UPenn / Wharton MBA News

Get the latest MBA news from UPenn / Wharton.

Published: November 20, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Group Interview with Second-Year student / On-Campus

I got there early and waited in the waiting room with the other interviewees for my time slot. There were 18 of us, and one student came out at a time to lead six of us back to the interview room for the team-based discussion. I’m a military person, and in my group we had an aerospace engineer, a business development person for a construction company, two real estate investors, one consultant, and an accountant. The second-year students gave us 30 seconds to introduce ourselves, and then they read off the team-based discussion question (which we’d already been emailed, but Read more

Published: October 16, 2013

Career Services Directors at Top Business School Report Strong Jobs Market

MBA graduates from some top schools are finding jobs in less time and at higher starting salaries than they have in years, according to a recent article in Forbes. Despite the undeniably adverse effect of the economic crisis on MBA hiring, especially in the financial services, careers in consulting remain strong, and today’s graduates are also finding growing numbers of opportunities in technology, e-commerce, luxury retail and energy sectors. Indeed, 75 percent of companies reported as part of the GMAC 2013 Corporate Recruiters Survey that they plan to hire recent MBAs this year (up from 71 percent that hired in 2012). Not only that, those employers expect to hire an average of 14.6 new MBA hires, up from 11.4 a year before. Read more

Published: October 8, 2013

Stanford Graduate School of Business Returns to Number One Spot in Forbes 2013 MBA Rankings

Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) reclaimed the top spot in the Forbes 2013 biennial ranking of MBA programs, released today. The University of Chicago Booth School of Business took second, bumping Harvard Business School (HBS), which topped the list in 2011, to third place. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School followed up the lead in fourth. Forbes, which ranks full-time MBA programs every two years based on return on investment, found that at the top 25 programs in the United States, the degree still pays off, although it takes longer to do so. For the Class of 2008, the class surveyed for this year’s ranking, the average payback period was 3.7 years, as compared to 2.7 years a decade ago, Forbes reports. Read more

Published: October 7, 2013

UPenn’s Wharton School Sees Uptick in Round One Applicant Volume

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School saw an increase this year in the number of applications submitted by its Round One deadline last week, according to the deputy vice dean for admissions, financial aid and career management. “If you believe that application volume is an indicator of the relevance of an MBA program, then I am pleased to announce that our Round One numbers are up,” wrote Deputy Vice Dean Maryellen Lamb in a post to the Wharton MBA Admissions blog yesterday. She did not disclose how much Round One application volume increased. Lamb’s comment referred to a Wall Street Journal article last week that questioned whether four years of declining application volume to the Philadelphia school might be an indicator that it had fallen from its long-held position as one of the most elite MBA programs in the world. Wharton’s Director of Admissions Ankur Kumar also announced last week that she was leaving her position to pursue other opportunities effective October 4th. Lamb, who was promoted earlier this year from her position as director of MBA Career Management to the role of deputy vice dean overseeing admissions, financial aid and career management, will lead the admissions department following Kumar’s departure. Read more

Published: October 1, 2013

Admissions Director Ankur Kumar Resigns from UPenn’s Wharton School

The admissions director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School will leave her post this Friday, October 4th, according to an email sent by Wharton Dean Tom Robertson to the school’s faculty and staff this morning. The Wall Street Journal also reported the news, noting that the school had declined its requests for comment but that according to several sources Kumar informed her staff of her decision last week. A Wharton alumna, Kumar has been a member of the admissions team for the past four years, serving since 2011 as director of admissions and financial aid. In his email announcing her departure, Dean Robertson praised Kumar for helping the school reach unprecedented female enrollment (women now number more than 40% of the student body) as well as for introducing several innovations in admissions, including the “Team Based Discussion,” a group interview format launched last year. Read more

Published: September 29, 2013

Wharton Needs to Better Showcase What’s Right with Wharton

Swirling debate picked up this week in the realm of top MBA programs, fueled by a Wall Street Journal article on Friday entitled, “What’s Wrong with Wharton?” The Journal piece hinged on a notable 12 percent drop in applications to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School over the past four years. Against a backdrop of gains in application volume by several other top schools in the same time period, Wharton’s drop did seem to beg the question of what’s wrong. The Journal article suggests that behind the falling application volume is the fact that Wharton – with its indisputable strength in finance – didn’t shift quickly enough or significantly enough in the wake of the financial crisis to attract students more drawn to post-MBA careers in fields like technology and entrepreneurship. The Journal also called attention to Wharton’s slide in several top MBA rankings: The Philadelphia school has for the past several years consistently finished behind the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business rather than holding steady as one of the top three business schools in the world. Read more

