pursuing a career in technology, so my interviewer asked my opinion on what is the future trend in technology.

Just did my interview yesterday with adcomm in London.  The McKinsey offices there are pretty sweet.  No big surprises:
Why did you go to school x, why did you major in underwater basket weaving?
What kind of things did you do outside of class in college?
How did you move to each of your jobs, and why?
How would your friends describe you?
what do you do outside of work?
What do you get out of your extracurricular activities, in terms of personal development? (this was the only one that caused me some trouble, but I should have been ready for it)
What will an MBA do for you?
Why did you decide to apply to Wharton?
Is there anything I haven't asked you that you were expecting to be asked?
What do you see as the biggest weakness in your application?
What questions do you have for me?
What was Carol Brady's maiden name?  (fortunately I watched a lot of Brady Bunch, so I knew this one)
My only advice is to have a real strong idea of what your take-aways are for the interviewer, and make sure you hit them, whether you're asked a direct question about them or not.  The 30 minutes goes by really quickly.  The adcomm was obviously a skilled interviewer and kept the discussion tight and focused, so I felt I had time to hit all my main points.

I had my interview with an adcom yesterday. It was very rushed as others have posted. They were running late as I was called in later than my time. I basically walked him through my resume starting with my UG and G schools. Then my jobs describing how I have progressed. I have about 8 yrs of experience so it took sometime. But I answered the Why MBA? Why Now? Why Wharton? questions without being asked during the resume walk-through. Since it appeared that we were running out of time, he asked me if I wanted to address anything specific. I had couple of "weaknesses" in my application which I wanted to discuss. So I took the opportunity to do that. Then when I asked him if he would like to ask any questions, he basically told me that I had done a good job of presenting my case and there are really no other questions.
It was strange interview in the sense he seemed rushed yet very polite to let me do the talking and not ask any questions. I believe I probably didn't get full 30 min, maybe I got 25 but I could be wrong. The overall impression I got was that either I was already "in" and so he was thinking "you're in, let me move onto next guy" or the exact opposite, like "I want to throw your application in the trash right now, so let's move on"! :-)
For what it's worth, my stats are 730 GMAT, 8 yrs WE in technology

Well, this thread has died down, but for those who still have it marked as “high interest” as well as for the benefit of next year’s prospectives, I will post my Wharton interview experience (Note: this was my second visit to campus, so please read post from mid-November for references to just visiting the campus.)
I arrived in Philly mid afternoon on Monday the 18th.  As the weather was nice and classes were wrapping up for the day, I walked over to the campus (I was staying at the Inn at Penn) to see what was going on.  While walking into Vance Hall, I ran into a couple of first years that I had met prior and talked with them for a while (I had kept up e-mail correspondence with them between November and Feb.)  As one of them had about an hour and a half to kill, we decided to grab a cup of coffee and talk about Wharton.  I basically barraged her with questions about Wharton - her first semester, what she liked, what she would change, pros/cons, Huntsman Hall, recruiting, interning, class schedule, time schedule, etc (she has been a wealth of info.) One thing that I have to say is that every student that I met at Wharton was more than willing to go out of their way to help, share their experiences, and answer any question in a straight-forward way (kudos to the W students as well as to the Adcomm – who run as transparent a process as possible.)  I noted the same thing from my November visit – for such a relatively large program; Wharton does an incredible job at giving itself a personal feel and making the application process as enjoyable as it could be!! ;-)  After coffee, I grabbed a bite to eat for dinner (New Deck Tavern??), and then headed back to my room to read over my app. and look at some questions for the following day.
Tuesday the 19th.  Got up and grabbed some breakfast at the street vendors outside of the UPenn campus.  For those who have not been, you have to eat at these stands.  The food is great and unbelievably cheap – bananas are a quarter ($0.25), breakfast sandwiches are about a buck ($1.00), and bottled waters are a buck ($1.00) – fantastic.  Anyway, a couple of minutes before 9:00, I met up with another first year that I had met from my first visit and I went to class with him – “Government and the Legal Environment of Business.”  The class was very interesting – discussing antitrust issues with the focus being on the Microsoft case as well as AOL/Time Warner.  Both the professor and the students were great – good conversation and points brought about throughout the discussion.  The professor was very cool, and I believe he used to be the head economist at the FCC.  Next, I went to a Finance Class that was really more of an Economics class.  Lecture format, but the professor was fantastic – witty, funny, and really jazzed up the topic well (I mean come on…as much as he could for lecturing on Productivity Growth and Price indexes!)  While I did not go to the second class with my first year host, I spoke with several students that were helpful, great at answering my questions, and passed along cards to drop them a line if I had any follow-up questions.  After the second class, I had a meeting with the head of a not-for-profit (not a student) that is run in conjunction with Wharton and UPenn (talking about his Program, how its run, ho it got started, goal of the program, etc.) - this lasted all the way up until my interview.  Around 1:30, I came down to the admissions office and took a seat in the waiting room, where there were several other candidates that were either visiting or interviewing.  When my interviewer was ready, he came out and called me in.  All-in-all, the interview experience was pleasant, very conversational, and last about 35 minutes (nothing to get stressed out about!)  While I provided the interviewer with a copy of my resume (for those who do not know, the interview is blind), he looked it over briefly and then slid it underneath his other sheets of paper and never took it back out.  The next half hour was mainly spent talking about my career, goals, interests, other activities, and a time for me to ask him questions.  The conversation flowed smoothly, with the interviewer speaking a decent amount of the time and with me speaking a decent amount of the time.  Questions and topics ranged from my current career goals to the books that I am currently reading or have read to extracurricular activities and community service.  Biggest “interview” question seemed to be the “What is the one thing in your application that the adcomm might find worrisome?”  Basically, I felt that this was an opportunity to address either a problem in my application or to further expand upon a point that may not have been made clear enough in the paper application - rather interesting question considering that the interviewer has not ever read the application.  After the interview was over, my interviewer walked me out to the lobby, wished me well, gave me his card and told me to drop him an e-mail if I had any further questions.  That was pretty much it.
So, at the end of it all, I feel relatively decent (as much as you can with a 20-25% chance!! ;-))  The only item that could potentially hurt was that the interview was sooo conversational – not sure if that is considered to be a positive or a negative.  Either way, I gave it my best shot and we will see what March 28th has in store.  Good luck to those that are still left to interview (second or third round) as well as to those who are interested in visiting Wharton this year or next.

I am an applicant from Australia and had my phone interview with an adcomm member named May this morning (Saturday 8am) - which was Friday 4pm EST.
I am not a morning person and obviously a phone interview is much tougher than a face-to-face interview (I believe) so I am not too happy with how it went (especially since I didn't spend much time preparing for it). Here is my synopsis anyway.
She was a bit cold and snappy throughout the whole interview and talked for about 5% of the time, with me babbling for the rest of it.
The questions she asked me were (almomst exact words):
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. Why Wharton?
4. How would your workmates describe you?
5. What is your most significant development need?
6. After your two years at Wharton, what would your classmates remember you by?
7. What is the greatest weakness in your application?
8. What are your plans after getting a Wharton MBA?
9. What do you do outside of work?
10. Do you have any questions for me?
I think I was a little verbose and it's tough to get your thoughts organized when you can't see the other person's reaction. My weakest part, though, was the questions I asked her. My first question was "What opportunities does Wharton provide to develop future managers in light of globalization?" My aim was to get her to explain some of the programs in place (INSEAD alliance, Global Immersion Program) - but she thought I was implying that Wharton was merely a "US School" - not good for me as it indicates that I did not do my research properly and didn't take Wharton seriously. I should have asked more specific questions and I think she was a little annoyed at the generality of my questions.
On the whole, it didn't feel comfortable at all until right at the end when she said "What time is it over there?" and I managed to crack a light joke. Damn nervewracking stuff. I hope the interview is not the critical part in evaluating the application...
Does anyone know how the whole process works, and what happens from here-on-in?

Had my on-campus interview last week  and just sharing my experience for those waiting for the final week of interviews.
Interviewer was rushed, I probably got 25 minutes despite early morning interview. Good thing was that I was told that I would be asked 15 qs. in 30 mins, so I was prepared. Keep the answers short or you'll lose them.
Started with a read of my resume. Why undergrad? Why present job? On the job progression. Reasons for intervening jobs. Why MBA? Why Now? Why Wharton? What do I do outside work? What would I do at Wharton outside academics?  How do my friends see me? What do I feel is the weakness in the app? Time flies and the bell rings, after you've asked your customary question from the interviewer.
I was told that the interview is another data point. the student readers read the app and sort out the application into two piles. The top ones get into the interview stage. The interviewer adds his rating to the app and it is finally read once again by the adcom. More than 8,000 apps in the first two rounds!!
Attend classes, gives a good idea of the culture. Very friendly and relaxed as expected. not the stressed out, time pressured guys at Harvard. Professors involve students and keep them on their toes. The most important difference between Wharton and the other schools: student government. Administration listens to students and that's what makes Wharton dynamic and responsive. In short, I loved the place and am sure so will most of you. Philly also gave me a sense of community and I guess I did not find the West Philly area as too intimidating (despite the reputation). Some good multi-ethnic restaurants in the neighborhood.
For those outside the city: recommend the Inn at Penn: expensive, but 90 seconds walk. Other option is Sheraton University city hotel. Aprox. $ 90/day. Five minute walk.

