Wharton Posing New Applicant Questions
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The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School yesterday (June 18) made some substantial changes to the essay questions it is requiring new MBA applicants to answer. But the school apparently decided against the addition of a more innovative test it had piloted for some third round candidates earlier this year.
The labor-intensive test involved inviting groups of six candidates to campus for a recreation of an interactive discussion in an MBA classroom.
Unlike Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, which both cut back on the number of MBA essays this year, Wharton maintained its requirement for three questions. But only one of the three, requiring applicants to state their professional objectives, is retained from last year.
Instead, Wharton completely revised the section of its application that asks candidates to write up to 500 words each on two of three new questions:
1. Select a Wharton MBA course, co-curricular opportunity or extra-curricular engagement that you are interested in. Tell us why you chose this activity and how it connects to your interests. (500 words)
2. Imagine your work obligations for the afternoon were cancelled and you found yourself “work free” for three hours, what would you do? (500 words)
3. “Knowledge for Action draws upon the great qualities that have always been evident at Wharton: rigorous research, dynamic thinking, and thoughtful leadership.” – Thomas S. Robertson, Dean, The Wharton School
Tell us about a time when you put knowledge into action. (500 words)
First round deadline for applications Oct. 1
Wharton said its first round deadline for the 2012-2013 application season will be Oct. 1, with notification by Dec. 20. The second round deadline has been set for Jan. 3, with notification by March 23. Wharton has yet to provide specific dates for its final third round deadline, but will be sometime in March, with notification in May.
The changes are perceived to be a positive development for MBA admission consultants. Says Sanford Kreisberg, of HBSGuru.com, “This is Christmas in June for consultants. Sure, Ivy liberal arts types who work for McKinsey might be able to figure this out for themselves, but even then, you never know. But for some poor go-getter in Asia or Euro dude with one eye on the returning drachma, or some U.S. guy at a Fortune 1000 company, those last two questions are head scratchers.”
Last year, Wharton’s two-of-three option question was significantly different. The options were:
A) Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today?
B) Discuss a time when you faced a challenging interpersonal experience. How did you navigate the situation and what did you learn from it?
C) Innovation is central to our culture at Wharton. Keeping this component of our culture in mind, discuss a time when you have been innovative in your personal or professional life.
The school also slightly rewrote the question about objectives. This year Wharton poses the 400-word question this way: “How will the Wharton MBA help you achieve your professional objectives?” Last year, it was: “What are your professional objectives?”
Kreisberg’s advice for this year’s applicants
How will the Wharton MBA help you achieve your professional objectives? (400 words)
“Note, they say the Wharton MBA, so they expect, in addition to some statement of your goals, some specific stuff about Wharton. Although you should spend 90 minutes on their websites digging up a few Wharton specific items, I would spend most of my energy here on stating goals and how those goals grow out of your immediate past and what the challenges you will have meeting those goals and then some few words on how Wharton will help. The dirty little secret is that adcoms will read the Wharton stuff at supersonic speed. They really want to hear about your goals.”
1. Select a Wharton MBA course, co-curricular opportunity or extra-curricular engagement that you are interested in. Tell us why you chose this activity and how it connects to your interests. (500 words)
“If you have done the goal statement correctly, it is hard to add value by picking a course, per se, especially if the course is old school lecture. You can choose an extracurricular activity and use it as a blank slate to connect it to your own extracurrics. That’s a good way to go, especially if you have a signature extracurricular activity you want to talk about. Once again, remember the golden rule: What you have, in fact done, and what that means to you is more impressive than what you claim you want to do.”
2. Imagine your work obligations for the afternoon were cancelled and you found yourself “work free” for three hours, what would you do? (500 words)
“Columbia used to ask this question, and I don’t recall ever being impressed by the answers in terms of the value add they provide on an application. All that said, here are the obvious ideas: 1. Engage with some extracurricular, 2. Meditate and talk about why and what you have learned or any similar activity, like gardening. This type of answer only works if you have a history of that. Jogging is a bummer answer, 3. Read (say what and why), 4. Call Mom–which is actually a pretty good answer if you can connect it to family dynamics. 5. Clean up—though honestly I ain’t seeing the value add. Some of those can add value, depending on what the rest of your application looks like.
“Top bad answers: 1. Catch up on Facebook postings, 2. Check out the soaps, 3. Start drinking early, 4. Go to Starbucks, 5. Go to the Barnes museum (well, this might work if you really know about art versus if you are just checking a box, and 6. Dribs and drabs. You know, sending some messages, taking a walk, cruising for a date, sleep.
3. “Knowledge for Action draws upon the great qualities that have always been evident at Wharton: rigorous research, dynamic thinking, and thoughtful leadership.” – Thomas S. Robertson, Dean, The Wharton School
Tell us about a time when you put knowledge into action. (500 words)
“Well, get past the idiotic quote. This is a possible answer if you want to talk about a powerful extracurricular or volunteer gig with real results, or some signature work project (less winning but some people find it hard to avoid.)
Kresiberg’s overall advice for handling Wharton’s questions:
1. Executive with specificity and actual details of your life.
2. Show don’t tell (most people don’t know what that means, but find out and do it.
3. Step back and ask yourself, ‘Ok, they already know who I am from my recommendations and resume. What else am I adding here? Is there anything important about me that is not in this total application? What more could I say?
“The biggest mistake people make in applications like these, and to some extent in the HBS application, is not realizing how much the adcom already knows about you from your resume and recommendations,” he adds.
