Proceeding as quickly as the election....
Written: Dec 05 '00 (Updated Jan 19 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Rolling admissions, exceptional staff, unbelievably useful website
Cons: The waiting!
The Bottom Line: The admissions committee has gone out of their way throughout this entire process. Kudos!
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| BunnyJav's Full Review: University of Pennsylvania -- The Wharton School |
*** January 19th, 2001 update! ***
I GOT IN! I GOT IN! I GOT IN! I GOT IN! So read on, and learn about the process!!!
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Welcome to my Wharton application experience. Please fasten your seatbelts and keep your hands and feet inside at all times. It’s going to be a bumpy ride….
Step Zero: The Decision Process
Your first step in any graduate school admissions process is to decide why you are applying. In my case, I had always intended to attend an MBA program after completing the requisite couple of years in the working world following undergraduate graduation. This past summer, I decided I was ready to take the great leap of faith that is the MBA admissions process. It quickly became clear to me that my hazy idea of “gee, I’d like to have an MBA” was insufficient. Every single school will want to know why you are applying, why you want an MBA, why now in your career, and why are you applying to that particular school. Wharton is no exception.
As you begin your search process for schools, reality begins to set in. Looking at the statistics on the top-ten schools, you may soon realize that your application may just not cut it. You may be a fascinating person, with an almost uncanny ability to charm people, but if your GMAT or GPA is less than ten percent below the average score listed, you probably won’t get in. From talking to a number of admissions representatives, I have been able to deduce that although most schools would like you to think that your scores are not that important, they are. Your GMAT and your college GPA weigh very heavily in your application, together with your work experience, essays and recommendations. Unfortunately, that is not to say that a great score will guarantee admission, but a bad score will certainly mar your application.
Let’s say that the ETS gods have smiled upon you, and you have achieved a fantastic GMAT score and GPA, all the while balancing a terrific career and wowing your supervisors. Let’s say you decide you want to apply to Wharton. Now what?
Step One: Seek and Destroy -- Online!
The first step in investigating Penn is to research their website. Thoroughly. The admissions department has experiences such a tremendous increase in applications in the past few years that they have set up an amazingly comprehensive – but easy to navigate – website that provides you with everything you need to know about the school. I have to give both the admissions office and their webmaster kudos for having designed such a user-friendly interface. Were it not for my insatiable need to talk to humans to verify certain aspects of my application, I would not ever have needed to come in contact with an admissions officer throughout the entire process. I usually would not spend so much time discussing a school’s website, but since it is such a critical part of the Wharton application experience, I will go into a bit more detail than I normally would. Their website is located at http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/wharton
On the front page are the following links on the left of the page: Admissions, Curriculum, Student Life, Careers, Alumni, FAQs. The key applicant links are listed along the top of the page: Request Catalog, Register, Schedule Interview, Apply, Attend Event, and Check Status. In addition, you can also choose to click on the following links, which are at the very top of the page (but pertain much less to applicants): Wharton Programs; Students; Research; Students; Executives; Faculty; Alumni; and Home.
If you want to find out more about the program, make sure to peruse all of the links along the left side of the page. The Admissions link should, of course, be one of your first stops, but all of the links will give you various perspectives on the program and what it entails. Here, you can find out the majors Wharton offers, the over 200 electives available, core requirements, student activities, clubs, and what your daily life will be like.
The first thing you must do when you enter Wharton’s website is Register. I registered so long ago that I no longer remember what information the school asks you for, but I remember it to be a very simple process. Before requesting a catalog, or proceeding with any of the online functions, you must register. Period. It does not oblige you for anything, and they promise not to do anything with your email address except send you pertinent Wharton mailings.
Through the website, and once you have registered, you can request a catalog. There are three catalogs that will arrive, including an application, a student life catalog, and a description of minority programs. You can also find out about MBA forums and recruiting events in your area. Learn as much as you can while on the site, and then plan on spending an hour or so devouring the catalogs. The more relevant information you can include in your essays and interview as to why Wharton is the perfect program for you, the better.