Recently I visited the Wharton School campus. I am really glad I took the time to go out and visit the place.  I interviewed previously with the alumni, but I thought that the visit should help me to get a general feel of the school.
First of all, I was really impressed with the quality of the student body. The students were nice and helpful. I learned in person that many students in fact have very impressive backgrounds.
I also visited two classes. The classes were taught by Eric Clemons and Gerald Faulhaber. Eric Clemons talked about the dot.com industry and the reasons why so many enterprises have failed. I was equally impressed by the quality of the content, as well as the robust teaching style. He personally worked with some of the companies he talked about. The class was interactive, with many students participating in the discussion.
Gerald Faulhaber was the Chief Economist at Federal Communications Commission, during the AOL – Time Warner merger, and incidentally that merger was the topic of the class discussion. Thus, prof. Faulhaber had a very insightful look at the situation.
I saw the Huntsmen Hall, the new Wharton building. I’ll tell you, It’s a really big building, and it looks like it’s going to be a nice one. I’ve heard that among other things they are going to have the oxygen monitors in each room; should the oxygen level go below the limit, it will provide the additional oxygen inflow. They’re going to install the wireless Internet network too.
Some of the previous visitors said that they were disappointed to see no laptops used by the students in classes. It turns out that Wharton’s policy is not to allow laptops during the classes, as they think that laptops divert the student’s attention from the class. They said that the studies conducted by other universities concluded that way too many students browse the Net or send e-mails while they should be participating in the class.
At the end, I visited the MBA beer night. Apparently, every Thursday they have this beer event at the school, where people get drunk and socialize. There was a nice enough relaxed atmosphere. I mingled with the students, which also helped to get a general feel for the school. In addition, they had a Chinese New Year celebration on that day, with people dancing in dragon suites. It looks like they actually have a lot going on at the school, definitely no time to be bored.

Hi everyone...I had my interview last week in SF with an adcomm member.  It was a pleasant and comfortable experience, with the interviewer giving some positive reinforcement during.  No surprises in the questions; the only question I hadn't seen posted before was "if two of your managers were discussing you, what would they say?....I think most everyone has had their interviews already, but I hope this isn't too late to be useful. Good luck to all.

Go to some classes before hand, and you might be able to come up with more interesting questions. If you're interviewing with a student, its always good to sound interrested in their lives as an "example for you to follow". So ask student-interviewer about how Wharton has helped their career development, and have something smart to say. You can also ask what their favorite class is... These are the kind of questions that people who already know about the school can ask - you'l get different answers each time so you are less likely to yawn in response.

Just had my local alum interview.  I know some of this is repetitive, but for those who are still preparing or those R3 folks who may search this thread, here's a summary of my interview experience.
All in all, it was pretty relaxed; she was a May 2001 MBA.  It was generally conversational but she definitely had some required questions.  Lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes.
Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
Why b-school right now specifically?
Why xxx undergrad?
Why xxx major?
Walk me through your career choices and why you left each job?
Long term career goals?  Why?
How many people did you manage at xxx job?
How did you keep them motivated to work for you?
Describe a sticky situation/conflict you worked through on the job?
How would you deal with a slacker in your Learning Team at Wharton?
What do you feel the AdComm will view as the weakest part of your app?
What do you like to do outside the office?
Any questions for me?
Anything else you feel the AdComm should know?
Hope this is helpful and good luck.

I had my on-campus interview yesterday with a Wharton 2nd-year student.  It was pretty standard.  Before the interview, I culled this forum and prepared a list of all the questions ever asked in Wharton interviews and I prepared answers for them.  No surprises ... the questions he asked were all on my list.  I'm kinda bummed, though, because there were a lot of questions I prepared for that he never asked.
There were probably 10 other people there interviewing on March 6.  I was a little intimidated by the quality of the other people.  Oh well ... we'll see how it goes.
Here's my list:
1.    Walk me through your resume, starting with undergrad
2.    Tell me about a time you faced conflict and how you resolved it
3.    What role do you usually take in a team setting?
4.    Tell me about a time when you exhibited leadership
5.    What is your job description?
6.    What do you do for fun?
7.    What will the adcom see as your weakness?
8.    Why do you want an MBA?
9.    Why Wharton?
10.    Why now?
11.    What would Wharton do for you that no other MBA program can?
12.    What would your colleagues miss least about you?
13.    What clubs and activities would you get involved in at Wharton?.
14.    What makes you unique?
15.    What will you contribute to Wharton?
16.    If we give you an offer, will you accept it?
17.    What other schools are you applying to?
18.    What areas do you need to develop?
19.    Tell me about a team experience that was a failure
20.    What would you concentrate in at Wharton?
21.    What do you want to do after you have an MBA?
22.    Do you have any questions?
23.    Tell me about a standout academic experience
24.    Tell me an important thing that you learnt from your work and school experiences
25.    Tell me about a specific situation in your professional career where you solved an important problem.
26.    How would your workmates describe you?
27.    After your two years at Wharton, what would your classmates remember you by?
28.    How would your friends and family describe your personality?
29.    If you could go anywhere on a vacation or a holiday for a day and there were no constraints (monetory as well), where would you go?
30.    If two managers were discussing you, what would they be saying?
31.    What else should the adcomm know about you?
32.    What is an important trend in technology?

I had my interview with an AdCom member yesterday. Actually, he did NOT ask me to run through my resume. He just looked at it, but started asking the default Wharton questions. In fact, I asked him to refer to my resume when I was talking about an incident that happened a few years ago. It was a very friendly, laid back conversation - felt like I was talking to an old friend. The whole interview lasted only 20 minutes!!
I felt it was more of an 'advertise Wharton' effort rather than a 'check the applicant out' effort.
Moral of the story?  Be prepared to NOT to run through your resume after all the preparation!
Good luck , you'll definitely do well after the preparation - JH

I had my interview on-campus on Wed.  The interview was very structured.....a watch was placed on the desk, I was told I would be asked 15 questions in 30 minutes and that I had ~ 2 minutes per question.
Take me through your resume.  Why undergrad
What were you involved in
Why did you change from this job to this job
How would your friends and colleagues describe you
Tell me about your extracurriculars
Why Wharton
Why MBA
Why now
Anything else you'd like to add
Any questions
What will adcomm see as your weaknesses and what have you done to address this weakness
It was very rushed, and not very comfortable.  I had to talk really fast to get my points across...in a word, intense.  I had enough time to ask 2-3 questions and only because both myseld and my interviewer spoke very fast.
My only suggestions to Wharton for next year would be to be more selective for interviews and allow more time, perhaps 45 min to and hour.  I felt that because the interview was so structured, the interviewer didn't have a chance to get to know me.  Everything that was asked was already answered in my application with a couple exceptions.

Look up for my earlier posting in this thread. I had approx 25-30 min with an adcom. I basically walked him through my resume for 75% of the time, say 15-20 min. But I managed to answer all the standard Why MBA, Why Now, Why Wharton, Backup plans, Leadership skills, teamwork etc. as part of that walkthrough. Infact, he didn't ask me a single question. So it all depends on your experience and your particular situation. My resume clearly indicates that I am at crossroads in my career and an MBA will help me greatly. So as long as you answer these questions, it does not matter how long it takes. I wish I had 45 min though!

I was not even asked to go thru my resume all I was asked is to talk about the decisions I made to get to the point I am at (does this mean I am supposed to go thru my resume). So I concentrated more on why I took up the jobs that I did.
My interviewer said he had a lot of questions to ask so I kept that in mind while replying and I kept my replies brief.
For some reason I was pretty happy with my interview yesterday (had my interview yesterday) but then I went over the interview atleast 3 times today and I am sick with worry.
Did anyone feel like this after an interview? Please someone say yes and make me feel better. I have never felt so stressed in my life.

didn't you mention that you were a spouse of a current MBA student??

I agree that you try to evaluate the interview and go through it several times in your head. When I came out of my Kellogg interview I thought i had done well. However, reflecting back on it the next couple of days...I felt terrible. I am yet to hear from K, but am certain that the interview was not the most positive aspect of my application. My chicago interview on the other hand was "wow! Maybe I should sign up for classes while I am on campus". Turned out to be a waitlist at the end.
My wharton interview went well, but I couldn't bolster what I thought were weak points in my app. So, I didn't think it was a successful interview from that viewpoint. But, in my opinion as long as you didn't end up getting into a fistfight with your interviewer...you are ok...
One interesting W interview question that I have been regurgitating to eveyone I meet is "Where would you go on vacation if you had one day and no limits on money to spend"?

I was not asked a single question during the interview. So when I asked the adcom if he has any questions for me, he told me that I had done a good job of covering everything and he didn't have any questions. I did answer all the usual questions, plus covered couple of weaknesses in my app during the interview. So I basically felt that either I was in and hence no questions or I completely sucked and hence no questions! :-)

12. What would your colleagues miss least about you? How the hell do you answer this one?
It's a little bit deeper than the traditional weakness question, in that it's also asking whether you can understand how you interact with others, and know how they perceive you. I think a little bit of honesty goes a long way here.
I talked about constantly throwing in ideas and comments into what are my colleagues' areas of responsibility, and how aggravating that must be. Also, how I'd tried to establish my bona fides in doing that, and convince them that I was only seeking adding a different perspective, not to interfere in their jobs.
16. If we give you an offer, will you accept it?
If you gush on about what a great place W is, and how it's SO right for you, they probably won't notice that you haven't answered yes or no to this question.
What will you contribute to Wharton?
Contributing you perspective in class is good, but make sure that in doing so, you don't weaken your own 'Why MBA' case (perhaps you could drop in the electives you are thinking about). Talking about clubs you would join (and why) will reinforce your interests, and suggest that you weren't lying/exaggerating about extra currics in your app.

