Wharton Application Essays for 2010-2011

After releasing its application deadlines a few weeks ago, Wharton has just released its admissions essays for the Class of 2013.

The Internet is already buzzing with chatter about Wharton's new essays, which are radically different than last year's. In Spring 2009, when Wharton Dean of Admissions J.J. Cutler was new to the job, the school made numerous changes to its essays. Now Wharton introduces even more radical changes to its application this year.

Wharton's 2010-2011 MBA admissions essays are below, followed by our comments in italics:

Wharton Admissions Essays

Required Question
What are your professional objectives? (300 words)

This question is new this year. At its core, it is still in many respects a "Why an MBA?" essay. (Note that those questions don't come up in any other essay here, so you will need to address them here.) Also note that, while this seemingly mandatory question only requires 300 words, Wharton gives you 600 words for each of the other, more introspective essays. Clearly, the Wharton admissions committee is more interested in getting to know you as a person than as a professional. Business schools always say that, but Wharton is really putting this idea into action.

Still, it is critical that you use this essay to properly "set the stage" for the rest of your candidacy. It's only 300 words long, but after reading this essay admissions officers should clearly understand where you want to go in your career and why a Wharton MBA makes sense for you now. Wharton doesn't ask "Why Wharton?" and you don't have many words to spare, so don't devote too many words to answering this here. You have 1,800 - 1,900 words (across your three other essays) to help lead them to the conclusion that you're a great fit with Wharton.

Optional Questions

Respond to three of the following four questions:

1. Student and alumni engagement has at times led to the creation of innovative classes. For example, through extraordinary efforts, a small group of current students partnered with faculty to create a timely course entitled, "Disaster Response: Haiti and Beyond," empowering students to leverage the talented Wharton community to improve the lives of the Haiti earthquake victims. Similarly, Wharton students and alumni helped to create the "Innovation and the Indian Healthcare Industry" which took students to India where they studied the full range of healthcare issues in India. If you were able to create a Wharton course on any topic, what would it be? (700 words)

If you were worried about demonstrating your knowledge of (and fit with) Wharton, here's your chance to show some of that here. The risk for many applicants will be in overreaching with this essay and discussing something too high-minded to be believable (e.g., "I want to start a class on providing drinking water to Third World nations.") The Haiti and India examples will likely contribute to that problem. If there's something you're truly passionate about, this is a great place to discuss it, but it does NOT have to have the impact on the social good that the Haiti example provides. What are you passionate about? How would you want to educate your Wharton classmates on it?


2. 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? (600 words)

This is a terrific "introspection" question. MBA admissions officers really want to see self-awareness and introspection in applicants, and this question provides that. Don't worry if the opportunity that you turned down seems small -- you don't need to blow them away with the "sexiness" of the opportunity. Also, note the emphasis on your thought process; that's far more interesting to Wharton than what the actual opportunity was. Help them understand why you made the decision, what you learned about your wants and values in the process, and how it's shaped you as a person. Also, answering "No." to the last part of the question is okay. Having the humility to wish you could make a decision over again is one terrific sign of introspection and maturity.


3. Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? How did this experience help to create your definition of failure? (600 words)

This is the only question that carries over from last year, although the last part is new. 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. Discuss a time when you navigated a challenging experience in either a personal or professional relationship. (600 words)

This question is also new this year, although, at its core, it's similar last year's Question #2, which asked about a time when you had to accept the perspective of people different from yourself. You need to demonstrate empathy, maturity, and a willingness to consider others' points of view. Where it differs is that it takes a little emphasis off of the idea of diversity and explores tough relationships of all types. As we said last year, it's most important here that you can make clear why the situation was challenging, what you did to overcome it, and -- hopefully -- how you were successful. Even if you weren't successful, though, what's most interesting here is what you learned in the process.

Before you begin your Wharton application, download our Wharton Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Wharton or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today! And, be sure to subscribe to this blog and follow us on Twitter!

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Wharton Application Deadlines for 2010-2011

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

Wharton Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 4, 2010
Round 2: January 4, 2011
Round 3: March 3, 2011

These deadlines are virtually the same as last year's. Note that Wharton's Round 1 deadline is in the beginning of October, much like Harvard's and Stanford's. We expect that more top schools will soon follow and start moving their deadlines to the first half of October to give them more time to release Round 1 decisions before the holidays (and before the Round 2 deadline). Note that Wharton's Round 3 application deadline is still in March, leaving just Stanford and Harvard as the top schools with April deadlines right now.

To learn more about how to get into Wharton, download our Wharton Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Wharton or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Applying to Business School with a Blemish in Your Application

Today's issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian, U. Penn's student-run newspaper, featured an article about applying top business schools with a blemish or "black mark" in one's background. The article was mostly written with Wharton in mind, but the article's main takeaways are applicable for anyone applying to any top business school.

