Ask Jason@沃顿 (closed)

mays

question about recommendation. Since I was working in family business, my direct adivor is my father? Can he write a letter for me?

cannedpineapple

mays> In such situations, applicants frequently ask partners, clients, or other external business associates to write a recommendation for them. Your father would not be appropriate.

hyang08

Hi, Jason,

Appreciating your innitiative efforts to provide valuable information here

I am doing DD about Lauder because I was attracted by this program at the first sight.

One question: as you said that

>> At the same time, someone already from China wouldn't be able to join the Chinese track,

Suppose there is an US guy who is now working in China and speaks some Chinese. Do you mean he can't apply for Chinese track?

If I plan to take Japanese track, does it mean I should start a post-MBA career in Japan, or at least, a Japan related career? Is there specific requirement about the career goal for Lauser applicant? 

Thanks a lot

[此贴子已经被作者于2009/8/6 11:09:25编辑过]

cannedpineapple

hyang08> What matters is not your nationality or where you worked, but your ability to speak some of the language, but not too much so that you don't gain anything from the programme. The US guy working in China and who speaks some Chinese is in fact the profile of most of my classmates in the Chinese-track. It is not a requirement, but that's typically how applicants 1) get interested in a career in China (in your case, Japan) and 2) get their language skills (again, for you Japanese) up to mark to enter the programme.

If your career goal does not include working in Japan, then you may want to consider doing the Wharton programme and exchanging to Japan instead. Most people who do a certain track have worked there not because it's a requirement, but because they have been driven to that country because of their interest, and having worked in that country would like to continue exploring their interest in a career there after graduating.

Having said that, not everyone in a certain track has worked there.

patrickcgx

Hola Jason,

I am currently a Fortunate 500 MKTer with 2-year working experience. Graduated in a foreign language univeristy, Lauder/Wharton has never been a better choice for me with the mixture of both languages and business.

Everyday at work, I see Columbian speaks English, American-born-Hongkongness speaks mandarin, American-Chinese mix speaks cantoness, Thai colleagues speaks Spanish & Portuguese, language has never been so intermingled in my work & life.  Marketing is all about coordinating & communication with strong leadership, being a multi-lingual is definitely an asset for an international team for sure.

Questions to be asked:

1)      When will be the latest time of OPI? If I apply for the 2^nd round in espanol track, less confidently reaching the “Intermediate Level” of espanol oral proficiency, can I take the OPI after the deadline of application submission, say, in March to polish my language?

2)      Will the applicants of Lauder fall into the pool of regular Wharton MBA applicant list, direct competing with them? What's the number of Lauder applicants last year and how many of them are accepted then because one thread in CD shows that Lauder/Wharton join-program do have a higher admission rate than regular MBA? What about 8-language-track distribution?

3)      Will Wharton alumni reference letter be a plus in application success?

4)      As early career student, do you think 2.5 Year of working experience is less convincing to qualify for the admission, as I know Wharton prefers senior applicant with 5+ WE, how about Lauder?

 

Thanks for your  replyJ

Mucho gracias.

 

 

[此贴子已经被作者于2009/8/8 4:10:51编辑过]

cannedpineapple

1) You have to submit an OPI for your application, but they may offer
you provisional admission if they think you can raise it up to a
suitable level before matriculation. Then, you'll have to raise it up to
that level- otherwise they revoke your Lauder admission, and you become a regular Wharton student.

2)
Lauder students are not only directly competing with Wharton students;
they also have to fulfill a set of language, cultural and other
requirements to get into Lauder. If anything, it is HARDER to get into
Lauder. The admission numbers for Lauder may be different than Wharton,
but that's simply because there are stricter requirements to Lauder,
fewer people apply. But those who apply tend to be very certain of
their quality for admission. If Lauder is not convinced that you are a
good enough Wharton/Lauder student, we simply shrink the size of the
class. The Lauder programme has had as few as 40+ students and as many
as 65+ in any given year. Do not believe everything you read on CD.
I've found a lot of the posts here to be very speculatory in nature,
with most of the speculation being done by people who have no idea how
the process work, and instead just look at the numbers and create a
story they think fits.

The language track distribution changes
every year. If you look at the Lauder facebook (google 'lauder
facebook) you can see the numbers for this year. There is no 'quota'
for each track- it changes according to how many qualified people apply.

3)
There is little difference between an alumni and a non-alumni
recommendation. What matters is how well he/she knows you and is able
to provide concrete examples to back up his recommendation.

4)
Again, I have no idea where you get the impression that Wharton prefers
senior application with 5+ WE. If this is from CD, then I'm glad you
clarified it with me, because it is completely misleading and false. I
went to Wharton/Lauder with no work experience. Zero. Each candidate-
regardless of their work experience- faces the same test of leadership
skills, maturity, analytical ability, and so on, to convince adcom that
you are a good candidate. What defers is the stories that you use to
show these traits. But the traits are the same.

PS, do let me
know where you get this impression of Wharton. I've seen many Chinese
applicants say it (and less so in the US), and although I'm a walking
example that this is not the case, people don't seem to understand that
Wharton does take early career candidates. This, in my mind, is a big
disadvantage to the misinformed candidate who then simply chooses not
to apply (which is the best way to ensure that you don't get in).

[此贴子已经被作者于2009/8/8 11:42:47编辑过]

cannedpineapple

I've seen it being mentioned multiple times that 'Wharton likes
students with more work experience'. Some people tell it to me
directly, even though I had gone to Wharton with no work experience
whatsoever. When they hear that, they then say 'you're different from
the typical Chinese student'...

    

This is all completely wrong and untrue. This year Wharton took a
substantial number of students (by that I mean quite a bit >100, and
before you say that doesn't apply to Chinese students, I personally
know >10 new Chinese students who are early career) that have 0-3
years of work experience. At the behest of the MBA Admissions Office, I
also (with other early career classmates) helped set up an "Early
Career Club" to provide guidance and career, social as well as other
support for Early Career applicants/ students to Wharton.

    

Despite all our efforts, however, the message seems to be getting
across stronger in the US, but less so in China. This, in my mind,
disadvantages the Chinese applicant, some of whom might simply decide
not to apply to Wharton (which is really the BEST way to ensure that
you never get into Wharton!).

    

So, I would like to ask for your feedback. Where did you hear that
Wharton likes students with more work experience? How would you suggest
I go about changing this?

    

PS, Wharton's take on early career candidates is here: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/student_life/diversity/early.cfm

sh784533

    Dear Jason, so many thanks! I've just started my application process. I have a question about resume.
    I've seen some ppl recommanded that for MBA application resume, W/E should be listed before education. However, there are several Harvard/ Wharton templates which put W/E after education. I understand that those templates are for MBA students' job hunting. But for ppl who has only 2-3 years W/E, it seems quite limited to put it first. What's ur opinion and suggestions?
     Besides,do you think internship before graduation will add value for applicants with short W/E(especially overseas internship) ?
    Very much appreciate your feedback
    

cannedpineapple

sh784533> Generally, you put the most recent thing first, which is why school resumes tend to have 'education' first, even for people with lots of work experience. But you can do it any way you want. It really doesn't matter.

As for work experience, are you talking about working during college? If so, yes, of course it helps- getting work experience will help you understand what career you want to pursue, as well as to train some of your 'soft skills'. 'Overseas' vs 'local' internships are not important- choose something that is relevant to you and that you find interesting, and think is a good learning experience.

beyond08

Hi Jason ONE simple question：

re-applicants会很有弊端么？

本来按部就班在准备申请 不过正好有个机会就跳槽了

明年再申会比较有把握 不过今年也不想放弃 所以想问一下re-applicants的情况