Wharton Interview Reports: Page 1

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Wharton Interview Reports: Page 2

Below are 15 interview reports from those who have interviewed with Wharton. If you provided one of these interview reports, and would like to make further edits, please e-mail wiki@clearadmit.com

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15: 1/23/06: Round 1 Alum Interview

My interview was very pleasant, although a bit harder than my HBS interview surprisingly. The interview lasted for an hour and 15 minutes, which I think is probably much longer than usual. The interview was very friendly, and I felt very comfortable. It seemed like the interviewer had a set of questions in mind to ask me before I arrived. The interviewer was also very honest and gave me a positive evaluation of what he thought my fit for the school would be. He also walked me through the steps of the admissions process.

Questions (in no particular order):
1. Walk me through your resume.
2. What are your strengths/weaknesses?
3. Why an MBA? What do you hope to gain from this experience?
4. Why Wharton?
5. Have you visited the campus?
6. What other schools are you applying to?
7. Describe a time when you failed.
8. Give some leadership examples.
9. Describe an ethical dilemma.
10. Describe a time when you didn't get along with a team member. How did you handle it?
11. Describe a time when you disagreed with a manager. How did you handle it?
12. What are your outside interests?
13. What is your definition/idea of success?
14. Give some teamwork examples.
15. What are your career goals?
16. Describe a time when you were having problems with a manager that you were working with. How did you handle it?
17. Describe a time when you motivated someone.

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14: Round 1 Hub Interview

The interview's done. It went well - nothing unusual. The flow was walk me through your resume, significant accomplishment at work and community, career goals, why mba, why wharton, how would your classmates view you, anything else you want to add etc. there were a couple more, which were the usual kind. then the questions for me bit. I think in all it might have taken somewhere above 30 minutes, 40 max. flew by pretty quick. They are using the 45 minutes slot as just a buffer, you're told its 30 minutes as soon as you step in.

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13: Published 1/23/06

I had my Wharton interview on Tuesday December 8, 2005. I was surprised that I was not that nervous. I feel like I was myself and gave honest, well-thought out answers. I feel like I connected well to the interviewer. At Wharton, I interviewed with a second year student. He had worked for a heavy construction equipment manufacturer in sales. I think he was previously in engineering. At the end of the interview, he shared with me some stories about working with the Columbia government in between semesters on a big prostitution problem Columbia has (since I expressed to him some of the community service stuff I did).

The room was very small (almost like a closet) with a round table and two chairs. He had a clip board, but did not write anything down during the interview. Wharton interviews are blind so he had only looked at my resume.

· He asked me to walk him through my resume.

· Since you already have a Masters in finance, what do you expect Wharton to teach you? Why an MBA? Why Wharton?

· A leader I admired.

· A group/teamwork situation where things did not go well.

· An example of a failure and what I learned. How I thought the leader I admired would have handled the group situation where things did not go well.

· What I would be remembered for at Wharton.

· What weaknesses would the Admissions Committee reviewing my file perceive?

· Any questions for him.

I emailed him a thank you note and he responded "The pleasure was all mine." That was encouraging because normally, they just do not respond to a Thank You note. He also provided information on the Texas Club to me.

Overall I liked Wharton because they have ugrads there so it creates a laid back atmosphere. Eating a Cheesesteak from a food truck during lunch was cool. The students were very laid back. Very casual dress. A little too much though. First years get paid to hang out in the admissions office and answer questions. Take people to classes and lunch. They also talk with people who are waiting to interview in order to keep them relaxed. The student who lead the tour was very nice. The guy I had lunch with was a fellow Texan. He said there were a lot of jobs for Texans because companies really wanted people who really wanted to live in Texas long term. I met a first year in the admissions office who was a Texan. The receptionist in the admissions office was very nice. (Renee) She was from Alabama, but had family in Georgia. She joked with me some after the interview. Told me she wished she could call me and give me my decision. Stuff like that. Wharton students generally seem to have a lot of ownership in the program. They are viewed as customers who have to live with the long term brand image.