The message? Having a serious blemish in your past will create more work for you as you try to create the perfect application, but it won't automatically keep you out of a top MBA program. Incidents such as low undergraduate grades, academic disciplinary action, and legal troubles can all be overcome by an otherwise strong applicant, as long as the applicant addresses the blemish head-on in the application.

"The worst thing for a student to do is to ignore something they have noticed about their application that they regard as an issue or weakness and hope we won't notice," says Associate Director of Wharton MBA Admissions Kathryn Bezella in the article. "A hundred percent of the time, we will notice -- it's our job to notice."

This has especially become true in the past decade as more and more top business schools (including Wharton) have formalized the post-admission fact-checking process, using third-party firms to audit applications to make sure that everything is as you say it is in your application. While this IRS-like auditing might seem scary to some, it's actually quite liberating. If an applicant ever faces the moral dilemma of "Should I disclose this blemish in my application?" his job is made easier by knowing that the school most likely will find out about one way or another. And, just like the dynamic between parents and children, it's much better for the admissions office to hear it from you, not from an investigation agency.

Also, these application audits let an applicant know that the playing field is indeed level. If the auditors do their jobs well, they will find other applicants' past mistakes, too, so any given applicant can know that he's not putting himself at an unfair advantage by "playing by the rules" and disclosing something negative from his past.

Then, the question becomes how to address these problems in one's background. Here the advice (including Veritas Prep's own advice) is unanimous: Address the issue head-on, succinctly explain what happened, describe what you learned from it and how you grew as a result of the problem, and (ideally) point to more recent instances where you put that learning to use. You should avoid the temptation to lay litany of excuses at the admissions committee's feet... They're only hearing your side of the story, and while they truly are open minded about your explanation, by going on and on about the blemish you could actually begin to create new questions in their minds.

"It's all about how you handle it and what evidence you have to back up your claims," adds Associate Director Bezella. They know you're not perfect, and admitting failure or a mistake -- and showing how you took action to not let it happen again -- is more impressive than providing ten reasons why the blemish wasn't your fault.

If you're interested in Wharton or any other top business school, take a look at our Veritas Prep Annual Reports, 15 completely free guides to the world's top MBA programs.If you're ready to start building your own MBA application, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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A Closer Look at Wharton's First-Year Core Classes

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top business schools, this week we take a closer look at Wharton's first-year core MBA curriculum. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Wharton research.)

Like most top business schools, The Wharton School aims to lay a strong foundation in general management that will prepare students to face a range of business issues throughout their careers. First-year students are required to attend a one-month "Pre-Term" session prior to the official start of the school year. Pre-Term, which begins in late-July or early-August each year, features several introductory and review courses in financial accounting, microeconomics, statistics, and financial analysis. There is also an optional math review course offered to those students whose math skills are rusty or who never took a college level calculus or statistics course.

The idea of Pre-Term is to level the playing field and ensure that there is a common knowledge base on which to build over the course of the program. In addition to the academic elements of Pre-Term, there is also a two-day, off-campus retreat designed to introduce students to members of their learning team and to begin the practice of leading in a peer environment.

Beyond Pre-Term, The first year is defined by the core curriculum, which all students are required to take. Wharton operates on a quarter system, with most courses lasting only a quarter and some the full semester (combination of quarter one and quarter two, or Q1 and Q2). The core-curriculum is divided into three areas: Leadership Essentials, Analytical Foundations, and Core Business Fundamentals.

Earning a Wharton MBA requires a minimum of 19 credit units (referred to as "cu's" around Wharton) of graduate-level courses. There is flexibility within that requirement to take up to 4 cu outside of the Wharton program and students may also waive out of most (although not all) of the core courses on the basis of prior coursework or experience in a given subject. Students can waive course in one of two ways: by waiver application and through the waiver exam process. All waived credits, however, must be replaced by electives to meet the minimum 19cu requirement. Roughly 65 percent of first-year students waive out of at least one core course, which allows them to take advantage of one of over 200 electives offered.

In addition to the core courses, first year students can also pursue the optional Global Immersion elective, which is a four-week immersion experience in one of several different regions of the world immediately following the spring semester of the first year. Once all core course requirements have been satisfied, students can begin to explore the roughly 200 elective offerings across 19 different majors. This typically begins in the second year, but should a student waive out of courses in the first year, those credit units can be satisfied with electives.

Today's blog post was clipped from our Wharton Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Wharton or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Getting Into Wharton: Veritas Prep on MBA PodTV

MBA Podcaster's MBA PodTV team has just launched a new video titled "Getting Into The Wharton School," featuring our own Director of MBA Admissions, Scott Shrum. In addition to some great advice from Scott, the episode also features admissions insights from Wharton admissions officers, current students, and recent alumni:

(You can watch the video in a larger size on YouTube.)

