WhartonInterview

From ClearAdmitWiki

Below are interview reports from those who have interviewed with Wharton.

Further insight and strategic advice on Wharton's interview process can be found in the Clear Admit Interview Guide. More detailed information on academic resources, student culture, and social and professional opportunities can be found in the Clear Admit School Guide.

Please add your interview report directly above all other reports. Please also include the date you are publishing your report; the type of interview (adcom / alumni / student) and the admissions round for which you interviewed (R1 / R2 / R3).

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106. Round 1 / On-campus / 2nd year student (Published January 20th, 2010)

I interviewed on campus with a 2nd year student. She was friendly, and the interview was generally pretty laid back, though she packed alot of questions in. To prepare I looked over the Clear Admit wiki interview reports and prepared some answers to possible questions. Sample questions are as follows:

Walk me through your resume.
Why are you pursuing an MBA?
Tell me about a time when you lead a team.
Tell me about a time when you worked with a difficult teammate.
If you were working in Wharton learning team, what characteristics would you look for in your groupmates?
What is your biggest professional accomplishment?
What is your biggest personal or professional regret?
Is there anything you would like to talk about that you have not had the chance?
Any questions for me?

One interesting thing was that she did not ask me Why Wharton or why an MBA now. Overall, the interview was relaxed and gave me a chance to cover the points I wanted to, with a couple tougher ones mixed in (biggest regret).

105. Round 1 / On-campus / Second-year Student (Published November 23, 2009)

The interview atmosphere was very casual. After waiting for about ten minutes in the admissions office waiting room, I was escorted to an interview room by a second-year MBA student. The first five minutes of the interview was a casual conversation outlining the items on my resume.

The interviewer then said he had to "get through" some specific questions. After he asked a question, I would respond, and he would frequently comment on my responses, or ask follow-up questions. It was a very casual, conversational interview.

Some specific questions that were asked:

Tell me some of your weaknesses
Describe your leadership style
Tell me about a time you were involved in a confrontation, either at work or in your personal *life
Why an MBA? Why Wharton? Why now?
What are your plans post-MBA?
As a non-traditional applicant, how do you plan to ensure that you can keep up with the quantitative coursework here?

There was nothing surprising about the interview, other than how conversational and pleasant it was. I left Wharton with a great feeling about the school and its students.

104. Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-campus (Published March 5th, 2009)

I had my interview in February 2009 in the office of my interviewer. The Alumnus graduated in 2003 and works in the PE/VC industry. It was by far the most relaxed and talkative interview I ever had.

He briefly introduced him self and his responsibilities at work and asked me “walk me through your résumé”, my career path to date (with several follow up questions), and something about my current responsibilities.

Then we talked for at least 30 mins about why MBA / why Wharton / why now / ST and LT goals. I had solid arguments even though I had not visited the School. I tried to be very detailed naming Professors, Courses, Research Centers at Wharton which are specific to my needs for my future career.

Finally, it was my turn to ask questions and I was happily surprised by his enthusiasm towards his MBA experience. After more than one hour I left him with a great impression about the School and the well-rounded experience one can gain at Wharton.

103. Round 2/ On campus / Second Year Student (Published March 4th, 2009)

The second year student was a finance major. It was a crisp 30 minute interview. Some of the questions he asked were:

walk me thorugh your resume
short term long term goals, why MBA, why that specific goal, Why Wharton and why now
any challenging exp ; I spoke of a leaderhsip experience
Is there anything you would like to share me with me
any 2 weaknesses that I see in myself and which I would want to correct over a period of time
any question for me

it was a pleasant completely non stressful interview. He invited me to the MBA pub where he said that I would get an opportunity to meet his roommate who is into energy consulting (which is one of my goals too).

On the whole, I thought it went well.

102. Round 2 / Alumna / Off-campus (Published March 3rd, 2009)

The alumnus was a 2004 graduate and the interview happened in a cafe. It was around 35 mins long. Before beginning the interview, she asked me about the layoffs at my company and if my job was affected. Then we talked about some recent products that my company has launched. Then she started asking questions:-

Tell me about yourself. Here apart from other things, I mentioned my interest in dance. On that she stopped me and asked if I ever participated in a famous dance competition that is aired on TV.
She asked me some more about my undergraduate extracurriculars
Why did you join company X? What do you do there?
Tell me about your accomplishments at work. She probed on the different points that I mentioned.
Do you have any weaknesses?
Why MBA?
Why Wharton? Here again she probed a bit. For example, when I mentioned the name of a course, she asked me if I knew the professor who conducts it.
Questions.

The interviewer asked me more probing questions than I had expected. Overall it went well.

101. Round 2 / On-campus / Second-year Student (Published March 3rd, 2009)

I interviewed on-campus at Wharton with a second year student as part of the Round 2 application process. My interviewer walked me into a small interview room and stated in the beginning that she would be watching the time to not go over 30 minutes because the interviews were scheduled back to back. She was very friendly but her approach to interviewing was more of a question/answer format than I had been anticipating. Based on previous applicant experiences, I expected more of a conversation with interspersed questions.

The questions I was asked were:

Please tell me a little bit about your career progression to date?
Why Wharton?
Why an MBA?
Why now?
What do you want to do upon graduation?
How would you describe your leadership style?
How would your colleagues describe you if you left the room?
If you were the CEO of your company what would you do differently?
Based on the long-term goals you mentioned, what would you do if you were given $5 billion dollars?
Please give me an example in which you exemplified leadership?
Please describe a team situation that did not work?
What are you interested in being involved with here at Wharton?
What do you do for fun?
Is there anything else we have not discussed that you would like to share with the Committee?
Do you have any questions for me?

My interviewer was very friendly but she did not comment or reflect on my answers rather proceeded to the following question on her list. Hope this helps with interview preparation!