Just had my interview- Saturday.  I'm really happy with how it went- I had a wonderful alumni interviewer who had a great personality- someone who I would totally want to hang out with.  I feel really good about it. When I walked in I was amidst several people that were waiting to interview- and they were all talking about the international market and blah blah- all very arrogant kind of- trying to show off to each other.  I wished that I had some of you guys there so we could huddle in the corner giving each other pep-talks- and I was thinking, "oh god- i don't want to go to wharton if this is what it's all about."  But when a group of them went in, the few of us remaining kind of looked at each other and started laughing- and then we started talking about real stuff- like how happy we were that it was almost over, etc.
For the interview I got the standard questions, but it flowed really well.  I thank everyone for sharing their experiences because had I not been prepared, I may have been thrown.
1. Tell me about yourself- this was kind of a walk me through you resume, but he was very clear that I could do this in a relaxed way- which I did.
2. Why MBA, why now
3. Why Wharton
4. What do you feel may be your weakness in your application
5. What do you want to tell me/discuss that we haven't covered or you were unable to cover in your application.
That's pretty much it.  I can't tell you how great this guy was and it really confirmed that I wanted to go to Wharton.  I know that Wharton interviews aren't the deciding factors- but now I kind of wished they were.
So I think today is the last day of interviews so we're all in for the wait.....

I had my on-campus interview last week.  The questions were:
1.  Why did you select the schools you did?
2.  How did you make your career choices?
3.  What did you learn at work that you did not learn in schools?
4.  How do you work in teams?
5.  How would your coworkers describe your leadership style?
6.  Which two qualities would you want me to highlight in the interview report?
7.  Have I asked you everything?  What would you want me to ask that I haven't yet?
8.  What are the weaknesses in your application?
9.  What do you do outside of work?
10.  Why MBA? Why Wharton? What do you want to do in your career?  What would you do at Wharton?
11.  Ask me some questions.
I felt good that I could generally project myself.  Although, I think I harped on few points more than I should have and did not answer some questions to the best of my ability.  Now, I feeling horrible.
I don't know what will happen.  Earlier, found my DING notice from Chicago.  So now am not sure.
Well, life will go on.  I will be successful in any case.  This is not the only path to success.

Well, I had my interview last Friday with an Alumnus.  It was absolutely horrible.  The moment I walked in his office I was told to sit down and run through my resume.  I was a little shocked.  He did not ask me how I was doing or how was my trip to his office, nothing.  So I started walking through my resume and almost immediately he started checking (and reading) his email.  I couldn't believe it.  At this point I lost focus.  I began speaking too quickly and at one point I had to slow myself down.
About 1/3 the way through the resume he stopped me and said he wanted to move on.  He highlighted a section of my resume and questioned the validity of my actual management responsibility.  He said he understood how consulting ‘works’ and highly doubted I could have had so much responsibility at a young age.  I can see how he might be skeptical, but he sure didn’t need to question my honesty.
After asking some basic questions (e.g. why Wharton, etc.) he proposed a very abstract hypothetical and asked me to explain how I would resolve the situation.  I told him what I thought and he was very displeased.  His words were something like ‘I wouldn’t expect you to be able to give an appropriate answer with the minimal amount of experience you have’.  The comment was very disheartening to say the least.
He continued to ask questions while checking his email every minute or two.  Believe it or not this is not all that happened.  But, I guess at this point it doesn’t matter much.  I think the part that frustrates me the most is that I have not heard of anyone else on these boards have an experience that remotely resembled mine.  I was totally unprepared for what happened and I choked.  I am very sad, as I am pretty confident my Wharton quest is over.
I would highly recommend to round 3 candidates that you interview on campus.  I would bet a 1000 $ that 99.9% of Wharton alumni give a fair interview.  But, is it worth the risk of getting a bad one?  It wasn’t for me.

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-12 08:42:00

ON-AIR:

The Wharton reception was to start at 6:00pm and end at 8:00pm. I got held up at work and was unable to leave till 5:00pm. It was 6:10pm by the time I boared the CTA train from near O'Hare airport to downtown Chicago I seriously considered not attending. I was glad I decided to proceed, it was a very informative session. The reception was at the Chicago office of Bain & Co. in Sears Tower, Alex Brown and a woman from the Lauder institute were presenting, I could not get her name. By the time I reached they were about to begin the part that dealt with how applications are evaluated, and what to focus on in order to create a compelling application.

There was a little bit of a lull as Alex answered a question, I took the time to settle in and survey the room. Maybe I am a little shy, but it was intimidating. Lots of polished, young, good looking and well-dressed folks around, radiating an aura suggesting success and achievement - the kind that might be projected by a McKinsey consultant or Goldman Sachs investment banker if you have run into that type. Questions were articulately stated with well modulated voices and flawless accents. It was indeed a sobering thought that I would be competing with folks with such "star-dust" in an interview situation. There were about 60-75 people in attendance, a little less than I had expected.

First a few dont's that Alex really stressed on:

- Don't write your own reccos, it shows in writing style and tone

- Don't fudge anything relating to work experience, transcripts and reccomendations. Wharton will do a background check on 100% of all admitted students for fall 2003 (as opposed to 10% for fall 2002), a $35 fee for this will be added to your matriculation deposit.

- Don't think you can explain away a GMAT below the 660-760 middle 80% range and substitute a superior undergrad record as proof. Retake to show willingness to go the distance for your Wharton app, it gives adcomm folks who really like you a way to push your candidacy, especially if you are a reapp, comments like "but what about his/her sub-par GMAT score" can sink a candidacy in tough times like these. Once you are comfortably in the middle 80% range however, GMAT is not a very major factor.

- Don't try to "read" the interviewer and tailor your presentation accordingly, be honest. The interviewer should be trying to "read" the candidate, not the other way round.

A few miscellaneous items:

- First reader of a app is a 2nd year student who the adcomm has trained.

- For fall 2002, 45% of candidates were invited for interviews, they felt that they were too forgiving and interviewed candidates who were a clear reject. This year they plan to interview about 35% of candidates, although it could be higher depending on the number of apps.

Here is a list of things the adcomm looks at:

1. Academic aptitude (GPA, transcripts, GMAT)

2. Professional Developmenti. Work experience (industry, job function, role)ii. Career progressioniii. Management of careeriv. Leadershipv. Management experiencevi. Teamwork experience

3. Personal Qualitiesi. Interpersonal skills (teamwork, leadership, emotional IQ)ii. Ethicsiii. Work/life balanceiv. Passion for interests and hobbiesv. Contribution to community and activities

4. Presentationi. Be aware of patterns in application and backgroundii. Articulate:- short and long-term goals- why MBA- why MBA now- why Whartoniii. Grammariv. Be yourself, want interview to reinforce essays

There were 6 alumni present, with exception of a class of 93 grad, the rest were recent grads, ranging from class of 98 to 00. There wasn't any special information provided by them, perhaps it was because the questions were pretty conventional. All of the alums were very well put together and very articulate, an impressive bunch.

After the alum Q and A there was a sort of "mingle and chat up others" session. A lot of people lined up around Alex Brown to hear his answers to questions being posed by fellow attendees. Alex was very patient and thoughtful with his answers, which were extremely detailed. Alex Brown is a class act, and at the end one girl remarked that she had been to several other MBA receptions, but Wharton's was by the far most helpful and informative, most of the credit for which should go to Alex.

Someone asked how important it was to show commitment to Wharton by performing a campus visit, Alex didn't come out and say it makes no difference, but my interpretation was that was indeed the takeaway. He said that they didn't track how many candidates visited the campus, and he said that with the Wharton CD, which is close to 500 pages of printed matter, most applicant questions about the program should be answered. Many candidates used on-site interviews to do a campus visit as well, but his reccomendation to international candidates was not to bother with flying several hours or a day for a 30 minute interview, and stick to alum or on-the-road interviews.

I asked a question about the mechanics of how a reader evaluates a app, whether they assign numerical ratings on each of the key elements of the app mentioned by him in his presentation, or whether it is more of a composite yes/no/waitlist decision. He said that they do have a overall scale on which the adcomm will rate candidates, based on that some applicants will be clear admits and some clear rejects. The rest will be in the possible admits catgeory. The committe will discuss them again and move them to either a reject, waitlist or admit category, an application might be discussed multiple times before a final decision. The final decision is subjective in the sense that it is not based on just taking a numerical overall rating and setting cutoffs to arrive at target admit offers. He said that each reader will write comments on the application which will often serve as the basis of discussion among the adcomm.

To me the takeway from the above discussion of mechanics of application evaluation is that one must do a solid all round job on all elements of the essays and leave a few clear themes in the mind of the reader in order to win the reader over to being an enthusiastic advocate of your app. If you are a "possible admit" and don't really leave a lasting impression in the reader's mind, you are doing yourself a disservice and relying on luck of the draw.

The lights went out at 9pm, but a Bain employee hosting the Wharton group turned them back on. Alex apologized for straggling on past 8pm, but the guy replied not to worry, he needed to stay on for a few more hours at work anyway (future Bain consultants please note!). The whole session finally ended at 9:30pm.

Once again, I must reinforce what a standup guy Alex is. Classic midwestern virtues - friendly, warm, polite, plain-spoken with a gentle sense of humor. If other admissions directors are as perceptive as he is, you better damned well be honest in your essays and interviews, because this means that they really do know their stuff inside and out.

I understand that as an applicant, it is difficult to determine what makes a school unique. Now that I'm a first year at Wharton, and have had the opportunity to speak with my friends at other business schools, I can tell what makes Wharton unique.
I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I think the four week pre-term is very unique to Wharton. About 75% of the class showed up to campus on July 30 to begin pre-term. It's a month long program with classes designed to prepare you for first semester, but the reality is that it's a month long party. Grades in those classes don't count for anything. We have grade non-disclosure as it is, but we don't even receive grades for our pre-term classes. It's a relaxed time to settle in and meet your classmates. I'm not aware of any other school that has this. Some other schools might have a week long orientation, or perhaps a trip with a small group of your future classmates. But Wharton brings the entire class together in Philadelphia.
At Wharton, we have the opportunity to gain real world experience in the first year. Granted some other business schools also have this, but most of my friends at other business schools say that they don't have any projects with external companies until their second year. Wharton first year students are required to complete the FAP, a field application project. It's basically a consulting project for a company, and will give us the advantage of this experience before our summer internships. I'm fulfilling my FAP requirement with the Global Consulting Practicum (GCO). My team is working with a client in Israel that wants to launch their product in the US. Added bonus, the client covers our travel expenses for a meeting in Prague over Winter Break.
I think another unique part of Wharton is the student-driven culture. The MBA students practically run the school, and are involved in everything! We work on the admissions committee, organize amazing conferences (there seems to be one every week!), we coordinate treks to visit companies all over the country that might not necessarily recruit on campus, we volunteer to do consulting projects for Philadelphia nonprofit organizations, we provide feedback to our professors halfway through the term so they can modify the class based on student needs, and we organize amazing parties such as the Wharton Winter Ball, Walnut Walk, and the Halloween party,
Another great thing about Wharton is that 80% of us live in Center City. It makes for a very close community when we all live within blocks of each other. Center City is about a half hour walk from campus, so even though we all live near each other, we also have that separation from campus. I could go on, but I'll stop now. I'm sure there will be perspectives from other students as well.

