UPenn / Wharton MBA News

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Published: March 15, 2015

SXSW Conference Spotlights Business School Students’ Embrace of Design

Student-led design clubs can be found at 70 percent of the top-ranked MBA programs both in the United States and globally, an indicator that MBA students are embracing design wholeheartedly as part of their general management education, according to a presentation yesterday at the SXSW Conference in Austin. The presentation, entitled “Design in Tech,” was delivered by John Maeda, former president of the Rhode Island School of Design who last year joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) as its first “Design Partner.” As part of the presentation, Maeda provided a data-driven examination of the intersection of design and technology. Reporting on the findings of his inaugural “Design and Technology Trends Report,” Maeda highlighted the rising importance of design in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, noting the acquisition of design firms by tech companies like Facebook and Google, as well as the trend toward venture capitalists funding startups that have designers as co-founders. Read more

Published: March 10, 2015

Stanford GSB Edges Out HBS, Wharton in 2016 U.S. News & World Report Rankings

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business took the number one spot in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of the nation’s best MBA programs, released yesterday, knocking Harvard Business School (HBS) to second and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School to third. Last year, the three powerhouse schools tied for first place, but slight differences on core metrics caused HBS and Wharton to slip this year. U.S. News uses multiple core measurements to compile its rankings, with the greatest weight given to quality assessments by deans and MBA directors at peer schools and corporate recruiter survey scores. Wharton’s scores slipped in both these regards, as well as in average pay for its MBA graduates, precipitating its drop this year in the rankings. Read more

Published: March 9, 2015

UPenn’s Wharton School Names Insider as New Director of MBA Admissions

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has named a new director of admissions, the school announced to students last week. Frank DeVecchis will work closely with existing Deputy Vice Dean of Wharton MBA Admissions, Financial Aid and Career Services Maryellen Reilly Lamb to oversee the entire application process, from recruitment through matriculation. DeVecchis knows the Wharton MBA program like few others. He joins the Admissions team from Wharton’s MBA Program Office, where he served most recently as director of MBA Academic Operations. In this role, he led all operations and daily management of the MBA program, including successfully implementing Wharton’s new Course Match course registration program. He also advised more than 800 students during his tenure as the senior member of the MBA academic advising team and helped plan and implement Wharton’s three-week orientation for incoming students. Read more

Published: February 25, 2015

UPenn Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Report: Round 2 / TBD / On Campus

The following is a Wharton MBA admissions interview description provided by a recent applicant: With several close friends currently at Wharton, I expected to have a positive experience, but walked away from my interview/lunch/class experience extremely disappointed. Perhaps it was coming off the positivity of Haas' Super Saturday, or a very enthusiastic interview at Fuqua the day before - I'm not sure. I will explore this after running you through the process. Read more

Published: February 25, 2015

UPenn / Wharton Interview Report: Round 2 / TBD / On Campus

The following UPenn / Wharton interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! With several close friends currently at Wharton, I expected to have a positive experience, but walked away from my interview/lunch/class experience extremely disappointed. Perhaps it was coming off the positivity of Haas’ Super Saturday, or a very enthusiastic interview at Fuqua the day before – I’m not sure. I will explore this after running you through the process. My group of 6 was ushered into a small conference room by two current second-year students. They sat in opposite corners of the room Read more

Published: February 9, 2015

Wharton Round 2 Applicants Await Interview Invitations

Tomorrow’s the day. If you applied to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School as part of Round 2, you will very likely be checking your email repeatedly in hopes that an invitation to interview lands in your inbox. Good luck! Wharton uses the Team-Based Discussion (TBD) format for interviews, as it has for the past few years. In terms of logistics, those invited to interview tomorrow can choose from a range of locations around the globe, including Wharton’s campus in Philadelphia, as well as San Francisco, London, Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo. Each TBD will include five or six applicants grouped by the order in which they sign up for various locations. And interviews will take place beginning in late February. Read more

Published: December 28, 2014

UPenn Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / TBD / Off Campus

The following is a set of Wharton MBA admissions interview questions provided by a recent applicant: I arrived there an hour earlier and I met two interviewees. After ~30min the other two also arrived. So we went in and got started.The team composition was :2 consultants, one ex-consultant and current health care, one private equity, one investment management. I guess our team was strong: 2 of them were going to be interviewed at HBS in the weekend. Read more

Published: November 30, 2014

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / TBD / On Campus

The following is a set of Wharton MBA admissions interview questions provided by a recent applicant: I recently had my Wharton team based interview on campus. Started off with our one pitches. Very amicable group. Several of us had ideas focused in [region] and we were able to reach consensus on our idea. We then collectively presented our idea to the 2 observers at the end of the time period. During the one on one session, the observer asked me these questions: Asked how do you think the discussion went? Is leading from the front a sign of your Read more