100. Round 2 / Second Year Student / On-campus (Published February 24th, 2009)

I interviewed at Wharton on February 22nd on campus with a second year MBA student who was part of the AdCom committee. The interview took place in a small room and was very procedural. He had a list of questions in front of him that he needed to get through in 30 minutes. Those questions included:

Tell me a little bit about yourself
Why MBA?
What’s your goal post-MBA?
Why this post-MBA industry?
Why Wharton?
Give me some examples of leadership.
Give me some examples of mentorship.
What are some things you like to do outside of work?
If you were CEO of your company, what would you change?
Is there anything else you haven’t had the chance to say?
Do you have any questions for me?

He was nice and conversational, but it was also very procedural and more of a back-and-forth question/answer, question/answer than a conversation. It’s a lot to get through in 30 minutes! I sent a thank you note to my interviewer after the interview and received a very nice response. Now I’m just waiting until decision day on March 26th! Best of luck.

99. Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-campus (Published February 24th, 2009)

I had an alumni interview with a class of 1996 alumn, in his office. I too found the interview very conversational, the guy was extremely friendly and enjoyed talking about the school and Philadelphia in general, as well as his family surprisingly. Here are *Short term goals

Long term goals
Explain more about the sector you work in (I come from a non-profit background)
Extracurriculurs you participated in as an undergrad
Imagine I am an admissions officer, and you need to sell me your candidacy. Take a minute to think about it, and 3-5 minutes to tell me why Wharton should accept you (I wasn't expecting this one)
Why Wharton

I was surprised he didn't ask me if I had any questions for him, but the interview naturally flowed between questions and conversation so I got to hear about his positive experiences at Wharton. He also mentioned that 40% of applicants this year have received interview invites, so that should be a good sign to anyone who received one.

98. Round 1 / Alumni / Off-Campus (Published February 8th, 2009)

The alum interviewed me in a cafe in the downtown. It seems that his calendar is pretty full that afternoon. He invited at least 4 or 5 applicant that day and give everyone 1 hour. So it seems like a adcom interview.

The interviewer is very nice and he is an EMBA graduated in West Campus.

Questions:

Tell me about what you do.
Why MBA?
Why Wharton now?
Career Goal
Leadership Experience
Is there anything else you would like to share with the adcom which is not detailed in your resume or application?
Any Question for me?

97. Round 1 / Alumni / Off-Campus (Published February 5th, 2009)

November 2008. I chose to interview with a local alumnus and found three in my area. I googled each of them and found someone who had worked for my firm (large MC). We met at his office in a conference room for about one hour. He had not read my resume even though he had access to it. Good thing I brought extra copies. He took a quick read and the interview was HIGHLY conversational. He had very few formal questions and didn't seem to have an agenda at all - the only question he really wanted to ask was "why Wharton?"

Questions:

Tell me about what you do. (I also talked about my career progression towards my current job)
Tell me what your approach is for dealing with conflicts (this was the only formal behavioral question)
Why Wharton? (no why MBA question though I chose to answer it)
What kinds of activities do you want to get involved in at Wharton?
Plenty of time for my questions.

I left the interview feeling very good, both about my performance and about Wharton. He gave a lot of positive body language and at no point, tried to rush the conversation. I even owned up to googling him after he noticed that we worked at the same firm - that enabled me to ask about our old company's alumni network v Wharton's and he had a lot to say on that subject - namely that Wharton's alumni network had improved a lot in the short 7 or 8 years since he had graduated.

96. Round 1 / 2nd-Year Student / On-campus (Published December 4th, 2008)

I interviewed on campus at Wharton on November 17, I also interviewed with the Associate Dean of the Health Care Management Program. Prior to going in to the interview, a couple current first year students chatted with the interviewees and answered questions about Wharton and the interview process. One student made a point to emphasize that the interview is just one data point in the application. I found the general interview to be very conversational and friendly. Some of the questions asked included:

Please walk me through your resume and highlight how you ended up here
Why did you choose your undergraduate university?
Why did you decide to go to that specific study abroad program?
Why current firm?
What are your main responsibilities?
Why did you leave your first job?
Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
What are you immediate post-MBA plans, and long-term career goals?
What do you think you would contribute to Wharton? In the classroom and outside?
Anything else you would like to add that was not covered in the interview or the application?

Following a lunch with four current Health Care students and three other candidates, where the current students were very candid in discussing a wide range of topics, including the application process, the interview and the curriculum. The health care interview was also very conversational, but had more focused questions about the health care industry and my specific background. The second half of the interview was primarily a discussion about what the Health Care Management major could offer both in the classroom and through extracurricular activities.

95. Round 1 / 2nd-Year Student / On-campus (Published December 03, 2008)

I interviewed at Wharton on-campus on 12/1. Few questions I remember are

Explain about your career progress since you graduated?
How do you manage a global team?
How do you motivate your team members?
How do you deal with challenges in your team?
What are you career goals?
Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
What extra-curricular activities would you take part while you are at Wharton?
What are the attributes of a good leader?
What is your leadership style?
Anything you want to add to say or add to your application?
Questions for me?

For details about my class visit and pictures of Wharton visit my blog at http://mbaapplyagain.blogspot.com/2008/12/wharton-visit-and-interview.html

94. Round 1 / 2nd-Year Student / On-campus (Published December 03, 2008)

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.

93. Round 1 / 2nd-Year Student / On-campus (Published November 24th, 2008)

I had my Wharton interview recently on-campus with a 2nd year student. I had submitted my application in the 1st round. The interview lasted about 40 mins. The interviewer put me at ease immediately and the whole interview process was casual.

Below are the questions that I was asked,

Talk about your background?
Talk about your most recent accomplishment from the resume?
What are your short-term and long-term goals?
Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
Talk about your most challenging interaction?
What role would you play in your learning team?
What would your teammates say about you in one year?
What weaknesses would your teammates say that you have, and need to improve upon?
How would you resolve team conflicts?
What exactly are you looking to improve in your negotiation skills?
Do you have anything to say that is not in your application nor in your resume?
Any questions for me?