It's funny, because as I go through the intership search process, I find myself asking the same question of companies, and I often hear the same answers over and over. When it comes down to it, it's how a variety of factors that appeal to you come together AND, in the end is largely driven by culture. Where do you feel "right"? For me, Wharton feels right.
I've listed some reasons below why I love Wharton, but you can find bits and pieces of these points at lots of schools, just not all at the same school.
1) The people- people here are extremely motivated, want to get involved, and help each other out; for example, at exam time, everyone is sending around study sheets to help each other prepare, during the recruiting season we read each others cover letters and mock interview each other. There are always exceptions, but overall I find it a competitive but friendly environment
2) Teamwork- I am on a team with one other US student and students from Chile, Japan, Taiwan and India- whether you want to go into global business or not, this is a tremendous opportunity to build friendships with people across the world and gain new perspectives on everything from business to socializing to food...
3) Teaching method- personally, I learn best from a mixture of lecture and case methods. Case's are fun and often more interesting, but I'm not going to learn how to find net present value through a discussion.
I could go on and on- I've found the professor's very interested in their students (my finance professor took everyone in his classes to lunch or happy hour in groups of 6 this past semester). Everything is student run- if you don't like something, you can do something about it (you just have to take the initiative versus sitting around complaining...). And, I actually think Philly is a great city...

That is an interesting question. If you ask fifty Wharton students what is unique about Wharton, I bet you would get fifty-one answers. And that, in and of its self, is what makes Wharton unique. Wharton offers its students an infinite range of possibilities to shape their own educational experience here. If there is something that you don’t like about Wharton as a student, then you can change it. The faculty is very responsive to student input and the students are willing to do the extra work if they think that they can improve on Wharton in any way.
I’ll give you an example. Wharton has Pub every Thursday in order let MBA students congregate and blow off steam after a tough week at school. A Wharton student decided that while Pub is a good idea, the environment was too rowdy for families and people who do not drink. She procured extra space and opened up the Salon, which takes place during Pub and features softer music, pizza, ice cream, and forms of themed entertainment (such as International Salon or Live Music Salon).
Now that Salon has been around for a semester, the student body received a questionnaire about whether or not we thought Salon was valuable, what could be improved, and what we liked the most about Salon. We will either scrap Salon or make it better. This is a very typical example of any sort of initiative that takes place at Wharton. And there are a lot of initiatives.
This continual innovation and the ability of students to make their Wharton experience fit their own needs is what makes Wharton unique.
As a prospective student, you need to think about what this means for you. It means that you will need to be proactive. You will need to be able to not only stomach change, but if you want to be truly successful, you will need to know how to instigate change. You need to be able to thrive in situations of uncertainty and you need to be supportive of others in uncertain and uncomfortable times. These are the qualities that I would like to see in my future classmates, and later, alumni, at Wharton because if Wharton has students with these qualities, then Wharton can continue to maintain its position as an innovator in the future.

The Global Consulting Practicum is a one-credit course that provides a hands-on, real world consulting experience. Participants are selected through interviews and an application, and each time has 5-6 people. The teams traditionally have first and second year students, but last year, it was dominated by first years. You also have a partner team at an international business school. I worked with a team of 5 at the Recanati School in Israel. There are also partnerships with schools in Chile, Mexico, and India.
The client is international (ours was in Israel), and they wanted to enter the US market with their scooter product. Our team was responsible with developing a market entry strategy (who should they target, how, distribution, price, etc.).
There are other similar projects for second years such as ASP (advanced study project). ASP students might work with a faculty member on a project, or with an outside company. There are definitely a lot of opportunities for hands-on consulting experience through GCP, ASP, FAP, and clubs such as the Wharton Community Consultants.

I felt that the GCP would help me to achieve my goals because it provides real world experience in both marketing and consulting. My goal is to move into marketing, so the GCP provided additional experience in my first year at Wharton in developing a marketing strategy for a new product. In my first year internship interviews, I was especially glad that I was doing the GCP because I was able to provide relevant, current stories about my marketing experience in the interview. Same goes for consulting. I think this helps differentiate you from other candidates, and when you begin your internship, you all ready have some real world experience that you gained during your first year of business school.
To effectively change careers, you need as much practical learning as possible, and the GCP provides this opportunity. I respond very well to a "learn by doing" approach, so the project was a good fit for me.

I wanted to ensure your questions got answered. I am a second year at Wharton, and I'll provide some insight into my decision process, which is pretty much different depending on the individual.
When you're considering an MBA program, you have to think about what you want to get out of it. Also, be honest with yourself about what type of program best suits your background and skills. The best way to find that out is by attending classes at each of your preferred schools (if possible) or talk to as many people at the school as you can.
When I was making the decision, I decided that I wanted to go to a school with a rigorous program that would push me in the learning process. I also wanted a variety of teaching methods (case, lecture, etc.). I didn't mind attending a large program (like Wharton) because I felt that the network would help me in the long run. The people at the school were also very important to me. I wanted to go to school with people who I could work with but also consider friends.
Wharton fitted the bill for me. On campus visits and at Wharton Welcome Weekend, I felt that all my needs would be met in this program. Not everyone is looking for the same things in an MBA education, so I'm sure people choose Wharton over other schools and vice versa.
My best advice to you is to think about what you want in an MBA program and identify which schools best fit your needs by visiting the school and talking to students. This isn't a decision to be taken lightly, and a lot of research is necessary in finding the right school for you. Best of luck!

I chose Wharton over Kellogg for several reasons, some academic and some personal. Having known many alumni from both schools, I knew I would fit in and have a great experience at both schools. So why did I choose Wharton?
1) Academics- I am interested in marketing. Although Wharton may officially be ranked as the number 2 Marketing school, I feel that strong quantitative skills are critical to success in marketing, and that I could better gain these skills at Wharton. Now that I'm here, the validity of this decision has been confirmed by the marleting companies whom I've spoken to so far- they love Wharton grads for their ability to aggressively attack marketing problems from the qualitative AND quantitative sides.
Other factors included:
1) The learning team structure, where you work with the same 5-6 people for the entire year, which is representative of the workplace
2) The International diversity- my learning team includes members from India, Japan, Taiwan, Chile, and one other American- although our meetings often last much longer than they should as we compare cultural notes and stories, it has been such a great experience (an the long meetings are well worth it!)
3) I love Philadelphia. Period. (and it's not as cold, and as a married student, being in a city where you are able to spend some time with the non-Wharton community is nice)
4) Reputation- and a well deserved one- Wharton students are bright and competitive, but competitive in a positive way. They are passionate leaders. Basically, everyone just wants to make a difference and learn a lot, but learning a lot does not mean being buried in books all of the time. It means getting involved, taking the initiative to change things that need to be changed, and most importantly getting to know your classmates during intramurals, community service, and social events. I have found that I have much to offer my fellow classmates, and my classmates have even more to offer me!

hi! I'm a current first year student who wrestled with the decision of whether to choose wharton (or the other schools I'd been admitted to) right up to the last moment. it was a tough decision because many schools have great things to offer, but I think it came down to a number of key things.
•    alumni - any wharton alum I encountered on the way could not stop raving about his or her years at wharton
•    the proactiveness of the students/administration/faculty - everyone here is constantly striving to make things better - whether through open discussions about the curriculum and recruiting or through official feedback to professors mid-quarter - nobody seems to be resting on past accomplishments or reputations - the school has a sense of humility but also an intense drive to be the best possible program
•    people - it's been said before, but the people I met at wharton's admit weekend were the most international, the most well rounded, and came from some of the most interesting backgrounds - not to mention, everyone was so excited to be here - there's something contageous about that feeling
•    size - I was looking for a large school, wharton fit the bill
•    location - I was also looking to be back on the east coast
•    faculty - I was blown away by the courses I attended when I visited campus - some stunning professors
•    case and lecture - I think both are valuable and wanted a place where I could learn by each method
•    reputation, particularly in quantitative subjects - wharton's reputation is stunning and will open as many doors as an mba from one of the other schools you're considering, but I was particularly drawn to the known strength of the quant background I'd receive - coming from a softer liberal arts background, the strength of wharton's program is a great complement to my experiences
so those are the top reasons that led me to make my decision. that's not to say I didn't struggle with it up until the day the checks were due. but in hindsight, after speaking with friends who are first years at each of the schools you mentioned, I'm glad to be here and feel I made the right decision.

