Wharton Application Essays for 2009-2010

Recently Wharton released its application deadlines for the coming admissions season. Now, the school has released its admissions essays for the coming year.

Wharton's essays are below, and our comments follow in italics.

Wharton Application Essays

1. As a leader in global business, Wharton is committed to sustaining "a truly global presence through its engagement in the world." What goals are you committed to and why? How do you envision the Wharton MBA contributing to the attainment of those goals? (750 - 100 words)
   
   (This is a new question for Wharton this year, although, at its core, it's still looking for you to to describe why you want an MBA, and why a Wharton MBA specifically will help you in your career. In this way, it's very similar to other schools' "Why MBA? Why this school?" questions. However, note the emphasis that the school has placed on "global business" and "engagement in the world." This isn't a sign that you need to have international or multi-cultural experience in order to be a fit with Wharton, but the school is clearly looking for applicants that can frame their experiences and goals in a global context, and who plan on engaging in the communities around them.)


2. Tell us about a time when you had to adapt by accepting/understanding the perspective of people different from yourself. (750 - 100 words)
   
   (This is also a new question this year. It is another hint that the school seeks a great deal of diversity in its applicant pool, and wants students who will thrive in this environment. Don't let this question intimidate you if you feel that your global experiences are minimal -- any situation where you accomplished something by working with someone who has a different background or outlook than you is fair game. That can include someone's personal beliefs, cultural background, professional experience, or academic background. An applicant's tendency here will be to automatically go for the most obvious case of a cultural or language barrier, but it's more important that you can make clear why the situation was challenging, what you did to overcome it, and -- hopefully -- how you were successful.)


3. Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? (500 words)
   
   (This question carries over from last year. As with all failure-related questions, the key is to put enough emphasis on what you learned. This sort of self-awareness is what admissions officers typically look for when they ask a "failure" question. Also, ideally you will be able to describe a later time when you applied what you learned to a new situation to avoid a similar failure.)


4. Choose one of the following: (500 words)
   
   - Give us a specific example of a time when you solved a complex problem.
   
   - Tell us about something significant that you have done to improve yourself, in either your professional and/or personal endeavors.
   
   (Both of these essay choices are new this year. The first question gives you the opportunity to take the reader through how you broke down the problem at hand, whether it was an analytical problem or an organizational challenge. The word "complex" will often take people down the path of a story that shows off their analytical abilities, but think broadly about the definition of this word. A story about how you overcame multiple organizational or cultural challenges to achieve something is also fair game. The second question gives you another opportunity to demonstrate self-awareness and a commitment to self-improvement. One example of a good essay here is a story of how you overcame tremendous odds to better yourself at a particular task or skill.)


5. If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)
   (It ca be tempting to use this type of question as an opportunity to pour out a list of excuses for weaknesses in one's background. Avoid this temptation, and only use it if you must address a glaring weakness in your application. Address it, explain what happened, and move on.)

For more advice on applying to Wharton, visit the Veritas Prep Wharton information page. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

Wharton Admissions Deadlines for 2009-2010

While the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has not yet released its admissions essays for the coming year, last week the school released its application deadlines for the coming year:

Wharton Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 1, 2009
Round 2: January 5, 2010
Round 3: March 9, 2010

It's interesting that, like HBS and Stanford, Wharton's Round 1 deadlines, Wharton's is now at the beginning of October (it's been moved up by one week vs. last year). We expect that more top schools will soon follow. However, Wharton did not move its Round 3 application deadline to April, leaving just Stanford and Harvard as the schools with April deadlines, so far.

For more advice on applying to Wharton, take a look at Veritas Prep's Wharton page. If you are ready to start working on your Wharton candidacy now, see how Veritas Prep's MBA admissions consultants can help you succeed.

New Wharton Loans for International Students

Yesterday Wharton announced a new student loan program for international students that will not require borrowers to have U.S. co-signers. The program, launched in partnership with Digital Federal Credit Union, is the long-awaited replacement that the school has been searching for since Citi canceled its student loan program last October.

This program will cover tuition and living expenses for international students at Wharton. The loan terms are quite attractive given the current lending climate: an interest rate of Prime plus 3% (reduced by 25 basis points if the borrower signs up for an automatic payment plan), plus no origination fee. Wharton will share some of the risk of default with the credit union, which indicates how badly Wharton wanted to make this new loan program happen.