However, I was denyed after interview at Wharton, but admitted at HBS. I did a lot more research on HBS (as it was my first choice) and I think it showed in my app and interview. I think with Wharton I failed to fully explain specifically why Wharton and did not do my homework well enough. It became apparent to me on my visit that my essays did not jive too well with Wharton's culture.

ADVICE: Everyone says you need to visit the schools (if at all possible) before applying and I now understand why. It's expensive to make those trips, but goes a long ways in correctly relating to that specific school.

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12: Published 01/19/06

I interviewed during round 1 on campus with a second year student. The interviewer asked all the standard questions, plus the Wharton-specific question about potential red flags in my application. Therefore, I'll just elucidate on slight variants and questions I wasn't quite prepared for.

1. Rather than asking "why Wharton," the question I was very much prepared for, the interviewer asked what qualities I looked for when I was deciding which MBA programs to apply to. It's not difficult to re-frame your answer by listing attributes that naturally lead you to Wharton, but I certainly would have done a better job if I were prepared for this one.

2. I was asked which leadership qualities I currently possess, and which I hope to obtain or improve upon in business school. I think I fumbled a bit on this one, but mentioned something about the benefits I would derive from the learning team dynamic.

3. I was asked if there was anything else I wanted to say that the adcom should know. We had discussed every aspect of my candidacy in so much depth that I said no, but it might be a good idea to have something prepared!

One last note. I usually interview well, but I didn't get an overwhelmingly positive feeling from the interviewer. While I was speaking, he kept looking around the room in a somewhat distracted fashion. If this happens, I would encourage you not to worry about it too much. As we know, Wharton's interview is not make or break (it's just one aspect of your candidacy). Another thing that has been mentioned is that second-year students sometimes don't interview as well as adcom members, so they may not appear as encouraging. For instance, I got in at Wharton, and did not get into a school where I had a very positive interview experience with an adcom member. So do your best, but if you're unhappy with your performance, it's not the end of the world! :)

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11: Date published: 18/01/06; Wharton R1 Hub Interview (Ad Com)

My interview began promptly and lasted 35 minutes. Overall, I found the interview to be much more relaxed than I had anticipated. Before we started, the interviewer stated that the interview would not be overly formal.

The interview began in accordance with the chronology of my resume and I was first asked to explain why I chose to pursue my undergraduate major. I then fielded various questions that focused on choices I had made throughout my education, why I chose to pursue certain areas of study, why I chose to study in specific countries, etc. Throughout the interview, I felt that the interviewer's questions were stimulated more by his sincere interest to learn about me than by his attempt to test my candidacy with his questions. This helped put me at ease such that I was able to enjoy the process.

Surprisingly, the interview only brushed over my work experience. I was not even asked specific questions about leadership or teamwork and I was not asked any situational questions (i.e. how would you handle a situation where you and your learning team...). These are the types of questions that I was told to prepare for in the Wharton interview. I think that such questions were not directly asked because our discussion of some of my accomplishments indirectly addressed leadership and teamwork. Additionally, there was not much time in the interview and we had a lot to cover.

After our brief discussion of my job, I was asked about a specific volunteer activity that I had listed on my resume. We spoke about this for several minutes.

The interviewer asked me why I want to get and MBA now and why I want to attend Wharton. I gave him a very detailed answer that demonstrated my knowledge of the Wharton program, my ability to contribute, etc.

The next topic of discussion was my post-MBA goals. We spoke briefly about these and the interviewer asked me to talk about a company that I would like to work for after graduation.

Finally, we talked about my extracurricular interests. This discussion evolved into a chat about one particular activity, which he also pursues, and then into one about how I could contribute to Wharton through my interest in the activity.

The interviewer asked me to talk about a weakness in my application. We then shook hands and the interview ended.

Round 1 Applicant (Accepted) - International alumni interview -

Interview was very professional. Met in his office. He had only positive things to say about his Wharton experience. This was a very conversational interview. It was clearly a blind interview working loosely off of my resume. It did not seem that he was working off of any scripted questions. In fact I was suprised that there were no tricky questions (especially since he was a McKinsey? guy). Interesting note ... he seemed frustrated a little with Wharton in that he commented that through the years he has seen virtually no correllation between his notes to Wharton regarding the candidate and the subsequent acceptance or rejection of that candidate. I think that speaks to the fact that they interview such a relatively high percentage of applicants.