92. Round 2 / Alumni / Admitted! (Published March 30th, 2008)

Equally as important as preparing for the interview is choosing your interviewer. I chose a more seasoned alumni who worked in an industry very different from me, because I wanted to meet with someone who would have a very different perspective and who had been out of school long enough to offer a longer term view on the value of a Wharton degree. As a result, I was able to formulate questions that were really relevant to my interests, and we ended up having a very rich dialogue (almost 2 hours).

Questions of particular note:

Why Wharton, why now?
In describing my work history, I discussed some of the challenges my previous employer faced regarding employee attrition. I was asked what I would have done to improve this.
Tell me about some of your proudest accomplishments. This is your time to brag.
Tell me about your perspective on teamwork and any interesting experiences you have had.
What do you do for fun?
What will you do if you don't get into Wharton or business school?
Have you considered a joint degree? This is to test how deeply you have researched the school's offerings. Luckily I had anticipated this question and had a decent response (I have strong interest in international issues, so why didn't I apply to the Lauder program?)
Is there anything else you want the adcom to know about your candidacy? Anything you want me to explain to them?

The manner of the interviewer's questions were opened ended rather than specific, and allowed me a lot of flexibility in my answers. I tried to follow this lead by treating this more as a conversation than a structured interview, which helped both of us become more at east with each other and discuss issues in greater detail than if it was simply a Q&A format.

Good luck!

91. Round 2 / On-campus / Second-Year Student (Published March 25th, 2008)

Most of the questions I received were the same as outlined by others but two in particular were different:

Questions:

If you were the CEO of the company that you work for now what would you change?
Anything you are concerned about in your application?

I echo others who've said that Wharton was like a job interview. My interviewer was a second year student interested in entrepreneurship but more focused on getting through her checklist of questions.

90. Round 2 / Off-campus / Alumni (Published March 11th, 2008)

I interviewed with an alum on March 3rd, 2008, at his office. The interview differed from the standard conversational interview I had at other schools. The interview started off with the interviewer actually turning over my resume and stating that he wanted to get a sense of the "big picture" as it relates to me and my desire for an MBA. He then proceeded to ask me, "What are three of the most important decisions you have made that have brought you to where you are today?". Realizing that this was not a typical interview question, he told me to take some time before formulating a response. I took about 10 seconds and responded. He followed up with a question to each response. I noticed early on in the interview that he was concerned with the rationale of certain decisions, statements, etc., so I made sure after the second or third question to fully explain why I did something. He noticed the change in my responses and actually smiled about it (later he told me that he liked how I adjust my responses to his type of questioning). My response to the first question set the direction of the interview. Below are the lists of questions I remember him asking me.

Questions:

What are three of the most important decisions you have made that have brought you to where you are today?
Two-Part Question: I see you have an undergraduate business degree, why then an MBA? Why don't you stay in your current employment and develop business skills through a business development rotational program or other training?
What other b-schools have you applied to? Why did you choose these schools?
What would be your weaknesses as perceived by the Wharton Admissions Committee? (toughest question)
What has been your most substantial professional accomplishment?
Describe a situation where you were part of a group that failed. What did you learn from it?
What do you do outside of work? What do you care about? If I bumped into you after work, where would it be and why?
What do you see yourself doing in 10 years and why?

The interviewer asked a lot of deep personality questions which kind of surprised me. He seemed less interested in my career goals and more interested in my decision making and in who I am. At first he asked a lot of follow-up questions which drove at my thought process on certain matters. He barely jotted down anything which seemed odd since we talked for a long time. The toughest question I got was the weaknesses question. I actually rehearsed my response to the question with a current Wharton student, but the interviewer actually didn't agree with most of my response. He said more than once that what I perceived to be a weakness was not actually an obvious weakness or at least not a weakness that the Wharton Admissions office would readily identify. After two go-at-its to that question I finally gave him one weakness he agreed on. I did though defend the prior weaknesses I gave him and mentioned how the weakness could come to bear in a team setting. For example I mentioned that one of my general weaknesses is what my lack of professional exposure to a lot of qualitative assignments, particularly work outside of finance/accounting, and projects dealing with business operations and strategy. He didn't think that was a weakness that Wharton Admissions could spot but I defended the statement which I believe mitigated the concern he had over the response.

The interview last about an hour and half. My interviewer appeared to really enjoy talking to me. At the end of the interview he told me that he has a tendency to argue (I guess he does that a lot in his sales job) and not to read too much into it. Overall I did not get a positive feeling of the interview but I think he will at least remember me because I was very convincing in my responses and explained everything to the T. My advice would be to make sure you rehearse the weaknesses in your application question and be confident. I can not emphasize that enough. Other people I have spoken to who had interviews at Wharton told me the interviewer asked them at least one off-the wall question and their responses may not have been perfect but at least they articulated their explanation and did not hesitate in their responses.

89. Round 1 / On-campus / Status: Denied (Published March 10th, 2008)

I interviewed on campus in mid-November for Round 1. This was my second time visiting the school. During the summer, I sat in on an information session, which did not include a tour. The info session did not reveal anything new to me and would be most valuable to those who haven't thoroughly reviewed Wharton's website. The University City neighborhood felt safe, but areas to the north and west are dangerous.

Huntsman Hall was a nice building--less open than Chicago's Harper Center but still modern. The interview lounge was busy with anxious applicants and prospectives awaiting a student-led tour. My interviewer came out on time and guided me to one of Wharton's small interview rooms. He began by reciting a two minute explanation of what the interview meant to Wharton (not make or break, blind, etc.). Again, this information wasn't helpful to me, and I was eager to commence the interview.

The interviewer began by asking me standard questions, such as:

Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
Why now?
Goals?
He also asked about my leadership style.
I stumbled for a moment on one question about a team situation when I encountered difficulty. While I recovered, my answer to this question was not fluid and marked the low point of my interview.