A few key points that Scott makes:

• Although Wharton is best known as a finance school, its marketing department is incredibly strong. In fact, Wharton has the largest marketing faculty of any business school.


• Although Wharton doesn't emphasize it as much as some other top schools do, Wharton really wants to see that you're someone who's ready and willing to get involved on campus. In fact, no school relies on its students in the admissions process more than Wharton does.


• Hirability is key, especially in this market. What drives this? Your maturity and having a realistic grasp of your post-MBA goals (vs. your abilities) are two key ingredients here.


• What one thing in your application should you focus on the most? It's career progression -- Wharton wants to see a track record if success. Naturally, this isn't something you can "polish up" or quickly improve like an essay or a GMAT score.


• One interesting new Wharton essay question is, "Tell us about something significant that you have don to improve yourself." While brushing up on a hard skill is a reasonable answer, a richer response tell a story about how you overcame weaknesses or fears to make yourself a better person. For example, maybe you overcame a fear of public speaking to lead a company meeting, even thought you couldn't sleep the night before the big event. That's always going to be a more interesting response to an admissions officer.

For more advice on getting into Wharton and other top business schools, take a look at Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, in-depth guides to 15 of the world's top business schools. They're absolutely FREE to anyone who registers. And, of course, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

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Wharton MBA Application Now Live

In a brief post on the official Wharton blog, the school announced today that the 2009-2010 application is now available. You can access Wharton's online application system here.

We'll echo the sentiments of the Wharton admissions team and say good luck to everyone this coming admissions season!

For more advice on applying to Wharton, visit the Veritas Prep Wharton information page. Also, before you begin your application, be sure to take a look at our analysis of Wharton's 2009-2010 admissions essays.

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Wharton Admissions Essays for 2009-2010

Several weeks ago Wharton released its application deadlines for the coming admissions season. Now, the school has released its admissions essays for the coming year. If you plan on applying to Wharton, even if you don't start working on your essays for a couple of months, we recommend that you at least review them now to familiarize yourself with the subject matter you will need to cover in your Wharton application.

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 essay 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 - 1,000 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)
   
   (As we always tell applicants, it's 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 our Wharton information page. For even more advice on applying to Wharton, download our FREE Veritas Prep Annual Reports! Also, be sure to follow Veritas Prep on Twitter!

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Wharton Application 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. 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 information page. For even more advice on applying to Wharton, download our FREE Veritas Prep Annual Reports! If you are ready to start working on your candidacy for the coming year, see how Veritas Prep's MBA admissions experts can help you.

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Wharton Announces New Loans for International Students

Earlier this week 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 program last October.

The new loan 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 DFCU, which indicates how badly Wharton wanted to make this new loan program happen.

The school's Student Financial Services (SFS) 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. The "international with no U.S. co-signer" group was the most in need of help, so it's good to see Wharton get that one out of the way first.

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

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Admissions Updates from HBS and Wharton

This week Harvard Business School 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.

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 admissions blog, the team posted an update specifically for Wharton'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!

That 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 HBS, Wharton, and other top business schools, be sure to follow Veritas Prep on Twitter.

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Round 3 Admissions Update from Wharton

Yesterday the Wharton admissions committee 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's 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."

Regarding interview invitations, Wharton will start releasing them 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. Until then, good luck!

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Wharton Round Two Admissions Interview Invitations

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 admissions committee explains:

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.

So, if you still haven't heard from Wharton about your Round 2 application, there's still hope!

For help in preparing for your Wharton interview (or your interview for any other top business school), read our blog entry titled Admissions Interviews - What to Expect. Good luck!

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New Director of Admissions at Wharton

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Wharton's New Dean

Earlier this year, we posted a message from Wharton regarding the departure of Dean Patrick Harper. Dean Harper will assume his new position in Delaware on August 1, and we now know who will take his place at Wharton: Thomas Robertson.

Robertson is currently a professor at Goizueta, and used to be a dean there as well. He is also a former professor of schools such as UCLA's Anderson School, Harvard Business School, and conveniently enough, Wharton.

More information can be found here.

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Wharton & Harvard

Wharton recently announced a new dual-degree with the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) at Harvard. The announcement came on their MBA Blog, and it's interesting to see them add yet another dual/joint-degree to their program, as they offer plenty already. Unfortunately, the announcement did not offer too many details, but I would encourage interested applicants to do some more research, and maybe contact the school itself, and see if this is a program worth applying to.

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The University Venture Fund

Thought this was pretty cool:

Wharton and the University of Utah have a collaborative effort called the University Venture Fund, that aims to introduce students to the venture capital industry via hands-on experiences. The students are responsible for securing capital and making deals & investments. The University Venture Fund was started in 2003 at the University of Utah, and Wharton jumped on board in 2005.

More information can be found here.

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