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10: Round 1 hub interview with ad-com member.

I had arrived about 30 mins early and we started 15 mins before my scheduled time. I guess it took a total of about 40 mins.

It was a very conversational, casual sort of interview and my interviewer ensured that I was at ease at all times. It was quite a change to experience this after reading a lot about the cold, professional W interviews on various boards!! With his background of work with US military, my interviewer was quite familiar with my area of work and most of the questions were tailored to my profile.

The questions included -
-A Walk through the resume and Why MBA?
-Why Wharton and Why now?
-Short and long term career goals.
-Strengths and weaknesses in the application.
-Extra Curriculars
-My Uniqueness / What do I bring to Wharton?
-Many other questions focussing on my field (marine) and job description.
-The one question which was a little uncommon - What has been your scariest moment in life? !!

Thought i did quite well. The mock interviews with pals really helped. My interview advice to the W applicants is to have absolutely convincing answers to the why? questions and the career goals question... prepare with your friends, do mocks, and answer honestly...it definitely helps.

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9: Interview report: Round : 1 With : adcom in the hub

The adcom member, as expected, was very friendly. Interview was bit short. Some of the question that were asked are,
- Explain the career progression, keeping in mind the short term and long term goals.
- improvement since the last application (I am a re-applicant).
- weaknesses in the application.
- difficult supervisor I had till now, and why.
- what criteria did I use to choose the schools that I applied.
- outside activities.
- any questions that I had.

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8:

This was an interview with a member of the Wharton Admissions Committee. I thought this interview was more formal and professional than my non-invite interviews, even stiff and mechanical if you will. The interviewer started off with a brief introduction and we moved on to the questions. The interview lasted about 35 minutes.
QUESTIONS:
-Brief introduction and resume walk-through
-Why an MBA?
-Why Wharton?
-Describe a team conflict situation.
-Can you describe a leadership example and then try to explain your leadership style with examples.
-What will your classmates say about you after 2 years at Wharton
-Are there any weaknesses in your application that will concern the admissions committee?
-Is there anything that we haven't covered that you would like to discuss?
-Do you wish to ask me anything about Wharton and the MBA?

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7: Alum vs. On-campus Interview debate

I am a R1 applicant. I recently had an interview with an alumnus in the SF Bay area. I really enjoyed the whole experience. I did notice that on some of the message boards there is an ongoing debate over alum vs. On campus interview. Based on my own experience and experiences of my friends who have attend on-campus interview, I strongly recommend alum interviews, for the following reasons

a) Alum interviews are casual and you get the time and opportunity to tell your story. On the other hand, the on-campus interviews I have heard are more formal with a very standard format. One could potentially get nervous in such structured setting. If you prefer the casual/relaxed interview format - alum interviews are for you.

b) I am an applicant with significant (6+ years) of experience and I found that the alum interviewer understood my career decisions/achievement better than a second year student would have (who might be a person with far less experience than me).

c) The alum in this particular case had a similar background (pre-MBA) and is pursuing a career that I intend to pursue post-MBA - so we really hit it off during the interview. I believe, there is a strong probability of such a thing happening during an alum interview - google the interviewer before you choose the interviewer.

About the interview:

My interview mostly revolved around my career choices, Why Wharton, my post-MBA plans and other usual stuff.

That’s all for now, I will keep you guys updated on my application outcome.

Updated: I got admitted to Wharton.

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6: I am an R1 applicant in London. I had a Hub interview. Fairly standard questions:

1. Walk me through your resume/career progress
2. Short- and long-term goals, Why MBA
3. What do you do outside of work?
4. Why Wharton
5. What would others at Wharton remember you by after your two years there?
6. Example of team conflict?
7. Would the adcom have any reservations about your application?
8. Questions for me?

I think I was able to convey all of what I had to, especially highlighting the 'themes' that the paper application would convey. I talked about leadership/teamwork examples and Why now during the career progress itself, so I wasn't asked these questions. I tried to throw in passion/emotion/humor wherever I could. The interviewer really didn't look at my resume.