In hindsight, I regretted not preparing more answers regarding teamwork, which is not a large component of my current job. It's obvious from reading about Wharton and past interviews that they value teamwork and often ask questions on the subject.

During the first half of the interview, if the interviewer wasn't asking questions, he was looking down at his notepad and quickly writing my responses. This contrasted with my Chicago interview, when the student interviewer made eye contact much of the time. The Wharton interview felt more like a job interview, while the Chicago interview felt more like a natural conversation (but I'm sure this depends on which student you are assigned).

After 25 minutes or so, the interviewer said it was time for me to ask questions. I asked about 3 solid questions, and the interviewer answered each of them in-depth. His answers averaged almost 10 minutes apiece. At this point, he did most of the talking, but when I could, I chimed in to bolster my case. He remarked that my questions (regarding the bidding process) demonstrated that I'd done my homework on the program. I thanked him at the end of the interview (55-60 minutes total) for the extra time he spent with me. He told me that I was his last interview for awhile, so he was happy to spend additional time talking about the program. I took his willingness to invest more time with me as a positive signal.

Despite my perception that the interview went well, I was denied admission to Wharton. My "stats" are strong and I thought my essays were interesting, but I belong to an overrepresented applicant group. My poor answer to the teamwork question also probably hurt my case.

88. Round 2 / Second-year Student / On-campus (Published March 9th, 2008)

I interviewed with a second year student on campus. The admissions office had a few other people waiting to interview and there was a 2nd year student waiting and socializing with us. My interviewer was from a non-traditional background and was planning to work in finance after graduating, so I felt he sympathized with career switchers like myself. He was friendly and courteous throughout the interview. His questions were:

Walk me through your resume
Why Wharton
Why MBA and why now
What are you ST and LT career goals, elaborate on LT goals
What do you do for fun
Describe one of your strengths and one of your weakensses
Anything to add to your application
Any questions for me

The interview lasted about 40 minutes. I didn't feel the time, and I felt I answered the questions well. If I were to go back and change something, it would have been the "Anything to add to your application" question. I mentioned something about the community work I'd done but I felt I should have talked more about what I would contribute to the Wharton community since we didn't talk much about that.

87. Round 2 / Second-year Student / On-campus (Published March 5th, 2008)

I interviewed with a second year student on campus. My answers were not flawless and I would definitely answer the teamwork and leadership questions stronger next time, but all things considered, I'm pleased. The experience was anticlimactic, and now I wait anxiously for the March decision release.

My interviewer was friendly and professional. She was from the Bay Area and we started by talking about how I had come from San Francisco for the interview, and we talking briefly about the snow, and I mentioned that I had lived in Tahoe and missed the snow. I made the mistake of saying that I had gotten in yesterday, which prompted her to ask me if I had done any class visits yesterday. I said no that I was not able to steal away from working all day since I have two consulting jobs to manage now. But I wished that I had made it sound like I had just flown in, or was able to describe something I did on campus yesterday.

She stated by saying she would be taking notes and that we would stop 5 minutes before the end so that I could ask her questions.

We started right in:

walk me through your resume
short term goals
why now
why Wharton
how will you get involved in Wharton.

Then she asked me two tougher questions:

"give me three adjectives to describe your leadership style." This threw me a little bc I had prepared anecdotes and descriptions, but had trouble trying to come up with one-word adjectives. So I started w a two-word description and then proceeded right into my anecdote to describe and then ended the story with single adjectives to summarize.

She asked me about how I have dealt with a difficult team member on my current project, and this was by far my weakest response. I didn't like where my anecdote was going so I quickly ended and then she asked me two follow up questions. I wasn't really able to end strong, so I tried to hurry the topic along.

Then she asked me one adjective to describe a weakness. This was also tough for me bc my response wanted to be four words. So I asked her if I could give her 2 words, and again went straight to my example, and ended with a one word adjective summary.

I think there was one more question next, but I can't remember. But she stopped 5 minutes before our 30 minutes to allow me to ask questions. We talked for about 10 more minutes. I had one strong question for her, which she spend a lot of time answering. Then I tried to ask more personal questions like "do you plan to return to the Bay Area?" I wished I had had more than 1 killer question in my back pocket bc I realized what a great opportunity it was to tell her anything else important about me that we missed.

Overall the interview was successful in me being able to tell her my story, and I do feel that I was able to paint the picture about myself that I had wanted.

I would do two things differently: 1) better difficult team member example and 2) more questions to ask her at the end.

86. Round 2 / Alumni / London (Published March 3rd, 2008)

The interview was very conversational. He started off with his introduction of what he does and ow ended up in London. He briefed me about his professional background.

He later asked me to brief about my profile. In general, the questions covered included the following.

Resume walkthrough
LT/ST goals
Why MBA at this point of time
Why Wharton
Example of leadership
Significant achievement in my current role

Any questions for interviewer

Overall, it was a very conversational interview. The interviewer's office was in West End of London and close to stamford bridge. We had a small talk about the current situation of his club ( not Chelsea) and this initial talk made me feel relaxed.

85. Round 2 / On-campus / Second-year Student (Published March 3rd, 2008)

The interviewer asked the following questions:

Resume walkthrough
LT/ST goals
Why MBA
Why Wharton
Why you
Adcom concerns
Team situation
Any questions for interviewer

Overall pleasant, and the staff was helpful as well. Wharton had first-years sitting in the waiting area with the interviewees answering questions and calming nerves: I thought that was a neat idea.

84. Round 2 / Alumni / (Published March 2nd, 2008)

My interview was with an alum. Lasted about 45 minutes. As most of the alumni interviews are, it was a casual discussion as follows:

Reasons for decisions made throughout career
Why MBA, Why Wharton, Why now
How would you describe yourself
Tell me about an ethical dilemma you faced
Tell me about an incidence where you led a team without any formal authority
Questions for him

I received a couple of feedback points during and after the interview, which were good. At the end of the interview, I have an even more positive feeling and respect for Wharton.