Published: September 19, 2013

UPenn’s Wharton School Teams with Sirius XM to Launch New Business Channel

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has partnered with Sirius XM Radio to launch a new full-time radio channel focused on business and management, the school announced earlier this week. “Business Radio Powered by the Wharton School,” as the new channel is called, will feature around-the-clock programming on a wide range of business topics, as well as a live, call-in format giving millions of listeners access to Wharton faculty, alumni and expert guests. Expected to launch in early 2014, Business Radio will broadcast from the Wharton campus and Silicon Valley via satellite on Sirius XM channel 111, through the Sirius XM Internet Radio App on smartphones and other devices and online at siriusxm.com. Programming – targeting business owners, entrepreneurs, executives and would-be entrepreneurs – will feature Wharton professors and alumni as regular weekly hosts, as well as an array of special guests, including executives, entrepreneurs, innovators and other experts. Read more

Published: September 15, 2013

UPenn’s Wharton School Offers Free MBA Foundation Series Classes Online

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has added a new series of massive open online courses (MOOCs) covering many of the fundamentals of business and management that students in Wharton’s full-time MBA program learn, taught by the same professors. The first of the Wharton MBA Foundation Series, “An Introduction to Financial Accounting,” begins today. Three other courses make up the new series – introductory courses in operations management, marketing and corporate finance – and all are available via the free online platform Coursera. The new series complements five elective courses already on offer from Wharton via Coursera, including courses on sports business and healthcare. All nine are expected to draw students from around the world, and more than 695,000 students have so far enrolled in a Wharton course, Coursera reports. Read more

Published: September 9, 2013

Shifts in Global Healthcare Increase Intersection between Medicine and the MBA

Entrepreneurship, innovation and cost cutting are increasingly important amid shifts in global healthcare systems, presenting important opportunities for business schools offering healthcare-focused MBA programs, the Financial Times reports. “The healthcare system is about much more than just treating patients,” Steve Chick, head of INSEAD’s Healthcare Management Initiative, told the FT. “The coordination of care is critical and that’s where business schools can play a big role.” Read more

Published: September 5, 2013

Wharton Start-Up Expands to Lend to MBA Students at 20 Top Schools

A company launched last fall by students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School experienced success in its pilot phase, during which it served as a lender to Wharton MBA students and recent graduates, and so this fall will launch nationally to lend to MBA students at 20 top MBA programs in the United States, the Financial Times reports. Wharton student David Klien is chief executive and co-founder of CommonBond, which last year lent $2.5 million to 40 MBA students and recent graduates from Wharton using funds raised primarily through crowdsourcing. Now, the start-up has raised more than $100 million through debt financing and selling equity. It will expand to offer low-interest loans to MBA students at business schools throughout the country, including Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Columbia Business School and others. Read more

Published: August 18, 2013

UPenn’s Wharton School Unveils New MBA Website

Earlier this month, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania launched a redesigned MBA website, featuring a new look, streamlined content and greater interactivity designed to enhance the experience for prospective applicants. Included among the new features are updated student profiles, a new events calendar and student discussion forums. “We hope that our new website provides you with clearer understanding of the Wharton Difference and how our program may be a good fit for you,” Wharton Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Ankur Kumar wrote in a post to her Notes from the Director blog. Read more

Published: July 15, 2013

Wharton School Receives Large Gift to Permanently Endow Innovation Management Institute

How can decision-makers across industries best manage the risks and rewards of innovation? Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School have been studying that subject for years, and a recent major alumni gift will permanently endow an innovation management institute where that work will continue and expand, the school announced this week. An earlier gift from Wharton alumnus William L. Mack, W’61, and his wife, Phyllis, established the Mack Center for Technological Innovation in 2001, and the couple’s 2013 gift has now transformed the center into the Mack Institute for Innovation Management, Wharton announced today. William Mack, a renowned global real estate and asset manager, was the founder and chairman of AREA Property Partners and today serves as chair of the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation board of directors and the Wharton Board of Overseers. Read more