Step Two: “Hi, my name is Jen and I have a drinking problem.”
After you have requested your catalog, you should see if you can sign up for an interview. Wharton interviews both on-site and all across the world with alumni. However, they have an extraordinary number of applicants who request interviews, so the key is to get in early. Wharton does not require an interview, per se, but the “highly recommend” that you have one. Translation? HAVE AN INTERVIEW! The date of your interview and your interviewer’s name is on the application, and Wharton considers the interview to be part of your application, so make sure to schedule it before you apply. However, don’t interview so early that you won’t be able to coherently answer the essay questions – they ask them in the interview!
Like many other top programs, Wharton is using Embark.com for their interview software this year. You must register separately for the interview (your sign-in for the catalogs will not work), and you select the city in which you wish to interview. Then it gets confusing. Unfortunately, I am not the best person to ask regarding what to do next, because Embark.com was having a terrible problem with their interviewing software when I first signed up. You have a choice of whether you want to see the first X-number of available slots, or whether you want to see available slots within a particular time period. In my experience (now, this is with five different schools, mind you), it said that there were no available slots. Ever. From September until May. Not realizing it was a software glitch, I called Wharton in a panic to plead my case. They are my number-one-choice school, what did you expect? The receptionist reassured me that no one had scheduled any interviews after September, and their interview roster was completely empty. SO much for ease of use on the Internet! Long story short, I wound up scheduling my interview over the phone. However, the option is still there to schedule online, and I have heard that Embark finally got their act straight by November.
Dress conservatively for the interview, as you should for any business school interview. You will most likely speak with a second-year student on the admissions committee, but their opinion of you counts just as much (if not more) than that of an admissions officer. Don’t get too casual or too chatty; you are scheduled for a half-hour interview, and they intend to keep it at that. Be prepared to answer any question that you have seen on any application from any school, and be confident. They are not trying to grill you, or conduct a stress interview. They do, however, want to make sure that you are poised, intelligent and mature. But that is another Epinion…
Step Three: The application
You have four options to apply to Wharton: online, using their online application; apply online through Embark.com, which replicates their application; submit a paper application you create with Multi-App.com software; or a paper application from the catalog. I used Multi-App, because I found it saved me a lot of time and had much better functionality than Embark.com. They do not care which method you use, but they do give you a $40 price break if you apply online (otherwise, the application is $160). Applications are accepted on a rolling basis between November and April, which means that they read applications and start accepting people in the order in which they sent in their application. So send it in early! Otherwise, there are less open slots to compete for later on.
Give yourself at least two months to perfect your application. Have friends and family read it over. Beg your mom to proofread. Talk to businesspeople you know to get their input. Anything you can do to make your essays polished, professional, informative and true to who you are. They are your only means of introducing yourself to the admissions committee, so make it good!
Wharton’s application had three three-page or 1,000-word essays, and about seven pages of personal info such as extracurriculars, college info, and the like. They require two recommendations from supervisors, and stick to that number! The overwhelming response I have gotten when I have asked if I should submit a recommendation from a professor is “NO!!!” Stick to the rules – the admissions committee is also checking if you can play by them.
Step Four: “Can I order the filet mignon?”
Recruiting events. The very mention of those words makes my blood run cold. As talkative and social as I am, I have never been very good at “networking”, especially in situations where your every move and action are being judged. Sigh… I am getting better with them. Why? Practice. Recruiting events are critical to your admissions process, and Wharton hosts dozens of them in almost every major city around the world.
To find out what events are available in your city, you click on “Attend Event” on the main page of the MBA homepage. Once again, you have to register (you can use the same username and password that you did for the site and the interview registrations). You can search by month, by city, or by special interest. By clicking on “Minority Events on the events page, I found that there was going to be a Wharton Women in Business event in late November (it’s kind of sad when being a woman makes you a minority, but it’s the reality at business school!) I signed in, signed up, and was sent a confirmation to the email address I provided. You can register to as many events as you like.