Advice: Be yourself, be ready to articulate your reasons for MBA at Wharton, understand what Wharton is looking for in an applicant and organize/present your responses accordingly (consistent with positioning/theme of essays).

83. Round 2 / On-campus / Second-year Student (Published February 29th, 2008)

My interview was on-campus with a 2nd year MBA student. It was exactly ½ hr. He was very laid-back and tried to make me feel comfortable. As a result, the interview was very casual. The questions asked included:

Resume walk-through, with spending time on certain aspects of past positions
Why MBA
Why Wharton
What do I want to concentrate in
Questions for him

82. R2, Alumni Interview (Published February 28, 2008)

Overall feeling was mixed. Well, I can say that it was okay, as the interviewer is a very nice guy. I can't really read his responses though. Hopefully I did good enough for him.

I wasn't really nervous, however, he asks so many follow up questions after asking me something, and I guess I didn't get to finish a lot of my answers. Here are the questions:

So, tell me about yourself? then alot of follow up questions..
Why XX company?
What is XX graduate program in YY company? What was the highlight of your career in YY company? Don't be modest.
Where do you travel? What did you do? Were you alone?
Why MBA?
Why now?
Which schools did you apply to? Why those schools?
If you got accepted to all of those schools, which school will you choose? Be honest.
What is your goal? What do you want to do post-MBA?
So, with whom did you talk to about Wharton? (current students & alums)
What makes you unique?
What's your GMAT score?
What's your GPA?
How did you rank in your class?
Is there anything else you would like to ask me?

So, then after the interview ends, he actually gave me feedback about how I did in my interview. He said, "Good, obviously you speak fluent English", but then he gave me 3 things that he thought I could improve. Wow, I didn't expect this at all. He actually said, this might help you with your other school interviews. I thanked him for the feedback and the interview.

81. R2, Alumni Interview (Published February 27, 2008)

My interview was also held in the alumn's office in NYC and lasted for 30 minutes with questions and another 30 minutes with lunch and some casual discussion/questions

Thanks for coming, sorry for the delay
How are you? How's work?
So you're ready for B-school, Wharton is a great place, I had a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it.
Give me a few minutes to glance over your resume (note: definitely go to the interview with a resume just in case)
Why don't you walk me through your resume, starting anywhere you'd like.
Why an MBA, why now?
What are your career goals?
How has your current job and previous experience helped you prepare for your long/short term career goals?
Why Wharton?
What do you do outside work?
Apart from community service what else do you enjoy doing?
How many countries have you traveled to/lived in? (this is probably more specific to my international background)
Do you have any questions for me?

We then had lunch which the alum ordered to his office (very nice) and from there the discussion was very casual and related to the current situation in financial markets, venture capital/P.E. (he works in P.E.), his experience at his firm, some great classes to take at Wharton, travel opportunities at Wharton, my commute to work etc etc.

I'll only urge you to be yourself, ask questions about your interviewer to put them at ease and show some interest in the person in front of you, ask questions about their experience at Wharton to get them talking and hopefully share some laughs etc. Know your resume well, your story and why Wharton versus any other school. Also ask some meaningful questions, I went with about 5-10 specific questions relating to his pre-mba and post-mba experience. My interviewer was awesome and only confirmed why I was interested in Wharton in the first place. We plan to keep in touch and he offered to connect me with some of his classmates who had similar career interests. Overall a very positive experience.

80. R2, Alumni Interview/International (Published Feb 26, 2008)

My alumni interview was held in the alumn's office and lasted approx. 1 hr.

Walk me through your resume.
Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
Tell me why this is the best time for your MBA
What are your post-MBA goals?
Discussion about options for my short-term goals.
How does your work experience with your current company fit in with your long-term career goals?
Some talk about what I'm currently doing in this city, the politics between the US and the country in which I'm currently living, and discussion about previous work experience.
What weakness in your application would the Admissions Committee be concerned about? [The alumn divulged that this is a required question by Wharton's AdCom staff.]
Do you have any questions?

The alum was extremely friendly, put me immediately at ease and offered further help, if needed, with any further MBA questions down the road.

79. Round 1 / Adcom (Published February 12, 2008)

With a member of the admissions committee:

Come in
Hello
Was it difficult to find this place?
Do you have a copy of your resume? Great! (glanced at it silently for about 5 seconds)
So walk me through your resume. (15 minutes, including interjections of interest but little else)
What kind of roles do you play on your teams? (4)
What's a typical day like? (3)
What was it like to be in [country X, Y]? (3)
How did you choose your undergraduate college? (2)
There are lots of great schools; why Wharton? (3)
But why do you need an MBA, given all your experience and a consulting background? (2)
Why's now the best time? (2)
What do you do outside work? (5)
Do you have anything to add, or any questions for me? (3)
Do you have anything to add? (asked second time)
Bye; you'll hear from us on Dec 20th. It's a beautiful day; hope you enjoy it.

The whole thing lasted 45 minutes. It ended 15 minutes before the scheduled start (they asked us to arrive 15 minutes early, and I did) and ended 15 minutes early too.

78. On-campus interview / R1 / Student / Decision: Waitlist / (Published 1/31/08)

It could have just been the day I was there, but the environment was much more focused / cool than any other on-campus interview I've had. Not bad, just an observation. Interviewer was very friendly, but it was clear that I was one in a long line of interviews for her.

Standard resume questions
Why MBA, why now
2 good and 2 bad attributes that coworkers would describe
Walk through a recent success; then a recent failure
How will your cohort remember you
What legacy will you leave behind at Wharton

I asked what surprised her most, and she commented on Wharton's strength outside of Finance, including non-profit. Also suggested that students were incredibly collaborative even when competing for the same jobs.

77. Round 1, Health Care Management applicant (Published December 27, 2007)

As a HCM applicant I needed to prepare for two interviews, one with the Associate Director of the HCM program, June Kinney, and the other one with an alumnus.

