Ask Jason@沃顿 (my essays inside!) Free essay advice again~

smallwo

Hi Jason,I have a question regarding Wharton Essay Question


Discuss a timewhen you navigated a challenging experience in either a personal orprofessional relationship. (600 words)


Do I need to focus on the relationship between people? or I can describe in higher lever. Maybe go for a challenging work experience and how I solved it. Because I think most of examples will include people management, I don't need to narrow down to relationship management.

goal2011

Hi Jason,

Do you think you will have some time to take some coffee with me this weekend to go through my essays if you are still in UPenn area?

Thanks

sheilaring

Hi Jason,

I was planning to submit for the round 2. However it becomes impossible for me anyway. Do you think it a good try to appy for the round 3? It seems to me that all adcoms suggest international applicants to sumit to the first 2 rounds for visa and opportunities reasons. What do you think? Should I delay Wharton application this year?

Thanks in advance.

cannedpineapple

honeybutter>

I did not go to all three schools, so I have limited info. I would say that Columbia attracts me because the school is very liberal. To invite the president of iran to speak there is truly gutsy. However it's in NYC, a bit close to recruiting, and ultimately I don't want my life dictated by recruiting.

Harvard is obviously a very well-rounded school with strengths in nearly every field. However, I may not be a very good fit there- I'm not that ambitious.

As for Wharton, I like how it's not that far from New York, but not actually in New York. I also like the city itself- very historical. Finally, I appreciate a strong core curriculum- gives everyone a good basis of knowledge to move forward on. Their new lifelong-learning curriculum is also a HUGE draw for me.

Stanford is a school that I like again because they dare to think differently. Also the whole silicon valley vibe is wonderful for entrepreneurship.

I know nothing about LBS and INSEAD. I do appreciate the very international nature of their class, though. They bring very good diversity to the table.

cannedpineapple

smallwo> To "navigate" a problem is not the same as "solving" it. The point is to discuss your thought process, how you identified and dealt with problems- be they with relationships with others, or with the situation itself. You could have identified all these and still failed; sometimes you make mistakes, that's fine. That's the difference between "navigating" and "solving".

goal2011> I am in Singapore.

sheilaring> If you really want to apply, go ahead. Wharton is very lenient to reapplicants, so even if you don't get in you can try again next year. The bar will be set much higher, though, because by R3 they've already filled up their classes and now you're competing with all the wait-listers from R1 and R2.

cannedpineapple

Just confirmed with adcom, interviews will be released this Friday. Good luck.

cannedpineapple

Bump

cannedpineapple

Reflections on the Wharton Interview

Many people have shared the Wharton interview questions, and when I told adcom about this, they said: no problem,  a good candidate can still distinguish him or herself.

You know what? They're right.

Having conducted a few interviews now, the best interviewees have been smooth, well-prepared, and ready to tell a story, slowly, meticulously, and surely. Their body-language is confident, their language is not hesistant. They don't react too quickly, but pause before they speak, to think about what they're going to say. I can easily see how interacting and working with them would be a positive experience, not unlike working with a thoughtful, confident and sociable co-worker.

Of course, what they say matters too. Everyone says SOMETHING. But those who are able to tell me why they do something, what other options they've considered, and how they took care to do A and not B, tend to do better than those who simply say "I did this. Then I did that. Finally, this was the result". Really, it almost didn't matter what question I was asking- the better interviewees clearly answered better than the others.

This tells me the Wharton adcom knows what they were doing. This process has allowed me to evaluate candidates far more accurately than the previous, more haphazard, process. Good luck for everyone's interviews.

cammela

hi Jason, are you enjoying your work? curious why you chose that job?

cannedpineapple

Choosing between Schools

I disagree entirely with Jon. There are a myriad of reasons to go to business school, and not all of them lead down the same path (choose the best school you can).

For example, one might go to business school to 1) network 2) improve job prospects in a particular function, industry or geography 3) learn business skills 4) develop leadership skills

If you want to do 1) (network) , you need to choose a school where you're a good for the culture. Nothing makes networking less effective, than trying to network with people you don't click well with.

If you want to do 2) (improve job prospects), it depends on what you want to do. If you want to work in the Media, it might make less sense going to HBS, than going to a school like Columbia. Simply because Columbia has far stronger contacts in the Media than HBS. Similarly, if you want to work in London, why choose Stanford over LBS? It makes no sense.

Finally, there is the issue of scholarship money. Say you want to work in the media. Would you rather go to a school where you have no debt and no loans, freeing you up to do what you want immediately, or go to a school where you take bigger loans and are forced to work in an industry you may not enjoy, because 'in the grand scheme of things' this doesn't matter? Personally, I choose to work in the industry I enjoy. If the money allows me to do that, I'll take it.

If you want to do 3) (learn), remember that school's brands are often built up by hiring star professors who focus on publishing famous research. These professors don't teach much. So you go to great schools and end up learning from new associate professors who might be smart, but is not what you signed up for. On the other hand, less competitive schools force their professors to teach more; they may also focus more on teaching as a competitive advantage. All reasons to think carefully before blindly 'choosing the best school'.

Finally, if you want to do 4) (develop leadership skills), culture is important. A school like Wharton has a culture where students can lead many clubs. Some other schools may not. Some schools may have few clubs, and not offer many opportunities. Some schools may not care at all about student leadership.

Of course, most people want to do a combination of 1), 2), 3) and 4). I'm not saying to NOT go to the best school you can. But a conscientious professional needs to think carefully about how he's choosing, and what that will achieve.

Choose wisely. Don't simply "go to the best school you can".