I visited Wharton a couple of days ago, sat in on a class and then had an interview with a second year student. While waiting in the admissions office, first year students took turns sitting down with the prospective students and talked about their experiences at Wharton (what brought them to Wharton, their classes, extracurriculars, housing, etc.) and answered any questions. Promptly at 11:15, my interviewer approached me in the office and we went back to the interview rooms. The interview room is a small enclosed room with a table, two chairs and a clock. It was actually well suited to it purpose since the admission office was pretty crowded and busy with all the prospective students.
My interviewer took a couple of minutes to detail his background and involvement at Wharton, as well as to briefly describe the blind interview process. We then went right into the questions:
- Please walk me through your resume (undergraduate education, work experience, etc.)
- Describe you short term and long term goals
- Why are you seeking an MBA and what is drawing you to Wharton?
- Tell me about a time when you exhibited leadership
- Provide three examples of how you would become involved with the Wharton community
- Is there anything else you would like to share with the adcom which is not detailed in your resume or application?
- What questions do you have for me?
While I spoke, he was jotting down notes but did maintain fairly consistent eye contact. The interview really felt more like a relaxed conversation as the interviewer went out of his way to create a comfortable atmosphere. Going into the interview, I had a couple of main themes/points I wanted to convey and the open format of the interview was very conducive to achieving this. Overall, it was a great experience and I came away impressed by the personality of the interviewer. The interview lasted 30 minutes but felt like it was only 15.