The school's Student Financial Services Office is in the process of reviewing several proposals for new loan programs for domestic students and for international students with U.S.-based co-signers. The school expects to have a list of approved lenders for both federal and private loan programs within the next few weeks.

For more information on applying to and attending Wharton, visit the Veritas Prep Wharton information page at Veritas Prep. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

Harvard and Wharton Admissions News

This week HBS and Wharton provided important updates for applicants on their blogs. For anyone who is currently waiting to hear back from HBS or Wharton, the next couple of weeks figure to be an important time. And, if you're on the waitlist at HBS, you may have some good news coming soon.

On the HBS admissions blog, Dee Leopold provided an update for applicants in all three admissions rounds. She wrote:

Round One Waitlist - We will be extending offers of admission to about 40 round one waitlisters shortly after April 2. We will continue to maintain a waitlist and Eileen Chang will send out an update in early April.

Round Two Notification - April 2 is the notification date. All decisions will be released online - you will receive an email instructing you to check your status. We won't be making any congratulatory phone calls in advance of April 2!

Round Three Interview Invitations - Many, but not all, will go out on April 3.

Meanwhile, over at the Wharton blog, the admissions team posted an update specifically for the school's Round 2 applicants:

All Round 2 applicants who were invited for interviews: you will receive your admissions decision tomorrow. You may check your decision status at that time through your online application. We will also make every effort to contact all new admits via telephone or e-mail.

Return here tomorrow for an announcement that decisions have been released and for more details...

Good luck to everyone!

Note that the Wharton blog post was written yesterday, meaning that by now many of you should have heard from Wharton... Hopefully you got good news!

For more regular updates on Harvard Business School, Wharton, and other top business schools, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

Wharton Round 3 Admissions Update

Yesterday Wharton's admissions office posted an update on its blog for everyone who just applied in Wharton's third admissions round. Since they understand that waiting on one's application status can put an applicant on pins and needles, Wharton admissions officers are deliberately over-communicating about what Round 3 applicants can expect in the coming weeks.

First, know that if your status currently reads "Received" or "Complete for Round Three," then you are in good shape. "Received" just means that the office needs to match up your hard copy submissions with your electronic files, and within a week or so you should see your status change. "Therefore," says the admissions committee, "please allow the Operations Team until Thursday, March 12 before inquiring about the completeness of your application."

Wharton will start releasing interview invitations on March 30, and will continue to release them until April 9. So, once your application status is "Complete," there's no need to even check it again until the end of this month. Also on April 9, Wharton will notify all Round 3 candidates who have been denied admission.

Finally, if you are invited to interview, you must complete the interview by April 23. All interviewed applicants will receive their final admissions decision by May 14.

If you are invited to interview with Wharton and would like some professional assistance in preparing for the big day, Veritas Prep offers MBA admissions interview preparation services. Good luck to all Round 3 Wharton applicants!

Wharton Round 2 Interview Invitations

If you applied to Wharton in Round 2 but still haven't heard from the school about an admissions interview, there's still hope! Yesterday the Wharton admissions office posted an update on its blog to let applicants know that the school will release all Round 2 interview invitations by tomorrow (Feb. 19).

The Wharton admissions office writes:

The Admissions Committee has already begun releasing interview invitations and will continue to do so daily until 5:00pm EST on Thursday, 19 February 09. Due to the nature and complexity of the admissions process, there is no particular order in which invitations are released. Complete details on how, when, and where to schedule an interview will be provided at the time of invitation. Candidates who are not invited to interview and are no longer being considered for admission will receive a “Deny” decision on 19 February 09.

For help in preparing for your Wharton interview (or your interview for any other top business school), read our blog entry titled MBA Admissions Interview Tips. Good luck!

Wharton Names New Director of MBA Admissions

The Wharton School, which had been operating without a full-time director of admissions since Thomas Caleel stepped down last summer, has just named Jonathan "J.J." Cutler its new director of MBA admissions and financial aid.

Cutler, a Wharton alum (Class of 1997), doesn't appear to have much of a background in the education space, but has strong ties to Penn and has an impressive background in marketing and general management. Most recently, he had served as President and COO of Lindi Skin, a start-up offering skin care products specifically designed for people with cancer. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Aramark Healthcare's North American group. Before that he spent seven years in a variety of roles at Johnson & Johnson, where he was heavily involved at MBA recruiting at Wharton.

Since it took more than six months for Wharton to find J.J. Cutler, we can only assume that they took their time to find just the right candidate to fill Thomas Caleel's shoes. We are actually quite impressed that the administration clearly "thought outside the box" and went for someone outside of the traditional education and admissions spaces. We wish J.J. the best of luck in managing Wharton's hectic admissions process.

