Tune into Episode 454 of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast for insights into this year’s TBD Prompt.
The prompt for the Wharton Team-Based Discussion (TBD) for the 2025-2026 admissions season is below. The exercise this year focuses on leadership training. Here is the prompt:
“Leadership development at Wharton integrates scholarship, relationships, and experiences that connect knowledge with action. The McNulty Leadership Program serves as the hub for this work, offering an expansive portfolio of experiential learning opportunities, including MBA Leadership Ventures. Ventures facilitate self-discovery, leadership, and character development. Participants are able to step out of their comfort zone, exceed personal limitations, and experience leadership firsthand. One key offering within the Venture Portfolio is Leadership Intensives (LI). Each LI is a consolidated, immersive, group-based experience lasting one to two days.
“Wharton invites your team to propose a new Leadership Intensive (LI) to address increasing student interest. The LI proposed should be designed for Wharton MBA students and operate within a pilot budget of $25,000. All costs – including partner fees, facilitator payments, site or equipment rentals, and materials – must stay within this total amount. Transportation logistics will be arranged by Wharton and are outside the scope of your team’s planning and budget.
“The program should be structured around a central theme that articulates and reinforces fundamental leadership principles. These principles will inform the program’s design and delivery, with the goal of producing specific, demonstrable learning outcomes. Consider how progress toward these learning outcomes will be assessed to determine whether participants have internalized and applied the intended skills and insights.”
In this special edition of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions podcast, we analyze how to best approach this year’s TBD.
It is important to understand the basic mechanics of the TBD and to know how you might handle the different sorts of team members you may encounter (from the talkers to the timid). Applicants can tune into this podcast episode on the Team-Based Discussion as we break down the format and advise on how to perform well. Remember that Wharton will be conducting all interviews virtually.
And, as always, remember that the Clear Admit Interview Archive also offers a repository of applicant-submitted details about the interview process.
Good luck!
