Like all interviews this year, my team-based discussion was hosted on Zoom by two second-year Wharton students. As everyone logged onto the platform, we introduced ourselves and kept some light chatter. Once the interview officially kicked off, the two second-year students kept their video on and watched us carry out the TBD. The prompt was based on creating a new type of engagement program, and was a very easy discussion. Interviewees took turns introducing their prompt, and we came up with basically a mix and match of everyone’s ideas in the end. We also had to present, which we were all able to do within the given time frame. The TBD itself was fairly painless and very easy-going; I believe ~2-3 candidates were accepted from the 5 other people I interviewed with.
Afterwards, they gave us the order of 1:1s they would do – the two students split us up. I was one of the last to go, so had a decent amount of time to wait. The student asked me only one question (Why Wharton), and we had a great but short discussion about Wharton life. Then that was that! I’d say Wharton, despite being in a different format, was one of the easier interviews to prepare for since I had done most of the research / practice upfront with my application and other MBA interviews.
Don’t be afraid of the TBD format! Practice if you can with other applicants, but don’t sweat it if you can’t. I wasn’t able to practice with others, but found it a fairly easy exercise as I do a lot of group work / thinking / brainstorming in my work already.