Published: November 30, 2014

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / TBD / On-campus

The following is a set of Wharton MBA admissions interview questions and feedback from a recent applicant: When I was invited to interview, Wharton emailed us the team-based discussion (TBD) prompt. It asked us to come up with a Global Modular Course (GMC) idea. After reading up on actual GMCs at Wharton, I came up with a topic about healthcare in India, because I was very familiar with the subject. I spent several hours researching the topic, but later learned that there is no value to that (will explain below). Read more

Published: November 27, 2014

New Computerized Matching Process Replaces Course Auctions at UPenn’s Wharton School

Professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School have developed a new process for MBA course selection, one they think is more fair, less stressful and less time-consuming than traditional course auctions, the Financial Times reports. Called Course Match, the new system involves a single round of bidding by students, after which 10 high-powered servers spend 12 hours running algorithms to allocate courses. Wharton professors decided four or five years ago that the auction system then in place wasn’t working as they had intended it to. Some students (especially former financial traders) were fairing really well in the auction system, in which class seats were allocated like shares issues. But others were getting inferior schedules. The process was also stressful and time intensive, requiring students to predict the bidding strategies of their peers and go through eight rounds of bidding. Read more

Published: November 23, 2014

UPenn / Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions : Round 1 / AdCom / On Campus

The following is a description of the UPenn / Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions from a recent applicant: I interviewed at Wharton last week, and I did both my Team Based Discussion and Healthcare interview. For the healthcare interview, since I had already spoken with June before I applied, I interviewed with a recent graduate who is helping out with healthcare admissions on a part-time basis this year. She was very friendly and the interview was very conversational. Most of the time was spent discussing healthcare topics and my current work (rather than why Wharton, career goals, etc.). Read more

Published: November 10, 2014

Duke’s Fuqua School of Business Tops Latest Bloomberg BusinessWeek Ranking

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business shot to the top of Bloomberg Businessweek’s biennial ranking of full-time MBA programs, released today, up from No. 6 two years ago. In the process, the North Carolina school unseated the reigning University of Chicago Booth School of Business and pushed Harvard Business School (HBS) out of the top five for the first time in the history of the rankings. The formula Bloomberg BW employs to arrive at its rankings is as follows: 45 percent of the score is based on how recruiters rate MBA hires from the school, another 45 percent is determined by how graduating MBAs judge their program and the remaining 10 percent is based on faculty productivity, as measured by a tally of research published in leading journals. Read more

Published: November 3, 2014

Trivia Tuesday: Teaching Methods at Wharton

It’s time again for Trivia Tuesday, where we highlight programs and opportunities that distinguish leading business schools from their peer institutions! This week, we give you a peek inside our school guide to The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and discuss teaching methods at Wharton. “As at most of the leading programs, Wharton professors use a mixture of lectures, case studies, group projects, problem sets, discussions, computer simulations and presentations to convey MBA course material. The primary methods of instruction in each course are included in the course description, allowing students to choose elective courses that best match their preferred method of learning. Wharton offers Read more

Published: November 2, 2014

Wharton MBA Class of 2014 Career Report Reveals Record Job Offers

A whopping 98.2 percent of Wharton MBA Class of 2014 students seeking employment received full-time offers, according to a career report released today by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. That’s an improvement over last year’s 97.8 percent, which was itself the best number the school had seen in more than 10 years. Read more

Published: October 30, 2014

Stanford Graduate School of Business Calls It Quits for MBA Admission Blog

Don’t look for future posts on the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) MBA Admissions Blog. In a final entry earlier this week, the school announced that it was saying goodbye to its blog. All prior blog content will remain accessible through mid-December, after which prospective applicants will need to keep up with news and developments regarding Stanford MBA admissions via other means. “Our blog has begun to resemble a Tesla at a gas station,” wrote admissions staffer Victoria Hendel De La O as part of a final post on October 29th. She attributed the decline of the blog to the school’s increasing reliance on other forms of social media to communicate updates. Indeed, posts to the Stanford MBA Admissions blog have grown increasingly infrequent over the past year – with the last post going up back in June. Read more

Published: October 23, 2014

UPenn’s Wharton School to Send Round 1 Interview Invitations October 31st

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School will send invitations to interview out to Round 1 applicants on Friday, October 31st, according to a recent post on the school’s MBA Admissions Blog. Applicants who snag one of these coveted interview spots will have an opportunity to take part in Wharton’s Team-Based Discussion interviews in a range locations around the globe. For Round 1, off-campus interviews will be held in Dubai, London, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. Candidates can also, of course, choose to interview on campus in Philadelphia. “All invited candidates are encouraged to interview on-campus or in the off-campus location that is most convenient for you,” the MBA Admissions Team wrote on its blog. Read more