OK, here's a run-down. We have started the course out by talking about a few theories of entrepreneurship. We have talked about the entrepreneurial mindset and how it typically differs from the venture capitalist mindset. I think that one of the main ways that Wharton can add value is by showing entrepreneurs how their ideas will be evaluated by venture capitalists, angel investors, and lendors.
The last couple of days, we have evaluated businesses that are currently being incubated in the Wharton Venture Initiation Program. The WVIP is an incubator that provides students with access to professors, corporate advisors, and the use of certain Wharton facilities to a select number of ideas by Wharton students each year. Another cool program, called the Whartom Small Business Development Center, allows current students to provide consulting to small businesses and start-ups in the Philly area. (I just thought I'd throw that in there).
I saw a presentation on an idea that I thought was really cool today, and I am actually going to go through my personal contacts to try to get it funded.
Anyway, we are also breaking up into groups this week to write business plans. Over the course of the semester, we will draft business plans that will receive criticism from our classmates. The final product should be a high-quality business plan capable of being funded, or in certain cases, a conclusion that the original idea was not feasible... this is really equally as valuable as an entrpreneur, though much more frustrating.
There are other cool entrepreneurship classes at Wharton. One of them, called "Entrepreneurship through Acquisition" focuses on acquiring small business and either repositioning them, accumulating them, or operating them more efficiently to add value. It is a really cool concept. You start the course off by going to a real business and asking what they would like to sell it for, then ask them for financials to see if you thought you could buy the business and make it more valuable than what you bought it for.
Another favorite is Entrepreneurial Marketing, which is really all about using advanced market research techniques with a limited budget. It also covers a little bit about getting over and building barriers to entry... not sure about that, though.
Wharton is very supportive of entrepreneurship. If you tack on the number of Wharton graduates who end up going into venture capital, private equity, and finance, and you will find that entrepreneurs at Wharton also have an incredible advantage in terms of getting their ideas financed through their own personal network. For entrepreneurs hesitant about getting an MBA, that is really a deciding factor.

Sorry for taking me a while to get to this one. Why I think that Wharton is good fro entrepreneurs is a separate question from what I think of Wharton's Entrepreneurship program as a whole. I know a lot of people who plan on starting their own companies who do not focus on Entrepreneurship here at Wharton.
If you look at the qualities that make Entrepreneurs successful: leadership, willingness to get your hands dirty, and well-roundedness, I think that Wharton excels in developing those skills.
Leadership. In terms of leadership, Wharton offers about 100 active clubs on campus. Most of the initiatives on campus are student-driven, and even the curriculum is, to a large extent, shaped by the students. For those who wish, the opportunity exists to lead a club or to start a new program at Wharton. The skills developed in this process far exceed anything you can learn from a book. For me, one of my major developmental needs has been that I don't like cold-calling people and I don't really like using the telephone. This semester, I am managing relationships with 13 consulting firms and am managing 5 first year students to be in touch with 50 more firms. A book won't teach you how to be successful in that endeavor, you must experience success and failure to grow this skill.
Getting your hands dirty. Yeah, sometimes people make fun of Whartonites for being "quant-jocks" and knowing obscure details about short-cuts in Excel. While I enjoy debating strategy while discussing a case, at some point, the rubber has to hit the road. If you sit in a marketing class and say that "Company A should do this" without having numbers to back you up, you can expect to be criticized. Strategic issues are seldom "soft." Wharton demands that you do your homework before jumping to conclusions. Similarly, in an entrepreneurial environment, you need to have the discipline to objectively analyze your ideas and be sure that they make sense from a profitibility point-of-view.
Well-roundedness. Wharton has a very large set of core classes in the curriculum. Core classes are required of everyone (unless you can waive them through a placement test or by credential) who attends Wharton. The drawback here is that you don't get to take a lot of the "fun" classes. On the bright side, you end up with a very strong business foundation in a variety of subjects that always comes in handy as an entrepreneur. During the summer, I would do strategic planning some days, delve into cost accounting on other days, and at times, I was conducting operations management. Had you allowed me to take the classes I really wanted to take at Wharton, I probably would have skipped out on OPIM (operations and information management) and I might have skipped over cost accounting altogether. As an entrepreneur, you must be a jack-of-all-trades and I think that the Wharton education ensures that you don't have any "holes" in your education. In a small business, you can't always play to your strengths.
I hope this answers your questions as to why I think that Wharton is a good place for entrepreneurs. I imagine that you are shopping around at other schools, so I would keep these sort of questions in mind when asking about other programs and how they would help to develop the skills an entrepreneur needs.

Hey, 2nd-year at Wharton here. Glad to hear the message is FINALLY sinking in that Wharton is a leadership school not simply a Finance school. Besides the required Leadership course, (an an Advanced course for second years) we offer a number of ways to develop your leadership skills at Wharton, including:
1. The Leadership Fellows: interested people can apply to be TA's for the leadership class and act as mentors for the first years. There are a million tasks the Fellows head up, but one of the most well-known is running the required leadership retreat in pre-term, where everyone heads to the Catskills to meet their learning team members and work on their teamwork and presentation skills.
2. The Leadership Development Club: organizes workshops, provides an alumni mentoring network, and helps coordinate the "Leadership Lecture Series", our series of well-known speakers that come to campus (last year we had Jack Welch, etc.).
3. WILL: The Wharton Initiative for Leadership Learning: an experimental program that kicked off this year. Hoping to expand next year. This program is faculty-guided, and helps entering students develop their leadership skills through a framework of self-reflection and peer-coaching. They also work on building their networks and seeing the process of leadership development as a lifetime, not simply a two-year, commitment.
4. The Leadership Ventures: the most famous of our leadership initiatives, this program is run by Professor Mike Useem, author of several well-known books on Leadership and head of the Center for Leadership and Change at Wharton. This is the program in which students engage in "experiential learning" at places like Gettysburg, Mt. Everest, and even Marine training at Quantico, in order to delve deeply into the practice of leadership. Really fun program . . . I did Gettysburg and had a blast.
Hope this helps! If you want to develop yourself as a leader, I really believe that there is no b-school with the range and depth of offerings on the subject. Then again . . . I'm a bit biased! :-)

2462.33 in reply to 2462.32
Hi Lia!
Yes, Wharton is surprisingly entrepreneurial and I say that because everyone tends to think of the school as traditional and finance-focused. Not true!
My experience so far has been quite positive. My opinion of entrepreneurship is more guided by the personalities involved than the courses offered. In this respect, Wharton is great -- the Wharton Entrepreneurial Program (WEP)(http://www.wep.wharton.upenn.edu/wep/) is headed by Profs. MacMillan and Amit, both outstanding personalities in the field of entrepreneurship. There is also a shadow cast of guys like Jimmy Thompson and Steve Wormald who do an outstanding job behind the scenes and who are always keen to listen to your ideas and think strategy with you. Check out the pasted comments from the WEP website at the bottom of this msg.
As I said, my opinion is that entrepreneurship is about people and ideas more so than classes and academia, and the cast at Wharton is truly unique but very much "under the radar" i.e. low profile, deliberately so! This doesn't mean that things like marketing research aren't important (they are, critically so!) but rather that they will only confirm your suspicions about something. After all, the entrepreneur sees opportunity where others do not, hence by definition is unlikely to listen to doctrine or reasoning! (Sorry, that's my pig-headed stubborness coming out)
The topic of innovation is more of an underlying theme in many classes, including entrepreneurial ones. You will find Lori Rosenkopf's MGMT802 course on "Innovation, Change, and Entrepreneurial Management" to your liking. This is an excerpt from the MGMT802 syllabus:
This core bracket course will expose you to a mix of approaches and techniques that promote innovative thinking and entrepreneurial behavior in organizations. The first half of the course examines how patterns of change in technologies and industries create both opportunities and threats for existing firms and entrepreneurs. Theoretical models and actual examples emphasize how technological and organizational systems are key components of an "entrepreneurial mindset". The second half of the course focuses on tactics and strategies that encourage innovation and entrepreneurship within (and between) organizations. Cases and articles highlight critical success factors for both new and established firms, and also how interorganizational activities shape markets and opportunities. Two guest speakers will visit to supplement our discussion and to promote interaction with practicing managers.
There are of course other offerings like MGMT801 "Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation" that focus on getting a business off the ground but which are also intimately tied to innovation. Check out http://www.management.wharton.upenn.edu/CourseScreens/CourseSchedule.htm for more information, let me know if you have any problems with accessing the website.
Hope this all helps,
Alex K.
----------------------------------------------------------------
From the WEP website
Dr. Ian C. MacMillan, the Fred R. Sullivan Professor; Professor of Management, was named Executive Director of the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center in 1987. Dr. Raphael Amit joined Wharton in 1999 as Academic Director, Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Programs. Professors MacMillan and Amit are internationally-recognized researchers and consultants in entrepreneurship and strategic management.
Other Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs activities include the Wharton Business Plan Competition, the Journal of Business Venturing, the Family-Controlled Corporation Program, the Venture Initiation Program (an “accelerator” facility) and a Small Business Development Center (SBDC). In addition to the Wharton SBDC, the operations of all 16 Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers are supervised through Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs.
Under Professors MacMillan and Amit’s leadership, Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs has developed and is expanding an extensive array of international programs and initiatives. As countries around the world turn toward a free-market economy, Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs recognizes both a responsibility and an opportunity to support the emergence of entrepreneurship globally.

老虎油 · 发表于 2003-3-12 08:43:00

+departmentWhy Wharton/ Why now/ Ever disagreed with my manager/ Ethical dilemma/ What other career path I would have chosen if back 10 years/

I had my interview for the first round. It is blind, all they see is your resume, so be prepared to talk about it. Also be prepared to talk about leadership, and more importantly, teamwork examples. Also this question is guaranteed: in looking at your application, what would the admissions committee be most concerned about?

Alumni interviews are basically the same as 2nd year student and adcomm interviews--at least in terms of the questions asked. However, from my personal experience and from what I have read in this forum, alumni interviews seem to last a bit longer than 2nd year or adcomm interviews.

erhaps that's because interviews are not lined up back to back and it's a bit less formal.
I had two interviews--one for Lauder and one for Wharton.  My Lauder interview actually went a lot longer than typical.  Both interviews are pretty similar and very relaxed.  As many others have posted, typical questions include:
1.  Walk me through your resume, starting with your choice of college.
2.  Why MBA, why Wharton.
3.  What can you contribute to Wharton.
4. Describe the real you outside of work.
5.  How would others describe you.
6.  I indicated that I'm interested in pursuing a career in technology, so my interviewer asked my opinion on what is the future trend in technology.