I have to say that I don't think that the experience was as 'relaxed' and chummy-like as others seem to report. Is this good or bad/ to be expected? I felt it was quite mechanical, with little interactivity. Had this been more interactive, the experience would have been more enjoyable and relaxed, and I'd also have been able to better guage whether the interviewer was following me (I had to rely on body language for this!).

30 minutes is a short time to cover the entire ground, esp with someone like me who has nearly 9 yrs experience; despite the fact that I was doing most of the talking, we finished bang on time. I think Wharton should seriously look at making the interview at least 45 minutes long. And they should certainly ensure that their interviewers spend the first 5 minutes in casual chit-chat, to put the candidate at ease.

One is left wondering whether the interview alone makes or breaks one's 'chances' at Wharton?

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5: R1 interview in Philly.

Standard questions -

1. Reasons behind choices in undergrad.
2. Why MBA ? Why now ? Why Wharton ?
3. Style of management as reported by people working directly under me ?
4. Weakness in application.

Tone of interview: very friendly, relaxed and fun.

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4: I am a R1 applicant who had an intervew in Philadelphia with a second-year student.

My interviewer started by commending me on making it this far in the process and also complimented me on my resume. He then asked only one resume-oriented question: Looking at your resume, what is the one thing on it that really stands out and why?

The answer I gave turned into an example of my leadership abilities, and he followed up by asking for an example of how I function in a team. The next questions were:

1. What are your short- and long-term career goals?
2. Why MBA?
3. Why now?
4. Why Wharton?
5. Is there anything in your application that you think the AdCom? would view as a weakness? Explain.
6. Can you describe a setback you've experienced in your life and how you handled it?
7. Do you have any questions for me?

Overall, the tone was very conversational and relaxed; he didn't even take any notes until the very end. He was however very focused on sticking to the 30 minute time frame, and the interview ended exactly on time. I was surprised that he did not want to hear more about my professional experience and career path thus far, but spending less time on that part of the interview meant I could go into great detail about how I would contribute to Wharton's community and show that I knew a lot about the school's academic and extracurricular opportunities.

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3: Wharton Interview Report

I am an R1 Applicant . Interviewed in Philly with a second year student.

Nature of interview: Friendly, lasted about 30 minutes.

Questions:

1. Career progress based on my resume
2. Why MBA?
3. Why wharton?
4. Why now?
5. How would you resolve any issues as a team lead.
6. Long and short term career goals.
7. Describe a situation when you dealt with resistance and how you dealt with it?
8. Anything you would like to add?
9. Any questions for me?

Over all the experience was very good and positive although I felt that there was not enough time to go through many important aspects of my profile. Although I have a pretty significant work experience the interviewer did not spend much time to elicit that information.

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2: Wharton and Lauder (Interviewed on campus with 2nd year students)

Wharton

1. Walk me through your resume, arriving at why you are here today.
2. Why MBA/Why now/Why Wharton?
3. Tell me a team experience that mirrors the Wharton learning team.
4. What do you think is the weakest part of your app?
5. What are your career plans?
6. How will you contribute to Wharton?
7. Tell me about your career progression and how you compare to your peers.
8. What would you like to ask me?

Lauder

1. How did you learn of Lauder? Why Lauder? Why not just Wharton?
2. How do you manage your time (of particular importance to Lauder since students enrolled will take on extra course load)?
3. Tell me a multi-cutural experience (followed by lots of questions: How did you feel? How did others react?
4. What was the result? What would you do differently?)
5. What are the top things that attracted you to Lauder?
6. How would you contribute to our small community?
7. What would you like to ask me?

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1: I had my Wharton interview on campus. Overall, it went really well.

I was asked the following questions:

1. Walk me thru your resume
2. Why MBA
3. Why Wharton
4. Why now
5. Challenge faced on team
6. Leadership quality I admire in some I work w/
7. What do you do outside work
8. Discuss one of hobbies listed on resume
9. Anything else

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Wharton Interview Reports: Page 2