Published: October 8, 2014

Admissions Director Q&A: Maryellen Lamb of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School

Maryellen Lamb was named deputy vice dean of Wharton MBA Career Management, Admissions and Financial Aid last fall, and she tells us that she absolutely loves the role. “I have a great job because I get to see both the comings and goings. I see Wharton students from when they just start thinking about an MBA through their time here as students and then as they advance in their careers,” she says. “It is so fun to watch really high-performing individuals reach even higher.” Philadelphia born and raised, Lamb began her career in Princeton as a currency trader, but she found that the more successful she became, the farther away from Philadelphia she was forced to move. About 10 years ago she decided she wanted to return to Philly, and when she got a call from Wharton to come work in the Career Office as an advisor to students looking into investment banking, she jumped at it. “Over time, I have loved being at Wharton even more than I ever thought I could,” she says. Read more

Published: October 5, 2014

New Loan Program Launches for International MBA Students at U.S. Schools

A new pilot loan program will provide expanded options for international MBA students at a number of top programs in the United States, according to a recent report in Poestandquants. The program, offered by Prodigy Finance, will extend to international students and U.S. residents with non-permanent status who are studying at 16 top schools, including Harvard Business School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and MIT Sloan School of Management. Especially in recent years, banks have been reluctant to lend to students who are studying internationally. Prodigy Finance seeks to fill this need using a “community finance” model. Basically, alumni from participating schools fund loans for current students, banking on the value of a degree from their alma mater and the likelihood that future alums will repay. Interest rates on the loans vary between 6 and 12 percent, depending on the school, the individual borrower’s profile and current rates. Read more

Published: September 29, 2014

UPenn’s Wharton School Welcomes Exceptionally Entrepreneurial Class

Students entering the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School this fall bring with them record levels of entrepreneurial experience and aspirations, according to a recent blog post by Nadine Kavanaugh, associate director of Wharton Entrepreneurship. “We’re especially excited because the Class of 2016 is already incredibly entrepreneurial,” wrote Kavanaugh. “We can’t wait to see what amazing startups they’ll start.” Read more

Published: September 17, 2014

UPenn’s Wharton School Celebrates Opening of New SiriusXM Studio for Business Radio

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania today hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of a new SiriusXM satellite radio broadcast studio. The new studio will broadcast Business Radio Powered by the Wharton School, which offers direct, exclusive access to some of the world’s top business leaders and educators. Newly appointed Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett was joined by SiriusXM President and Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein for today’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. Wharton first partnered with SiriusXM last fall to launch the full-time radio channel focused on business and management. Read more

Published: September 2, 2014

UPenn’s Wharton School Puts Faculty on the Road to Meet with Prospective Applicants

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has planned a series of upcoming admissions events that will allow prospective applicants to “Experience Wharton” by hearing directly from some of the school’s top faculty. These Experience Wharton events are scheduled throughout September in several major U.S. cities. The first event, taking place today in San Francisco, will feature Wharton Professor Karl Ulrich offering a presentation on entrepreneurial success. Ulrich, who serves as Wharton’s vice dean of innovation, is a professor of entrepreneurship, e-commerce and mechanical engineering. His research is focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and product development. Read more

Published: August 24, 2014

Ice Bucket Challenge Continues Its Ripple Through Top Business Schools

It started last week with one section challenging another at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, ultimately leading to a school-wide dousing and a challenge issued to rival schools UNC Kenan-Flagler School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and UVA’s Darden School. And the ice-cold water just keeps flowing (as do the donations). The challenge, of course, is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that began going viral in late July and has amassed an incredible $79.7 million in donations to date (as compared to just $2.5 million during the same time period last year [July 29th to August 25th]). The ALS Association reports that it has gained 1.7 million new donors along the way. Those who are challenged are supposed to have ice water dumped over their heads and then challenge others to do the same—or to make a donation to fight ALS—within 24 hours. In taking up the mantle, business school classes have called upon their peers to both endure the icy shower AND donate. Read more

Published: August 19, 2014

Business School Students Accept ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, Pass It On

With the likes of Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and former President George W. Bush pouring buckets of ice over their heads in support of ALS awareness, surely top business schools are getting in on the action as well, right? At Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, it began with one section (Section 4) challenging another (Section 5). That section upped the ante, challenging the entire rest of the class, as well as all of Fuqua’s MMS Cross Continent students. So on August 13th, Team Fuqua did the #ALSIceBucketChallenge as one. Read more

Published: August 13, 2014

Cambridge’s Judge Business School Extends Lifelong Learning to EMBA Grads

The Judge Business School at Cambridge University this summer becomes the latest in a growing list of business schools that are offering lifelong learning opportunities to some of its graduates. Judge recently announced that alumni of its Executive MBA (EMBA) program will now be eligible to return to campus to take free one elective per year. According to a report in PoetsandQuants, the offer, which had been available previously on an informal basis, is expected to attract roughly a third of the Judge EMBA program’s grads back to campus this fall. Read more