My phone interview with June was really conversational. She had already read my file, so every time she asked a question she said that she knew what I wrote on my application, but wanted me to briefly answer again and add more details if I wanted to. She asked some questions about my career path and goals and after about 15 minutes she asked if I had any questions. I asked a couple of questions which she answered in detail and with enthusiasm. My advice for the HCM applicants: if you can comfortably talk about what you have done and if you know what you want to do post-MBA, just call June's office upon receiving the interview invite and make an appointment as early as possible. Don't worry about anything!

My second interview was with an alumnus in his office. He had seen the resume that I sent him, but didn't have a copy with him, so I just gave him one. He asked me some routine questions about my career path/goal, why MBA, why Wharton, etc. which every applicant is definitely familiar with and prepared for. But, he then started to ask behavioral questions for the next 30 minutes. The questions were getting harder and deeper and every time he was not completely satisfied with my response, he probed more. Experts say you should be ready for anything in an alum interview, which is I believe a precious piece of advice. Having read so many interview reports, I do not remember anyone facing so many behavioral questions. I'm not even sure if I can call those questions “behavioral”, because I had to imagine myself as a student at Wharton when answering these questions. For example, I wasn't asked "How did you handle a conflict?"; I was asked "How would you handle a conflict in your Learning Team at Wharton?".

These are some of the questions I remember:

- What would you do if one of the members of your Learning Team didn't pull his/her weight on a project? What would you do if you understand that (s)he didn't help due to the lack of interest in the project/course?

- How would you participate in class discussion at the school?

- What would you do if you saw an irrelevant discussion is taking the class time?

- How would you help your team-mate who needed help? What would you do if you were extremely busy with your own work?

- What would you do if you saw an unethical practice at the school?

- How would you prioritize your time at Wharton? What would be the most and the least important things for you as a student?

At the end I asked him two questions and when he was answering them I realized that I had done a good job in my interview. He explained his experience at Wharton and how it helped him with his current job. He even gave me advice on what I should do in Philly and what options are available for my wife there. I thought he wouldn't have bothered to go into those details if he hadn't found me a good match for Wharton. My interview, which lasted 75 minutes, was tough, but I felt good about it. My interviewer looked really smart and sophisticated, which was interesting for me because it was the first time I had the opportunity to meet in person a Wharton's alumnus.

Outcome: Admitted

76. Round 1, Re-Applicant, Wharton Lauder Interview (Published December 5, 2007)

The interview went off alright. My interviewer remembered me from last year after I reminded her and mentioned Lauder. She was very friendly and made it a comfortable experience for me. She asked me my long-term goals first then short-term, why I haven't applied to the healthcare management major (since my goals are in pharma). She asked

what I do outside work,
Why Wharton,
how my experience has been working as a woman in consulting,
whether my company is supportive of an MBA and
if I'll take up a return offer, and lastly
if I have any questions for her.

It just rushed by! There were a lot more things I could have communicated to her, but alas! Overall, she seemed very positive about my performance, and I thought the interview went off well.

75. Round 1, Adcom - HUB Interview in Bangalore, India (Published December 5, 2007)

My wharton interview experience with adcom member in HUB interview in Bangalore india on Dec02, 2007. http://swaaans.blogspot.com/2007/12/wharton-interview.html

Best of luck to everybody.

74. Round 1, Second year student - on campus (Published December 01, 2007)

I interviewed with a second year student. He was originally from Japan. He was very friendly and we developed great rapport, but he was difficult to understand at times.

He asked a lot of the standard questions. Many of which he was clearly reading off a document.

Walk me through resume.
Why MBA?
Why now?
Why Wharton?
Short and long term goals
How would I contribute to Wharton?

He asked me a number of questions related to my answers. I'm an entrepreneur with an office in India. The interviewer asked a lot about my experiences in India. He asked me about the cultural and professional differences, how I instill our culture in India, difficulties in dealing with India. He also asked me what I would change about my business.

Something that took me by surprise was the room I was interviewed in. The room was probably about 4x6 and contained no windows or decoration, just a table and two chairs.

The interview was fairly informal and conversational. I came away feeling pretty good about how it went. There were no surprises. He seemed to stick to the guidelines the adcom provided and just drilled down into items that he was interested in.

73. Round 1, AdCom Member (Published December 01, 2007)

I was interviewed by Adcom member in India. Interview lasted 30 minutes and mostly all standard questions were asked. Adcom Member was encouraging and responded with a line on her personal experience by looking at my particular extra-curricular activity. Here are the questions she asked:

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
What kind of IT product do you want to work upon?
Why wharton?
what do you want to take away from wharton?
What do you do outside work?
Are you involved in community work outside professional work?
what is your major accomplishment?
Have you developed any management philosophy?
your leadership experience in other areas?
any international experience?
Anything else you want me to know about your candidacy?
Questions for me?

I think other than 12, I responded well in other questions. I was not able to recall what all things I wanted to ask her.

In all it was a good experience. Lets see what happens on 20th December.

72. Round 1, Second Year Student (Published November 29, 2007)

Interview lasted exactly 30 minutes and was conversational. I was asked a lot of questions in spite of the short interview duration, mostly because there were no follow-up questions. Other than the usual walk me through your resume, goals, why MBA, why Wharton, why now questions, I was also asked about my work experiences in detail (what do i like most/ least, tough teamwork experience, most significant accomplishment, time when i worked around someone, leadership style and example). The interviewer was interested what I do outside work and excluding my community involvement (activities pursued for fun). We concluded by talking about weaknesses and what other information I would like the adcom to know about me.

71. Round 1, Second Year Student (Published November 29, 2007)

Just to give you a rundown, these are the questions I faced:

Resume debriefing
Why MBA
Why now
Why Wharton?
How will your classmates remember you?
What do you expect out of your classmates at Wharton?
What's your leadership style?
What would your managers say about your 2 strengths and weaknesses?
What do you do for fun?
Any weaknesses

She was a 2nd year student, really nice and upbeat.