Just did my interview yesterday with adcomm in London.  The McKinsey offices there are pretty sweet.  No big surprises:
Why did you go to school x, why did you major in underwater basket weaving?
What kind of things did you do outside of class in college?
How did you move to each of your jobs, and why?
How would your friends describe you?
what do you do outside of work?
What do you get out of your extracurricular activities, in terms of personal development? (this was the only one that caused me some trouble, but I should have been ready for it)
What will an MBA do for you?
Why did you decide to apply to Wharton?
Is there anything I haven't asked you that you were expecting to be asked?
What do you see as the biggest weakness in your application?
What questions do you have for me?
What was Carol Brady's maiden name?  (fortunately I watched a lot of Brady Bunch, so I knew this one)
My only advice is to have a real strong idea of what your take-aways are for the interviewer, and make sure you hit them, whether you're asked a direct question about them or not.  The 30 minutes goes by really quickly.  The adcomm was obviously a skilled interviewer and kept the discussion tight and focused, so I felt I had time to hit all my main points.

I had my interview with an adcom yesterday. It was very rushed as others have posted. They were running late as I was called in later than my time. I basically walked him through my resume starting with my UG and G schools. Then my jobs describing how I have progressed. I have about 8 yrs of experience so it took sometime. But I answered the Why MBA? Why Now? Why Wharton? questions without being asked during the resume walk-through. Since it appeared that we were running out of time, he asked me if I wanted to address anything specific. I had couple of "weaknesses" in my application which I wanted to discuss. So I took the opportunity to do that. Then when I asked him if he would like to ask any questions, he basically told me that I had done a good job of presenting my case and there are really no other questions.
It was strange interview in the sense he seemed rushed yet very polite to let me do the talking and not ask any questions. I believe I probably didn't get full 30 min, maybe I got 25 but I could be wrong. The overall impression I got was that either I was already "in" and so he was thinking "you're in, let me move onto next guy" or the exact opposite, like "I want to throw your application in the trash right now, so let's move on"! :-)
For what it's worth, my stats are 730 GMAT, 8 yrs WE in technology

Well, this thread has died down, but for those who still have it marked as “high interest” as well as for the benefit of next year’s prospectives, I will post my Wharton interview experience (Note: this was my second visit to campus, so please read post from mid-November for references to just visiting the campus.)
I arrived in Philly mid afternoon on Monday the 18th.  As the weather was nice and classes were wrapping up for the day, I walked over to the campus (I was staying at the Inn at Penn) to see what was going on.  While walking into Vance Hall, I ran into a couple of first years that I had met prior and talked with them for a while (I had kept up e-mail correspondence with them between November and Feb.)  As one of them had about an hour and a half to kill, we decided to grab a cup of coffee and talk about Wharton.  I basically barraged her with questions about Wharton - her first semester, what she liked, what she would change, pros/cons, Huntsman Hall, recruiting, interning, class schedule, time schedule, etc (she has been a wealth of info.) One thing that I have to say is that every student that I met at Wharton was more than willing to go out of their way to help, share their experiences, and answer any question in a straight-forward way (kudos to the W students as well as to the Adcomm – who run as transparent a process as possible.)  I noted the same thing from my November visit – for such a relatively large program; Wharton does an incredible job at giving itself a personal feel and making the application process as enjoyable as it could be!! ;-)  After coffee, I grabbed a bite to eat for dinner (New Deck Tavern??), and then headed back to my room to read over my app. and look at some questions for the following day.
Tuesday the 19th.  Got up and grabbed some breakfast at the street vendors outside of the UPenn campus.  For those who have not been, you have to eat at these stands.  The food is great and unbelievably cheap – bananas are a quarter ($0.25), breakfast sandwiches are about a buck ($1.00), and bottled waters are a buck ($1.00) – fantastic.  Anyway, a couple of minutes before 9:00, I met up with another first year that I had met from my first visit and I went to class with him – “Government and the Legal Environment of Business.”  The class was very interesting – discussing antitrust issues with the focus being on the Microsoft case as well as AOL/Time Warner.  Both the professor and the students were great – good conversation and points brought about throughout the discussion.  The professor was very cool, and I believe he used to be the head economist at the FCC.  Next, I went to a Finance Class that was really more of an Economics class.  Lecture format, but the professor was fantastic – witty, funny, and really jazzed up the topic well (I mean come on…as much as he could for lecturing on Productivity Growth and Price indexes!)  While I did not go to the second class with my first year host, I spoke with several students that were helpful, great at answering my questions, and passed along cards to drop them a line if I had any follow-up questions.  After the second class, I had a meeting with the head of a not-for-profit (not a student) that is run in conjunction with Wharton and UPenn (talking about his Program, how its run, ho it got started, goal of the program, etc.) - this lasted all the way up until my interview.  Around 1:30, I came down to the admissions office and took a seat in the waiting room, where there were several other candidates that were either visiting or interviewing.  When my interviewer was ready, he came out and called me in.  All-in-all, the interview experience was pleasant, very conversational, and last about 35 minutes (nothing to get stressed out about!)  While I provided the interviewer with a copy of my resume (for those who do not know, the interview is blind), he looked it over briefly and then slid it underneath his other sheets of paper and never took it back out.  The next half hour was mainly spent talking about my career, goals, interests, other activities, and a time for me to ask him questions.  The conversation flowed smoothly, with the interviewer speaking a decent amount of the time and with me speaking a decent amount of the time.  Questions and topics ranged from my current career goals to the books that I am currently reading or have read to extracurricular activities and community service.  Biggest “interview” question seemed to be the “What is the one thing in your application that the adcomm might find worrisome?”  Basically, I felt that this was an opportunity to address either a problem in my application or to further expand upon a point that may not have been made clear enough in the paper application - rather interesting question considering that the interviewer has not ever read the application.  After the interview was over, my interviewer walked me out to the lobby, wished me well, gave me his card and told me to drop him an e-mail if I had any further questions.  That was pretty much it.
So, at the end of it all, I feel relatively decent (as much as you can with a 20-25% chance!! ;-))  The only item that could potentially hurt was that the interview was sooo conversational – not sure if that is considered to be a positive or a negative.  Either way, I gave it my best shot and we will see what March 28th has in store.  Good luck to those that are still left to interview (second or third round) as well as to those who are interested in visiting Wharton this year or next.

I am an applicant from Australia and had my phone interview with an adcomm member named May this morning (Saturday 8am) - which was Friday 4pm EST.
I am not a morning person and obviously a phone interview is much tougher than a face-to-face interview (I believe) so I am not too happy with how it went (especially since I didn't spend much time preparing for it). Here is my synopsis anyway.
She was a bit cold and snappy throughout the whole interview and talked for about 5% of the time, with me babbling for the rest of it.
The questions she asked me were (almomst exact words):
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. Why Wharton?
4. How would your workmates describe you?
5. What is your most significant development need?
6. After your two years at Wharton, what would your classmates remember you by?
7. What is the greatest weakness in your application?
8. What are your plans after getting a Wharton MBA?
9. What do you do outside of work?
10. Do you have any questions for me?
I think I was a little verbose and it's tough to get your thoughts organized when you can't see the other person's reaction. My weakest part, though, was the questions I asked her. My first question was "What opportunities does Wharton provide to develop future managers in light of globalization?" My aim was to get her to explain some of the programs in place (INSEAD alliance, Global Immersion Program) - but she thought I was implying that Wharton was merely a "US School" - not good for me as it indicates that I did not do my research properly and didn't take Wharton seriously. I should have asked more specific questions and I think she was a little annoyed at the generality of my questions.
On the whole, it didn't feel comfortable at all until right at the end when she said "What time is it over there?" and I managed to crack a light joke. Damn nervewracking stuff. I hope the interview is not the critical part in evaluating the application...
Does anyone know how the whole process works, and what happens from here-on-in?

Had my on-campus interview last week  and just sharing my experience for those waiting for the final week of interviews.
Interviewer was rushed, I probably got 25 minutes despite early morning interview. Good thing was that I was told that I would be asked 15 qs. in 30 mins, so I was prepared. Keep the answers short or you'll lose them.
Started with a read of my resume. Why undergrad? Why present job? On the job progression. Reasons for intervening jobs. Why MBA? Why Now? Why Wharton? What do I do outside work? What would I do at Wharton outside academics?  How do my friends see me? What do I feel is the weakness in the app? Time flies and the bell rings, after you've asked your customary question from the interviewer.
I was told that the interview is another data point. the student readers read the app and sort out the application into two piles. The top ones get into the interview stage. The interviewer adds his rating to the app and it is finally read once again by the adcom. More than 8,000 apps in the first two rounds!!
Attend classes, gives a good idea of the culture. Very friendly and relaxed as expected. not the stressed out, time pressured guys at Harvard. Professors involve students and keep them on their toes. The most important difference between Wharton and the other schools: student government. Administration listens to students and that's what makes Wharton dynamic and responsive. In short, I loved the place and am sure so will most of you. Philly also gave me a sense of community and I guess I did not find the West Philly area as too intimidating (despite the reputation). Some good multi-ethnic restaurants in the neighborhood.
For those outside the city: recommend the Inn at Penn: expensive, but 90 seconds walk. Other option is Sheraton University city hotel. Aprox. $ 90/day. Five minute walk.