Published: August 11, 2014

Student-Led Program at UPenn’s Wharton School Focuses on Introspection

Ten students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School have helped create a program designed to help encourage MBAs to make time amid their studies to examine what they value in their personal and professional lives. Called “Purpose, Passion and Principles” – or the P3 program for short – the student-led initiative debuted last fall after roughly a year of development. Participants take part in nine small-group discussions held once a week, in which one student serves as a facilitator. The student facilitator directs the conversation and helps create a safe environment in which students explore topics ranging from reflections on meaningful past life experiences to what success means to them to visions of their ideal future lives. Read more

UPenn / Wharton

CLASS SIZE: 866

Women: 47%

MEAN GMAT: 732

MEAN GPA: 3.7

Livewire Decisionwire Interview Reports Essay Topic Analysis MBA Admissions Deadlines View Full Profile

MBA Applywire

December 22, 2024 6:32am ET

Applying: Cornell / Johnson, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, UNC Kenan-Flagler, UVA / Darden, Vanderbilt / Owen

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Construction & RE (2nd Gen Entrepreneur)

Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology, Investment Banking, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Asset Management, inc. HF, Commercial Banking, Family Business Companies: Citibank , Deutsche Bank , Morgan Stanley , Accell Partners , Andressen Horowitz , First Round Capital , Sequoia Capital , Bain Capital , Blackstone , Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Group , Blackrock , Goldman Sachs , JP Morgan Asset Management , State Street , Citibank , Morgan Stanley

GRE: 326

GPA: 3.80

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: India

December 21, 2024 12:13pm ET

Applying: Dartmouth / Tuck, Northwestern / Kellogg, UPenn / Wharton, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Military/Corporate Logistics

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey

GRE: 302

GPA: 3.63

Years of Work Experience: 9

Notes:

Submitting for R2, but retaking GRE after application deadline. Military Vet with Corporate experience.

December 20, 2024 5:17pm ET

Applying: Columbia, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Healthcare

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG

GRE: 332

GPA: 3.5

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: Florida

Post MBA Location: Consulting

Notes:

25F, lgbtq, 3 years as a registered nurse. also have started working for an early stage VC in the past several months.

December 19, 2024 4:44pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Stanford GSB

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Insurance

Post-MBA Target Industry: Entrepreneurship

GRE: 318

GPA: 3.59

Years of Work Experience: 3.5

Location: Georgia

Post MBA Location: Southeast

Notes:

Looking to launch a tech startup post MBA, without any background in tech. Come from a quant heavy background and undergraduate coursework. I regularly attended admissions events, in person and online at my schools. I hope that focusing energy on my few top schools and spending a lot of time on essays will help me overcome the less than average test score (164 quant 154 verbal) and GPA.

Serial entrepreneur with a history of profitable small businesses. Was promoted twice in 3.5 years. Involved in many extracurricular activities in and outside of work. My background is very centered around financial services/insurance, is this a red flag for a pivot to Tech Entrepreneurship?

Transferred between two state schools in the southeast. School I graduated from is a top 25 undergrad business program. Obtained a few professionals designations post grad.

December 18, 2024 11:38am ET

Applying: Michigan / Ross, UNC Kenan-Flagler, Vanderbilt / Owen

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Held various positions in Finance and Accounting in a healthcare institution

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Other Companies: BCG , Deloitte , Other

GPA: 3.0

Years of Work Experience: 11

Location: International

Notes:

I am passionate about healthcare enhancing patient quality care. So exploring in that field is what I would love. Got a 72k scholarship from Vandy and named Forte Fellow. UNC 50k. I'm having a hard time deciding though my heart is leaning towards Owen

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MBA LiveWire

December 22, 2024 1:36pm ET

Accepted to UT Austin / McCombs

Round: Round 1

Received via email on December 16, 2024

GRE: 319

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: United Kingdom

Note:

$20k merit scholarship offer.

December 22, 2024 12:04pm ET

Accepted to Stanford GSB

Round: Round 1

Received via phone

GPA: 3.7

GMAT: 750

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Technology

Application Location: Asia

December 22, 2024 4:59am ET

Accepted to UPenn / Wharton

Round: Round 1

Received via portal

GMAT: 730

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: Southeast Asia

Note:

Elated and did not expect it!

December 21, 2024 8:37am ET

Accepted to Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 1

Received via phone on December 11, 2024

GMAT: 675

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Consulting

December 21, 2024 2:38am ET

Waitlisted at Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 1

Received via phone on December 10, 2024

GPA: 3.27

GMAT: 760

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: CA

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