70. On-Campus Interview, R1, Second Year Student (Published November 27, 2007)

Interview was with a second-year student. She was nice, but all business. I felt it a bit difficult to connect with her, which made the interview feel a little more one-sided than I would have liked (and made me nervous). However, I don't feel that any of her questions were particularly difficult or meant to trip me up in any way. One piece of advice: listen to the entire question before you start formulating your answer. Many of her questions were multi-part or asked for something different than what I expected after I heard the beginning of the question.

Here is what I remember of her questions:

Walk me through your resume?

Why MBA, why now?

What are your goals for your time at Wharton and what will be your goals for the time immediately following and into the future?

How have your achievements and work experience shaped your goals?

What do you think will be the most difficult part of your time at Wharton?

What do you think will be your best take-away from Wharton?

What role will you take on in your learning team?

If your co-workers came into this room and you weren't here, what would they tell me are your strengths?

What would they say are your weaknesses or development points?

Tell me about some leadership experiences in your career?

What do you think sets you apart from other applicants?

What in your background shows that you'd be prepared for the quantitative work at Wharton?

Are there any parts of your application that you are concerned that the Adcom might view as a weakness?

What do you do for fun?

There were no tough philosophical questions, like "who is a leader you admire" or anything like that. The only time it went into that zone was when I took it that direction by discussing my specific long-term goals, and she probed into my opinions about my industry. Also, the student tended to ask follow-up questions to my answers like "can you give me an example" or "how did you go about implementing that idea", etc., so be prepared to be asked for specifics.

69. London Hub interview, R2, MBA Dutchie, (Published March 30, 2007)

My interviewer was a friendly French lady who had graduated one or two years ago and now worked for Goldman Sachs in London. The interview was very standard.

Questions asked:
1. Walk me through your resume
2. Why MBA
3. What are your short-term and long-term plans
4. Why Wharton
5. Tell me about a leadership experience
6. Tell me about an activity outside of work
7. How do you plan to get involved in the Wharton community
8. Describe a weakness in your application
9. Is there anything else you would like to discuss
10. Questions for the interviewer

Most of the time she kept looking down on her paper as she scribbled lots of notes (or perhaps she was just doodling), which made it hard to connect with her and make the interview conversational, so the interview was very Q&A-style.

The few moments she did look up was during my story on 'leadership experience' and when she was scribbling all my notes on Why Wharton she looked up when I mentioned the Global Immersion Program and the Global Consulting Practicum. I don't know whether she was impressed by my knowledge of the program, or was in disbelief of a cheap sales argument of why I wanted to go to Wharton.

Questions I asked her were "is there any advice you would give an international student to maximize the Wharton experience", and I asked something specifically about the Europa club, which I am interested in joining. I mentioned I had seen her name in a Europa newsletter, so we chatted a little bit about that.

By talking about things the interviewer and I had in common, I felt she did open up a bit, which made the interview 40 minutes instead of 30 minutes, and I felt I could connect a bit with her and at least make the interview stand out a tiny bit.

The nice thing about getting asked these standard questions is that you can rehearse them ad nauseam in different styles, so that you can articulate your answers well, and focus on making your response as dynamic as possible and not too scripted. No question caught me by surprise, so at least I will have shown a good confidence factor. At the end she said I had been very articulate, which could have been a sincere comment, or simply a nice way of saying I sounded scripted. The downside of standard questions is that she must hear the same answers over and over and over again. I believe she had 6-7 interviews per day, 2 days per week, for a couple of weeks straight. Her body language hinted that this wasn't the most exciting thing she had ever done in her life. The fact that my interview was at 4pm, not the most energetic time of day for most people, and directly after 6 other boring interviews, may not have been helpful either.

One thing I did notice is that, even though hub interviews are conducted by people who are technically adcom members, they are by no means part of the decision-making process, which was one of the reasons I opted for a hub interview. She merely sends in her report, which gets included in your file, and the entire file is then reviewed after which you get a decision. The upside of having someone close to the admissions process can also be a downside, because I suspect these people get bored more easily (they have heard the same stories over and over again), which might raise their standards of what qualifies as 'good'.

I ended up being rejected at Wharton, and I wouldn't be surprised if the interview did not win me too many points. I got accepted at Kellogg, where I interviewed with a guy who was very passionate about Kellogg and where the interview was a rare event and a welcome interruption in his busy schedule. I have no doubt that this guy has 'gone to bat' for me and submitted a very positive interview report, whereas with Wharton, I doubt whether the interviewer thought I stood out among her 50+ other interview candidates.

That said, there are also reports of alums who are either not so thrilled about taking time out of their schedule for you, or feel they should give you Gestapo-like interrogations, or handle things unprofessionally. Your mileage may vary.

Status: Rejected.

68. On-campus, Round 2 with 2nd year student (Posted March 7, 2007)

Pretty standard and student was reasonably friendly. Stuck very closely to time limit as began to run out at end.

Questions

Walk me through where you’ve been and why you’ve been there, what brings you here, and what you’re looking to do in the future.
Tell me about a failure you experienced
Why Wharton?
How after two years would you like your learning teammates to describe you?
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
If I were to ask one of your colleagues, what would they say about you?
What activities would you get involved in at Wharton?
Tell me about a difficulty you had with a colleague.
Tell me about a leader you admire.

67. R2, Alumni Interview (International) by asiangal. (Published March 3, 2007)

I had my Wharton interview today and was a little nervous, but overall felt I established good rapport with the interviewer. There was a LOT of "why Wharton" sprinkled throughout the interview. It lasted 40 minutes.

