Had my Wharton interview at the San Francisco campus in a smallish room with a round table. Name tags were faced towards the interviewer and no visible, which made it hard to call people by name since I had forgotten a few.
Overall structure:
- Interviewer briefly introduced herself, read the prompt, and told us about what we would have: 35 minutes, a timer, and a whiteboard.
- TBD (Team Based Discussion)
- 1 on 1 interview
We were also asked to give our intended major in our intro, which threw some of us off, but I don’t think that ended up mattering. The rest of the TBD went very smoothly–we ended up finishing the trip schedule with about 10 minutes to spare, so we added in some other details. I was lucky to have an above average group, though that can sometimes make it difficult to stand out. 5 of us were admitted.
The 1 on 1 was incredibly easy. Just 2 questions: why MBA and why Wharton, though it was sort of combined into 1 question. Following that, the interviewer asks if you have any questions for him/her. Because I finished with about 6 minutes left, I had to make up a bunch of questions on the spot. While I was able to wing it and maintain a natural conversation, I would HIGHLY recommend having 5 questions prepared if your Why MBA/Wharton is less than 5 minutes.
Preparing for your UPenn Wharton MBA Admissions Interview? Check out Clear Admit’s other resources:
- Clear Admit The Wharton School Interview Guide: Strategic tips for approaching Wharton’s interview questions, and more.
- Interview Archive: More firsthand accounts from Wharton MBA applicants themselves
- Understanding the MBA Admissions Interview: Team-based discussion
- Podcast Episode 23: 5 Most Common MBA Interview Questions You Need to Ace