Recently I visited the Wharton School campus. I am really glad I took the time to go out and visit the place.  I interviewed previously with the alumni, but I thought that the visit should help me to get a general feel of the school.
First of all, I was really impressed with the quality of the student body. The students were nice and helpful. I learned in person that many students in fact have very impressive backgrounds.
I also visited two classes. The classes were taught by Eric Clemons and Gerald Faulhaber. Eric Clemons talked about the dot.com industry and the reasons why so many enterprises have failed. I was equally impressed by the quality of the content, as well as the robust teaching style. He personally worked with some of the companies he talked about. The class was interactive, with many students participating in the discussion.
Gerald Faulhaber was the Chief Economist at Federal Communications Commission, during the AOL – Time Warner merger, and incidentally that merger was the topic of the class discussion. Thus, prof. Faulhaber had a very insightful look at the situation.
I saw the Huntsmen Hall, the new Wharton building. I’ll tell you, It’s a really big building, and it looks like it’s going to be a nice one. I’ve heard that among other things they are going to have the oxygen monitors in each room; should the oxygen level go below the limit, it will provide the additional oxygen inflow. They’re going to install the wireless Internet network too.
Some of the previous visitors said that they were disappointed to see no laptops used by the students in classes. It turns out that Wharton’s policy is not to allow laptops during the classes, as they think that laptops divert the student’s attention from the class. They said that the studies conducted by other universities concluded that way too many students browse the Net or send e-mails while they should be participating in the class.
At the end, I visited the MBA beer night. Apparently, every Thursday they have this beer event at the school, where people get drunk and socialize. There was a nice enough relaxed atmosphere. I mingled with the students, which also helped to get a general feel for the school. In addition, they had a Chinese New Year celebration on that day, with people dancing in dragon suites. It looks like they actually have a lot going on at the school, definitely no time to be bored.

Hi everyone...I had my interview last week in SF with an adcomm member.  It was a pleasant and comfortable experience, with the interviewer giving some positive reinforcement during.  No surprises in the questions; the only question I hadn't seen posted before was "if two of your managers were discussing you, what would they say?....I think most everyone has had their interviews already, but I hope this isn't too late to be useful. Good luck to all.

Go to some classes before hand, and you might be able to come up with more interesting questions. If you're interviewing with a student, its always good to sound interrested in their lives as an "example for you to follow". So ask student-interviewer about how Wharton has helped their career development, and have something smart to say. You can also ask what their favorite class is... These are the kind of questions that people who already know about the school can ask - you'l get different answers each time so you are less likely to yawn in response.

Just had my local alum interview.  I know some of this is repetitive, but for those who are still preparing or those R3 folks who may search this thread, here's a summary of my interview experience.
All in all, it was pretty relaxed; she was a May 2001 MBA.  It was generally conversational but she definitely had some required questions.  Lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes.
Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
Why b-school right now specifically?
Why xxx undergrad?
Why xxx major?
Walk me through your career choices and why you left each job?
Long term career goals?  Why?
How many people did you manage at xxx job?
How did you keep them motivated to work for you?
Describe a sticky situation/conflict you worked through on the job?
How would you deal with a slacker in your Learning Team at Wharton?
What do you feel the AdComm will view as the weakest part of your app?
What do you like to do outside the office?
Any questions for me?
Anything else you feel the AdComm should know?
Hope this is helpful and good luck.

I had my on-campus interview yesterday with a Wharton 2nd-year student.  It was pretty standard.  Before the interview, I culled this forum and prepared a list of all the questions ever asked in Wharton interviews and I prepared answers for them.  No surprises ... the questions he asked were all on my list.  I'm kinda bummed, though, because there were a lot of questions I prepared for that he never asked.
There were probably 10 other people there interviewing on March 6.  I was a little intimidated by the quality of the other people.  Oh well ... we'll see how it goes.
Here's my list:
1.    Walk me through your resume, starting with undergrad
2.    Tell me about a time you faced conflict and how you resolved it
3.    What role do you usually take in a team setting?
4.    Tell me about a time when you exhibited leadership
5.    What is your job description?
6.    What do you do for fun?
7.    What will the adcom see as your weakness?
8.    Why do you want an MBA?
9.    Why Wharton?
10.    Why now?
11.    What would Wharton do for you that no other MBA program can?
12.    What would your colleagues miss least about you?
13.    What clubs and activities would you get involved in at Wharton?.
14.    What makes you unique?
15.    What will you contribute to Wharton?
16.    If we give you an offer, will you accept it?
17.    What other schools are you applying to?
18.    What areas do you need to develop?
19.    Tell me about a team experience that was a failure
20.    What would you concentrate in at Wharton?
21.    What do you want to do after you have an MBA?
22.    Do you have any questions?
23.    Tell me about a standout academic experience
24.    Tell me an important thing that you learnt from your work and school experiences
25.    Tell me about a specific situation in your professional career where you solved an important problem.
26.    How would your workmates describe you?
27.    After your two years at Wharton, what would your classmates remember you by?
28.    How would your friends and family describe your personality?
29.    If you could go anywhere on a vacation or a holiday for a day and there were no constraints (monetory as well), where would you go?
30.    If two managers were discussing you, what would they be saying?
31.    What else should the adcomm know about you?
32.    What is an important trend in technology?

I had my interview with an AdCom member yesterday. Actually, he did NOT ask me to run through my resume. He just looked at it, but started asking the default Wharton questions. In fact, I asked him to refer to my resume when I was talking about an incident that happened a few years ago. It was a very friendly, laid back conversation - felt like I was talking to an old friend. The whole interview lasted only 20 minutes!!
I felt it was more of an 'advertise Wharton' effort rather than a 'check the applicant out' effort.
Moral of the story?  Be prepared to NOT to run through your resume after all the preparation!
Good luck , you'll definitely do well after the preparation - JH

I had my interview on-campus on Wed.  The interview was very structured.....a watch was placed on the desk, I was told I would be asked 15 questions in 30 minutes and that I had ~ 2 minutes per question.
Take me through your resume.  Why undergrad
What were you involved in
Why did you change from this job to this job
How would your friends and colleagues describe you
Tell me about your extracurriculars
Why Wharton
Why MBA
Why now
Anything else you'd like to add
Any questions
What will adcomm see as your weaknesses and what have you done to address this weakness
It was very rushed, and not very comfortable.  I had to talk really fast to get my points across...in a word, intense.  I had enough time to ask 2-3 questions and only because both myseld and my interviewer spoke very fast.
My only suggestions to Wharton for next year would be to be more selective for interviews and allow more time, perhaps 45 min to and hour.  I felt that because the interview was so structured, the interviewer didn't have a chance to get to know me.  Everything that was asked was already answered in my application with a couple exceptions.

Look up for my earlier posting in this thread. I had approx 25-30 min with an adcom. I basically walked him through my resume for 75% of the time, say 15-20 min. But I managed to answer all the standard Why MBA, Why Now, Why Wharton, Backup plans, Leadership skills, teamwork etc. as part of that walkthrough. Infact, he didn't ask me a single question. So it all depends on your experience and your particular situation. My resume clearly indicates that I am at crossroads in my career and an MBA will help me greatly. So as long as you answer these questions, it does not matter how long it takes. I wish I had 45 min though!

I was not even asked to go thru my resume all I was asked is to talk about the decisions I made to get to the point I am at (does this mean I am supposed to go thru my resume). So I concentrated more on why I took up the jobs that I did.
My interviewer said he had a lot of questions to ask so I kept that in mind while replying and I kept my replies brief.
For some reason I was pretty happy with my interview yesterday (had my interview yesterday) but then I went over the interview atleast 3 times today and I am sick with worry.
Did anyone feel like this after an interview? Please someone say yes and make me feel better. I have never felt so stressed in my life.

didn't you mention that you were a spouse of a current MBA student??

I agree that you try to evaluate the interview and go through it several times in your head. When I came out of my Kellogg interview I thought i had done well. However, reflecting back on it the next couple of days...I felt terrible. I am yet to hear from K, but am certain that the interview was not the most positive aspect of my application. My chicago interview on the other hand was "wow! Maybe I should sign up for classes while I am on campus". Turned out to be a waitlist at the end.
My wharton interview went well, but I couldn't bolster what I thought were weak points in my app. So, I didn't think it was a successful interview from that viewpoint. But, in my opinion as long as you didn't end up getting into a fistfight with your interviewer...you are ok...
One interesting W interview question that I have been regurgitating to eveyone I meet is "Where would you go on vacation if you had one day and no limits on money to spend"?

I was not asked a single question during the interview. So when I asked the adcom if he has any questions for me, he told me that I had done a good job of covering everything and he didn't have any questions. I did answer all the usual questions, plus covered couple of weaknesses in my app during the interview. So I basically felt that either I was in and hence no questions or I completely sucked and hence no questions! :-)

12. What would your colleagues miss least about you? How the hell do you answer this one?
It's a little bit deeper than the traditional weakness question, in that it's also asking whether you can understand how you interact with others, and know how they perceive you. I think a little bit of honesty goes a long way here.
I talked about constantly throwing in ideas and comments into what are my colleagues' areas of responsibility, and how aggravating that must be. Also, how I'd tried to establish my bona fides in doing that, and convince them that I was only seeking adding a different perspective, not to interfere in their jobs.
16. If we give you an offer, will you accept it?
If you gush on about what a great place W is, and how it's SO right for you, they probably won't notice that you haven't answered yes or no to this question.
What will you contribute to Wharton?
Contributing you perspective in class is good, but make sure that in doing so, you don't weaken your own 'Why MBA' case (perhaps you could drop in the electives you are thinking about). Talking about clubs you would join (and why) will reinforce your interests, and suggest that you weren't lying/exaggerating about extra currics in your app.