Published: June 26, 2013

Clear Admit’s Stacey Oyler Discusses Finding the Right MBA Fit with Bloomberg BusinessWeek

In a recent article about finding the right fit in a business school program, Bloomberg BusinessWeek turned to Clear Admit Senior Admissions Counselor Stacey Oyler for some guidance. Oyler, who worked in admissions for Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and as a recruiter for McKinsey before joining Clear Admit, encouraged prospective applicants not to let a school’s rank in the various MBA rankings overshadow other important considerations. A top-ranked school can help catch recruiters’ eyes, but the school also needs to be the best match for what you want to do, Oyler told Bloomberg BW. “It’s two years and a significant financial investment,” she said. “So take the time to think about fit just as much as rank and reputation.” Read more

Published: May 16, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Group Interview with Second Year Student / On Campus

The first part of the interview was a group discussion in which candidates shared an investment idea for innovation, one of Wharton’s “pillars.” The interview was completely unstructured – the two second year students who act as moderators sit in the corners of the room and take notes. For approximately 40 minutes, we all discussed our ideas and molded/sculpted one of them into a presentable and workable investment opportunity. Everyone was cordial, respectful and open. Some of the candidates were less succinct but all in all, I felt that everyone was able to get their points across. Certainly not a Read more

Published: April 16, 2013

Dean of UPenn’s Wharton School to Step Down in June 2014

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania becomes the latest top business school to embark upon a search for a new dean, the school announced today. Dean Thomas S. Robertson, who has led the school since August 2007, will step down as of June 30, 2014. In a letter to the Wharton community, Robertson shared that he will not seek reappointment next year when his term expires but will instead return to the marketing faculty to teach and pursue his research interests. Read more

Published: April 1, 2013

Wharton | San Francisco Students to Host 2nd Annual Social Impact Conference

Later this week, students at Wharton | San Francisco, the West Coast campus of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, will host the Wharton San Francisco Social Impact Conference. The event, which will take place on April 4th, marks one of the first times students at the San Francisco campus have organized and run their own conference. The event this week builds on an inaugural conference students organized last year jointly with the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, the Baker Retailing Center and the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership. “The half-day event was attended by more than 120 Wharton students, alumni and friends and was a great success,” wrote Raghavan Anand in a Wharton Magazine blog post. “So we decided to continue the tradition, except to organize and run it ourselves this time around,” he continued. Read more

Published: April 1, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: R2 / AdCom / Off-Campus Hub

I arrived a bit early in order to make sure that I had the directions for the location right, and thus was able to chat with my fellow team members before the discussion. All of them, even though slightly tense due to the occasion, were very nice and easy to talk to. We were then asked to join the AdCom member in our conference room, where we were seated at a round table (we were able to choose our seat). The AdCom explained that she would not interfere and only notify us when we had (if I remember well) 15 Read more

Published: March 25, 2013

Clear Admit Co-Founders Quoted in National, Local Press on Group Interviews for MBA Admissions

Clear Admit co-founders Graham Richmond and Eliot Ingram contributed to articles this week in both the national and local press, sharing their expertise in the MBA space and advising prospective applicants on how to prepare for the group interview component that some top schools are choosing to include as part of the admissions process. Richmond’s comments appeared in a Bloomberg BusinessWeek article entitled, “How to Stand Out in an MBA Group Interview.” The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business is the latest top MBA program to require applicants to work as a group as part of the application process, joining Switzerland’s IMD and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Bloomberg BW notes. Though the schools are taking this step in an effort to elicit more off-the-cuff responses from applicants, there are still ways to prepare for these new exercises. Read more

Published: March 25, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Second-year / On-Campus

I didn’t like the new interview (team based interview) because many people didn’t participate fully. Also, many people came up with ideas that were out of this world. There were a lot of different opinions. However, in the end, we came to a solid conclusion. There was no feedback provided — whether that conclusion would hold good. Interview was usual – Why Wharton? Why MBA? Why now? Goals? Questions? What do you do in free time? Read more