Wharton offers “specialty” events like the Women in Business, but also general information sessions, open-campus days and a whole host of other recruiting events. Just figure that they are going to eat up your entire night, so plan accordingly. The Wharton events I have attended have been extremely well organized, very informative, and unbelievably useful (I was sorry I had already sent in my application when I attended the women’s event.) Again, wear your best suit, bring plenty of business cards, and get in the mindset that you should talk to everyone that you can. Not only is it a great opportunity to find out the “real scoop” about student life, but you will get a chance to see whether the people who attend the school are people with whom you will be comfortable working at midnight during an all-nighter. Business school is all about working on teams, so liking the types of people in your classes is crucial. Also, I found out that two women with whom I spoke that night are on the admissions committee, and are the first readers on all applications. Will they remember me? Probably not. But talking with them and showing that you are genuinely interested in attending Wharton can’t hurt.
Step Five: I am getting a hernia here!!!
I applied to a total of four schools, two of which were panic-applications after I realized I probably would not get into Wharton because I only have two years of experience (the average is five.) Now that all of my applications are in, everyone has been telling me to breathe. Ack!
The last step is the waiting. I applied first round to the other three schools, and submitted my Wharton application November 1st. I won’t hear back until January, and people are telling me to breathe! No way! :)
Wharton’s notification system is the best of any I have ever seen. Not only can you apply online, but you get your admissions decision online as well (pretty scary!) On the front page, click on “Check Status.” You log in with your site registration (the one you used to request a catalog), and you have the option of checking your progress on your online application or checking your overall status. Since I mailed mine in, my status screen just tells me that my application was received on November 1st at 5:35 am, and that once a decision has been made, an unofficial decision letter will replace that screen. Two-to-three weeks later, they mail you an official letter. I have heard that those who are accepted will get a phone call before they are accepted, but don’t quote me on that. In effect, as soon as they know, you know.
Summary
In all, I have found my application experience, and my interaction with the admissions staff, to be extremely easy. They are pros at what they do, and they have done as much as they can to streamline the process for both you and them. Everything is computerized, and you need only provide your name and birthdate to them when you call in, and they can pull up a screen that has all of your information (including scores, GPA, admissions status, etc.). They are very organized and seem to have a system for every last detail. Their recruiting events are well run and informative, unlike some others I have attended. And the entire process runs like clockwork. As I said above, you may never need to come in contact with a human being in their office since everything can be done online (except for the actual interview.)
To demonstrate their efficiency, I have an anecdote (believe it or not!) I had a small problem relating to the reporting of my scores. I re-took the GMAT on November 13th because I had had the flu the first time I took them. I had already submitted my applications, so I asked the ETS to send a copy of my official score report to the schools where I had applied. I was told they would be mailed on November 27th, and I sent a copy of my unofficial scores to the schools with an explanatory note. Well, needless to say, ETS lost my report-request, and they were not sent. Last Friday, at 4:30, I found out that it would be another two weeks before the schools would receive the report. Mind you, the deadline passed for most of these schools on November 1, and all of my applications were on hold until they received the report! In a panic, I called Wharton to explain the situation. The woman who answered the phone was not the usual receptionist, but rather, she was the person who enters all the applicant information into the database. Sure enough, my old scores were in the database, and she could not locate the unofficial report I had sent them. She changed the scores in the database so that in case my file came up for review, the right scores would be in there. She then spent Monday morning hunting down the unofficial report I sent. Once she found it, she included it in my file and called me to let me know that all was now well with my application. Not bad for one of the largest business schools with one of the highest applicant rates in the world!
I have been nothing but thrilled with the Wharton admissions experience. Now let’s just see how thrilled I remain in January! :)
Recommended:
Yes
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BunnyJav
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Location: Minneapolos, MN
Reviews written: 34
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"You're the true Lord of the Dance, no matter what those idiots at work say"
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