Just had my interview- Saturday.  I'm really happy with how it went- I had a wonderful alumni interviewer who had a great personality- someone who I would totally want to hang out with.  I feel really good about it. When I walked in I was amidst several people that were waiting to interview- and they were all talking about the international market and blah blah- all very arrogant kind of- trying to show off to each other.  I wished that I had some of you guys there so we could huddle in the corner giving each other pep-talks- and I was thinking, "oh god- i don't want to go to wharton if this is what it's all about."  But when a group of them went in, the few of us remaining kind of looked at each other and started laughing- and then we started talking about real stuff- like how happy we were that it was almost over, etc.
For the interview I got the standard questions, but it flowed really well.  I thank everyone for sharing their experiences because had I not been prepared, I may have been thrown.
1. Tell me about yourself- this was kind of a walk me through you resume, but he was very clear that I could do this in a relaxed way- which I did.
2. Why MBA, why now
3. Why Wharton
4. What do you feel may be your weakness in your application
5. What do you want to tell me/discuss that we haven't covered or you were unable to cover in your application.
That's pretty much it.  I can't tell you how great this guy was and it really confirmed that I wanted to go to Wharton.  I know that Wharton interviews aren't the deciding factors- but now I kind of wished they were.
So I think today is the last day of interviews so we're all in for the wait.....

I had my on-campus interview last week.  The questions were:
1.  Why did you select the schools you did?
2.  How did you make your career choices?
3.  What did you learn at work that you did not learn in schools?
4.  How do you work in teams?
5.  How would your coworkers describe your leadership style?
6.  Which two qualities would you want me to highlight in the interview report?
7.  Have I asked you everything?  What would you want me to ask that I haven't yet?
8.  What are the weaknesses in your application?
9.  What do you do outside of work?
10.  Why MBA? Why Wharton? What do you want to do in your career?  What would you do at Wharton?
11.  Ask me some questions.
I felt good that I could generally project myself.  Although, I think I harped on few points more than I should have and did not answer some questions to the best of my ability.  Now, I feeling horrible.
I don't know what will happen.  Earlier, found my DING notice from Chicago.  So now am not sure.
Well, life will go on.  I will be successful in any case.  This is not the only path to success.

Well, I had my interview last Friday with an Alumnus.  It was absolutely horrible.  The moment I walked in his office I was told to sit down and run through my resume.  I was a little shocked.  He did not ask me how I was doing or how was my trip to his office, nothing.  So I started walking through my resume and almost immediately he started checking (and reading) his email.  I couldn't believe it.  At this point I lost focus.  I began speaking too quickly and at one point I had to slow myself down.
About 1/3 the way through the resume he stopped me and said he wanted to move on.  He highlighted a section of my resume and questioned the validity of my actual management responsibility.  He said he understood how consulting ‘works’ and highly doubted I could have had so much responsibility at a young age.  I can see how he might be skeptical, but he sure didn’t need to question my honesty.
After asking some basic questions (e.g. why Wharton, etc.) he proposed a very abstract hypothetical and asked me to explain how I would resolve the situation.  I told him what I thought and he was very displeased.  His words were something like ‘I wouldn’t expect you to be able to give an appropriate answer with the minimal amount of experience you have’.  The comment was very disheartening to say the least.
He continued to ask questions while checking his email every minute or two.  Believe it or not this is not all that happened.  But, I guess at this point it doesn’t matter much.  I think the part that frustrates me the most is that I have not heard of anyone else on these boards have an experience that remotely resembled mine.  I was totally unprepared for what happened and I choked.  I am very sad, as I am pretty confident my Wharton quest is over.
I would highly recommend to round 3 candidates that you interview on campus.  I would bet a 1000 $ that 99.9% of Wharton alumni give a fair interview.  But, is it worth the risk of getting a bad one?  It wasn’t for me.

ON-AIR:

The Wharton reception was to start at 6:00pm and end at 8:00pm. I got held up at work and was unable to leave till 5:00pm. It was 6:10pm by the time I boared the CTA train from near O'Hare airport to downtown Chicago I seriously considered not attending. I was glad I decided to proceed, it was a very informative session. The reception was at the Chicago office of Bain & Co. in Sears Tower, Alex Brown and a woman from the Lauder institute were presenting, I could not get her name. By the time I reached they were about to begin the part that dealt with how applications are evaluated, and what to focus on in order to create a compelling application.

There was a little bit of a lull as Alex answered a question, I took the time to settle in and survey the room. Maybe I am a little shy, but it was intimidating. Lots of polished, young, good looking and well-dressed folks around, radiating an aura suggesting success and achievement - the kind that might be projected by a McKinsey consultant or Goldman Sachs investment banker if you have run into that type. Questions were articulately stated with well modulated voices and flawless accents. It was indeed a sobering thought that I would be competing with folks with such "star-dust" in an interview situation. There were about 60-75 people in attendance, a little less than I had expected.

First a few dont's that Alex really stressed on:

- Don't write your own reccos, it shows in writing style and tone

- Don't fudge anything relating to work experience, transcripts and reccomendations. Wharton will do a background check on 100% of all admitted students for fall 2003 (as opposed to 10% for fall 2002), a $35 fee for this will be added to your matriculation deposit.

- Don't think you can explain away a GMAT below the 660-760 middle 80% range and substitute a superior undergrad record as proof. Retake to show willingness to go the distance for your Wharton app, it gives adcomm folks who really like you a way to push your candidacy, especially if you are a reapp, comments like "but what about his/her sub-par GMAT score" can sink a candidacy in tough times like these. Once you are comfortably in the middle 80% range however, GMAT is not a very major factor.

- Don't try to "read" the interviewer and tailor your presentation accordingly, be honest. The interviewer should be trying to "read" the candidate, not the other way round.

A few miscellaneous items:

- First reader of a app is a 2nd year student who the adcomm has trained.

- For fall 2002, 45% of candidates were invited for interviews, they felt that they were too forgiving and interviewed candidates who were a clear reject. This year they plan to interview about 35% of candidates, although it could be higher depending on the number of apps.

Here is a list of things the adcomm looks at:

1. Academic aptitude (GPA, transcripts, GMAT)

2. Professional Developmenti. Work experience (industry, job function, role)ii. Career progressioniii. Management of careeriv. Leadershipv. Management experiencevi. Teamwork experience

3. Personal Qualitiesi. Interpersonal skills (teamwork, leadership, emotional IQ)ii. Ethicsiii. Work/life balanceiv. Passion for interests and hobbiesv. Contribution to community and activities

4. Presentationi. Be aware of patterns in application and backgroundii. Articulate:- short and long-term goals- why MBA- why MBA now- why Whartoniii. Grammariv. Be yourself, want interview to reinforce essays

There were 6 alumni present, with exception of a class of 93 grad, the rest were recent grads, ranging from class of 98 to 00. There wasn't any special information provided by them, perhaps it was because the questions were pretty conventional. All of the alums were very well put together and very articulate, an impressive bunch.

After the alum Q and A there was a sort of "mingle and chat up others" session. A lot of people lined up around Alex Brown to hear his answers to questions being posed by fellow attendees. Alex was very patient and thoughtful with his answers, which were extremely detailed. Alex Brown is a class act, and at the end one girl remarked that she had been to several other MBA receptions, but Wharton's was by the far most helpful and informative, most of the credit for which should go to Alex.

Someone asked how important it was to show commitment to Wharton by performing a campus visit, Alex didn't come out and say it makes no difference, but my interpretation was that was indeed the takeaway. He said that they didn't track how many candidates visited the campus, and he said that with the Wharton CD, which is close to 500 pages of printed matter, most applicant questions about the program should be answered. Many candidates used on-site interviews to do a campus visit as well, but his reccomendation to international candidates was not to bother with flying several hours or a day for a 30 minute interview, and stick to alum or on-the-road interviews.

I asked a question about the mechanics of how a reader evaluates a app, whether they assign numerical ratings on each of the key elements of the app mentioned by him in his presentation, or whether it is more of a composite yes/no/waitlist decision. He said that they do have a overall scale on which the adcomm will rate candidates, based on that some applicants will be clear admits and some clear rejects. The rest will be in the possible admits catgeory. The committe will discuss them again and move them to either a reject, waitlist or admit category, an application might be discussed multiple times before a final decision. The final decision is subjective in the sense that it is not based on just taking a numerical overall rating and setting cutoffs to arrive at target admit offers. He said that each reader will write comments on the application which will often serve as the basis of discussion among the adcomm.

To me the takeway from the above discussion of mechanics of application evaluation is that one must do a solid all round job on all elements of the essays and leave a few clear themes in the mind of the reader in order to win the reader over to being an enthusiastic advocate of your app. If you are a "possible admit" and don't really leave a lasting impression in the reader's mind, you are doing yourself a disservice and relying on luck of the draw.

The lights went out at 9pm, but a Bain employee hosting the Wharton group turned them back on. Alex apologized for straggling on past 8pm, but the guy replied not to worry, he needed to stay on for a few more hours at work anyway (future Bain consultants please note!). The whole session finally ended at 9:30pm.

Once again, I must reinforce what a standup guy Alex is. Classic midwestern virtues - friendly, warm, polite, plain-spoken with a gentle sense of humor. If other admissions directors are as perceptive as he is, you better damned well be honest in your essays and interviews, because this means that they really do know their stuff inside and out.

Just had my Wharton interview in NYC. I think the interview was standard based upon the questions I saw reported on this board regarding Wharton interviews. I met the interviewer at his offices. The mood of the interview was professional and focused, much like job interviews that I had. It lasted about 45 mins, mostly because I was a little too verbose. The questions were(paraphrased):
Tell me about the decisions behind your career moves since undergrad?
Tell me about a time you had a conflict and how you handled it?
Describe a team experience where the efforts of everyone enhanced the outcome of a project?
Describe a team experience that didn't go well and what role you played?
If you had an afternoon off from work, what would you do?
Give an example of personal achievement outside of work that you are proud of?
Why Wharton?
Address any concerns that you might have in your application?
Any other things you'd like the adcom to know?
Any questions for me?
I was pleased with how it went. I focused on what makes me unique and focused on why Wharton was right for me. Still, interviewer had a bit of a poker face, so not certain it went as well as I thought.
Best of luck to everyone!

[分享]Wharton Interview Tips

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