Published: March 25, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Second-year student / On campus

Well I got dinged today 🙁 Really, really tough to swallow as Wharton was my first choice. I can’t help but wonder if it was the TBD that did me in. I did not purchase any prep package, but perhaps should have, as I may have done/said something “wrong.” If so, I really regret it and hope future candidates can learn from my experience since my group wasn’t what seemed to be the more typical super-friendly relaxed group. My topic was “innovation.” Here’s my experience: Unlike the other groups I saw around me, mine was very tense. We spent a Read more

Published: March 13, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: R2 / Adcom / Off-Campus Hub

I signed up for a group discussion with 5 other applicants. We had a 35 min talk on how to spend $1M USD in Wharton’s Global Presence. We reached consensum and even got to present our results to the Adcom Rep. Afterwards, my one-on-one interview was very casual an unstructured, the rep told me I had 10 minutes to talk about what I wanted, and so I started to give my Y MBA, Y Now and Y Wharton speech. She then asked me about my hobbies and if i had any questions for her. The time went really fast! Read more

Published: March 11, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2/Adcom/Off campus (London)

It is useful to arrive a little early and get to know your fellow candidates. Goes without saying if there is a drinks reception prior to your scheduled interview, make sure you attend and speak to others about how theirs went. Get some paper and pen as there is often none in the venues. It will also be useful to have a watch to keep time. We were taken to a meeting room and sat round a table. The Adcom member read the prompt and explained the rules, we were meant to discuss the prompt and make a presentation in Read more

Published: March 10, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / On campus

We were told to prepare 3 ideas in 3 different topics for a team-based discussion on campus. When we started, we all gave pitches for our ideas in a topic selected by the students in the room. These students then told us to have a discussion to come up with an idea to present to them at the end. We vetted out our ideas by establishing criterion of which idea would be best. In fact, we didnt use one idea, but fused several ideas to eventually come to a consensus on an idea. Then we separated the idea into categories Read more

Published: March 7, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / A student / On Philly campus

We had the team-based interview, where 5 other students brought in ideas for the scenario of having a $1M grant from Wharton. We were chosen to talk about social innovation. We started discussing our different ideas and then talked about which criteria were the most important to make the highest impact. Some ideas were discarded completely, whereas other ideas were synthesized as we continued our discussion. Some students kept the conversation from moving by insisting on their idea before others. We finally agreed on an idea and prepared a presentation, but we ran out of time before we could present. Read more

Published: March 4, 2013

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Second-year student/ On-campus

The team-based discussion included six interviewees and two admissions fellows. The fellows took notes during the entire session. First, they read the prompt and said they would only interject with timing updates – they also let us decide who would pitch first. We went around the table (not necessarily in order) and each gave an idea. I was lucky to have a great group, which led to a really good discussion. After the team-based discussion, we were called back into the room for the one-on-one. The admissions fellow said that it was a blind interview – they are not given 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 5:00pm ET

Applying: Columbia, Duke / Fuqua

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Finance

Post-MBA Target Industry: Other

GMAT: 730

GPA: 3.4

Years of Work Experience: 5

December 22, 2024 2:49pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Cloud Engineer

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Private Equity, Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods, Entrepreneurship Companies: Bain , BCG , Amazon , Apple , Google , Bain Capital , Blackstone , Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Group , Johnson & Johnson , Nike

GRE: 324

GPA: 3.42

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: Virginia

Post MBA Location: anywhere

Notes:

I graduated with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Psychology. At work I'm involved in many Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. I regularly volunteer and speak to high school school students on STEAM careers(art included) and hold resume review workshops/interactive labs. I have also spoken at many summits continuing to empower others to adopt new technologies. I would love to get an MBA to continue my passion for mentoring/professional development and democratizing technology! I've always been interested in learning how marketing, finance and other departments interact and operate within an organization and I want to develop crucial skills that make me well rounded enough to be an impactful leader and entrepreneur post-MBA.

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.

View or Submit Entries

MBA LiveWire

December 22, 2024 9:40pm ET

Applied to Berkeley / Haas

Round: Round 2

Received via portal

GPA: 3.85

GRE: 339

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: Brooklyn, New York

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

View or Submit Entries

Live
Wire