Walk me through your resume.
Why Wharton?
Why MBA?
What's your biggest achievement to date?
Talk about a leader you admire and what makes that person a successful leader.
3 strengths.
Weaknesses and what you've done to address these.
How does your work experience with your current company fit in with your long-term career goals?
What role do you normally take in a team?
The best people from around the world apply to Wharton, what makes you stand out?
What do you like to do outside the office?
What weakness in your application would the Admissions Committee be concerned about?
Your background is impressive and you seem to have achieved a lot. Were there any times that you didn't achieve a goal you set for yourself? (I used my answer from my "failure essay," but my interviewer probed for an alternative answer that she was more satisfied with)
Do you have any questions?

As additional slightly non-sequitur questions I was also asked:

What other schools are you applying to?
Who were the Wharton alumni you spoke to?
What GMAT review course did you take and what score did you get?

66. R2, On-campus interview. (Published February 28, 2007)

Walk me through your resume
why MBA
Long term/Short term goals
What do you do outside of work?(Lots of follow up questions)
What excites you most in the morning?(follow up questions)
How do you judge your success
What is your leadership style?
Weakness in your application

Goodluck!

65. Alum interview, R2, International (Published February 28, 2007)

Wow, this was an interesting but tough interview (of the 3 that i have done so far). Conversational but very formal.

Which schools have you applied to and what is the status of these schools?
Walk me thru ur Resume (spent about 20 mins on it, with very detailed questions)
Career goals (spent another 15 mins on it)
Why Wharton (this is where it was grilling, lots of Why questions and counter arguments that its not the right school for me) (15 mins)
Leadership example
Questions for interviewer

Total about 70 mins. If you want a more straight forward route, take the phone/hub option :). Although I must say that the interviewer has made me rethink long and hard about W and if its the right school for me and she had some valuable advise for me.

Overall I left thinking that I definitely could have done much much better.

Best

64. Wharton Interview Breakdown by Juggler, February 19, 2007. (Published February 26, 2007)

I hope this post helps people doing their Wharton interviews...

The Wharton interview is...

...conversational I do not mean to say you can ramble away. I mean that it is not a stress interview and is meant just get to know you as a person. The idea to judge your communication skills and to figure out if you fit into the Wharton community. There are a few standard questions, beyond that the interview can take any turn depending upon your experience, your persona and your conversational ability. It is possible to guide the interview so as to bring out the best aspects of your past if you are a glib talker.

Another thing which I feel will work to your advantage in the interview is your body language. If you have met Wharton students, you will agree with me that many of them ooze confidence. The interviewer will probably look for confidence in a prospective Wharton student too. Your body language says a lot about your confidence and maturity.

The interview report should ultimately indicate that the same person wrote the essays too :-)

...blind The interviewer sees only your resume. In my case the interviewer took a couple of minutes to read the resume at the start of the interview. So I'm not sure if she even read it beforehand and come prepared with questions. This means that you can reiterate the examples used in your essays. But if you have important stuff that you could not mention in the essays due to lack of space, the interview is a good place to bring it up. An advantage of having examples different from the essays is that they will supplement what you have already mentioned and give a fuller picture of you to the adcom. Promotions, salary hikes and other recognition which came by after you submitted your application can also be stated during the interview.

...not decisive The interview is just a part of the process and is not the sole elimination criteria. The Wharton interview is not "a make or break". You could get in because of a good interview, you could get in despite a bad interview. There is no reason to be nervous at all. Look at the interview as just a tete-a-tete and talk like you would to someone who has met you for the first time and is getting to know you. There is no right answer for the questions, it is HOW you answer them that matters.

Tips to get more air time Quoting examples as part of your answers will not only get you more airtime but will also make for convincing answers. Examples are also a way to elicit pertinent follow up questions which is a great way to delve deeper into your experiences and viewpoints. Deep discussion in fewer aspects is better than superficial answers for a large number of questions. It is better not to sound too studied. In fact I would recommend minimal preparation . It is more than enough to know the facts and let your answers flow with the conversation. Going with rehearsed answers for the standard questions might make you sound boring and less confident. However, extempore may not work for everyone, it's a personal choice ultimately. The interview(specially at hubs and on-campus) is supposed to last for 30 mins, but I'm sure there are many people(including me) whose interviews stretched for 10-15 minutes longer. Longer interviews are an advantage most of the time.

Alumni vs Hub vs On Campus The choice of the type of interview is usually a combination of your schedule and what you expect out of the interview. If convenience and lower cost is the chief concern, then alumni interview is the natural choice. If you want to return to your home country immediately after MBA then you might want to know more about the opportunities and the network available in your country. An alumnus will be in a better position to give you valuable information which will help you to make an informed decision if you have to choose between multiple schools later.

If you want to visit the school before you decide to attend, then the interview is a good reason to make the trip. Also the on-campus interviews are conducted by second year students who will be able to shed light on the life at school. You can also get a feel of the atmosphere and the culture of the school which is an important factor which can sway your decision to or against the school. People who live reasonably close to philly should not miss this opportunity. I say this because I know how difficult it was for me to compare the cultures of different schools using what I read and the few people I could talk to.

Choosing the hub interview means traveling within your country, unless the hub is your city itself. This definitely is not as convenient as the alumni option. The hubs are conducted by members of the adcom and they may not be able to answer some of the questions you might have about the curriculum, job opportunities etc. The flip side is that there will be someone in the adcom who has met you and spoken to you and might support you in case he/she really liked you. This is something you cannot achieve through an alumni interview where you rely solely on the report mailed in by the alumnus. At least during the interview, adcom members tend to be neutral to the industry you belong to/aspire to enter. This could be an advantage and a disdvantage: An advantage because you have a fair chance to showcase your achievements as opposed to talking to a person who belongs to/knows a lot about your industry and hence might undermine your credentials. A disdvantage because you may have specific questions about a particular industry and a veteran in that field or someone who has friends in that field might be able to answer you better.

All the Best for your interview!

Disclaimer: This post is a summary of my opinions formed from my own interview experience and those that I have read so far. This is by no means a generalization of all Wharton interviews and I maintain that there is no such thing as "a typical Wharton interview".

For additional reports: View Archived Wharton Interview Reports

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