For more information on Wharton, visit the Veritas Prep Wharton information page and take a look at the Wharton admissions essays and deadlines for the 2008-2009 application season.

Wharton Announces New JD/MBA Program with Penn Law

Last week the University of Pennsylvania announced a new three-year JD/MBA program between the Wharton School and Penn Law School.

JD/MBA students will spend their first year taking law courses, followed by a summer of four more law and and businesses courses designed specifically for the JD/MBA program. In their second and third years students will take a combination of law and business courses, including capstone courses in the third year. While they won't work during their first summer, JD/MBA students will take a law- or business-related job between their second and third years.

According to the Penn release:

"We expect that all sorts of people with business experience will apply," Edward Rock, co-director of Penn's Institute for Law and Economics, a professor of law and an architect of the three-year program. "All of them will be able to navigate and lead in the worlds of business and of law because this is the best way to prepare tomorrow's business lawyers."

Penn joins other top schools such as Northwestern in the trend to provide accelerated JD/MBA options to students who are considering graduate training in both law and business.

Wharton 2008-2009 Application Now Live

As promised in a post on the Wharton admissions blog, the school's online application is now live for the 2008-2009 admissions season.

Last month we posted advice on Wharton's admissions essays for this coming year. Be sure to take a look at our comments before you dig into your application.

If you'd like more help in perfecting your Wharton application, talk to one of Veritas Prep's MBA admissions consultants, many of whom have MBAs from Wharton and other top-ten business schools.

Wharton Application Essays and Deadlines for 2008-2009

Wharton has released its application deadlines and admissions essays for the 2008-2009 season. Here they are, taken from Wharton's site. Our comments are in italics:

Wharton Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 9, 2008
Round 2: January 8, 2009
Round 3: March 5, 2009

(No big changes from last year... All deadlines are within a week of the 2007-2008 season's respective deadlines.)

Wharton Application Essays

First-Time Applicant Questions:

1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program? (1,000 words)
   
   
2. Describe a setback or a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? (500 words)



3. Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential? (500 words)


(Question #3 isn't new, but it's new that it's a mandatory one. Interesting question... It doesn't get much more explicit than this that they're looking for leadership.)


4. Please respond to one (1) of the following questions:
   
   a. Describe an experience you have had innovating or initiating, your lessons learned, the results and impact of your efforts. (500 words)
   
   (Question 4a is new.)
   
   b. Is there anything about your background or experience that you feel you have not had the opportunity to share with the Admissions Committee in your application? If yes, please explain. (500 words)
   
   
5. OPTIONAL: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, TOEFL waiver request, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words, maximum)

Reapplicant Questions:

1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program? How has your candidacy improved since the last time you applied? (1,000 words)



2. Describe an experience you have had innovating or initiating, your lessons learned, the results and impact of your efforts. (500 words)


(As it is for new applicants, Question 2 is new. Clearly more emphasis on innovation from Wharton this year.)


3. Please respond to one (1) of the following questions:
   
   a. Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential? (500 words)
   
   b. Is there anything about your background or experience that you feel you have not had the opportunity to share with the Admissions Committee in your application? If yes, please explain. (500 words)
   
   
4. OPTIONAL: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, TOEFL waiver request, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words, maximum)

For more information about Wharton, visit our Wharton MBA information page.And for more information on business school application deadlines, visit our MBA admissions deadlines page.

Wharton Director of Admissions Steps Down

On Monday Wharton announced on its blog that Thomas Caleel has vacated his role as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, effective June 30. Anjani Jain, Wharton's Vice Dean and Director of the school's Graduate Division, will temporarily fill the role until a permanent placement is announced.

Reads the announcement: "In his role as Director, Thomas has been a passionate ambassador of the School and the MBA Program, and Wharton faculty, staff and students alike are enormously grateful to have had Thomas serve the School in this important role."

Under Caleel's leadership, the school opened up to the community even more through such initiatives as the student2student online forum (a longstanding Wharton initiative) and the Wharton Admissions Blog. Hopefully his successor will carry on with this philosophy.

From reading the announcement, Vice Dean Jain certainly seems to have enough on his plate already. With the 2008-2009 admissions season just around the corner, here's hoping that Wharton finds a suitable replacement for Caleel as soon as possible!

Fore more information about applying to Wharton, visit our Wharton information page.