Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015

For my most recent post on Wharton interviews, please see Preparing for Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015.


I should consolidate this post, this other post, and the actual group interview questions, but will do so after Round 1.

Wharton has radically altered their MBA admissions interviews for fall 2013 entry.  This post was last updated on August 12, 2012 and will be updated as new information becomes available. Fortunately Wharton has already provided a fairly clear idea about what they will be doing. My post on essays for admission to the Wharton MBA Class of 2015 can be found here. Specific details about Wharton's new interviews were first discussed in detail on Ankur Kumar's Directors blog post of August 6th.  You can find my comments interspersed in UPPERCASE below:

"I also know you are eager to learn as much as you can about what to expect. Below are some key details regarding the team-based discussion. We will continue to share further details on logistics over the coming weeks. GREAT. I HOPE THEY PROVIDE SAMPLES! 

• The team-based discussion, like our behavioral-style interview, will be by invitation only.  Participation is required to complete the admissions process. NO ONLINE ONE-TO-ONE SUBSTITUTES ARE TO BE OFFERED. THIS WILL BE LOGISTICALLY CHALLENGING FOR SOME APPLICANTS.  IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW LOGISTICALLY CHALLENGING ARRANGING ALL THESE INTERVIEWS IS FOR WHARTON.
• Each team-based discussion will be comprised of 5-6 applicants. Teams will be organically created; there is no ‘crafting’ done on our end. YOU WILL BE ON A RANDOM TEAM OF 5-6 STRANGERS. YOU MIGHT ALL HAVE SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS OR NOT.  PERHAPS YOU WILL BE WITH PEOPLE YOU KNOW IF YOU INTERVIEW IN YOUR HOME CITY AND NOT ON CAMPUS.  CLEARLY THEY DON'T SEEM TO BE CONTROLLING FOR FRIENDS BEING ON THE SAME TEAM. THIS COULD HAPPEN SO EASILY, IT IS NOT EVEN FUNNY. 
• The discussion will have a prompt and a purpose; you will work towards a tangible outcome with your group. YOU WILL HAVE SOME KIND OF SPECIFIC ISSUE TO DISCUSS WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT THE GROUP WORKS TOGETHER.  DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE (CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT IF YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE) WHO TRIES TO DOMINATE THE GROUP BECAUSE YOU WILL GET DINGED. ALSO DON'T BE SHY BECAUSE IF YOU ARE, YOU WILL GET DINGED. EVEN IF YOU ARE A NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER WHO IS FORCED TO INTERVIEW ON CAMPUS AND NOT IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY, YOU HAD BETTER GET USED TO THE IDEA OF SPEAKING UP IN A GROUP. PEOPLE WITH STRONG SOCIAL SKILLS WILL BE AT A HUGE ADVANTAGE HERE.
• In addition to the team-based discussion, candidates will still have an opportunity for a short individual conversation with an admissions team member. GREAT. NO TIME MENTIONED, BUT I BET, BASED ON WHAT THEY WERE DOING PREVIOUSLY, THAT THIS IS LIKE 10-20 MINUTES.  IT COULD BE VERY STANDARD INTERVIEW QUESTIONS OR MAYBE BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS PLUS STANDARD INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. YOU MUST PREPARE FOR THIS PART TOO! ACTUALLY THIS MIGHT BE THE ONLY PART THAT THOSE APPLYING IN R1 CAN PREPARE FOR. 
• The majority of team-based discussions will be held on-campus and conducted by our Admissions Fellows, a select group of second-year students. When you come to campus we encourage you to attend classes, have lunch with students, tour campus and attend an information session about the program. More information about the visit program is available on our website. YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE EVALUATED BY SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS IF YOU INTERVIEW ON-CAMPUS. IF YOU INTERVIEW OFF-CAMPUS, ADMISSIONS OFFICERS WILL BE IN CHARGE FOR SURE.
• During each evaluation round we will continue to meet students in select cities around the world.  There will be limited slots, so please plan accordingly.  We will do our best to accommodate candidates where possible. THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT EVEN IF WHARTON COMES TO YOUR CITY, THE SLOTS WILL GET ALL FILLED UP AND YOU WILL STILL HAVE TO TRAVEL TO CAMPUS.  FOR OVERSEAS APPLICANTS, GET READY TO TAKE OFF DAYS FROM WORK AND PAY FOR AN EXPENSIVE AIR TICKET. 
• On- and off-campus team-based discussions will be conducted and considered equally. There is no ‘advantage’ to doing either, though we encourage you to come to campus." THIS IS REALLY A MESSAGE DESIGNED TO SCREW WITH APPLICANTS' HEADS.  IF THERE IS NO ADVANTAGE TO COME TO CAMPUS, WHY STATE HERE THAT WHARTON ENCOURAGES IT? IN GENERAL, WHARTON ENCOURAGES VISITING, BUT IN THIS CONTENT IT IS JUST MAKES FOR A MIXED MESSAGE. THE GREAT THING ABOUT SUCH MIXED MESSAGES IS THAT I WILL ASKED AGAIN AND AGAIN ABOUT WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO INTERVIEW ON CAMPUS.  I WILL SAY SOMETHING LIKE, "IT IS BEST TO VISIT WHARTON IF YOU APPLY THERE. IF YOU GET INVITED AND HAVE NOT BEEN THERE, YOU REALLY SHOULD CONSIDER GOING THERE. ON THE OTHER HAND, IF IT IS JUST TO BURDENSOME TO GO AND YOU HAVE THE OPTION OF INTERVIEWING CLOSE TO HOME, YOU CAN CERTAINLY DO THAT. 

New in the US, but not new for MBA programs: Wharton's new approach to admissions interviews, consisting of a team-based discussion of 5-6 applicants plus a short individual conversation with an an admissions team member, represents a significant change to the way any American MBA program has conducted interviews. The world's best small MBA program, IMD,  has been conducted group interviews for a long time, but they have a class of 90 and five application rounds. Wharton has an annual class of over 800. That will be quite a few group interviews. In a more limited way, London Business School has previously conducted group interviews of Japanese  MBA applicants in Tokyo (This seems to have been specific to Japan because my clients who interviewed elsewhere never experienced this, including Japanese clients based outside of Japan). 

Basic team discussion strategies: Since I don't have a school and don't teach classes with multiple applicants at one time, I have only rarely prepped someone specifically for a group discussion. However, based on working with clients who have been doing group interviews and by reading interview reports for  IMD and LBS(Japan only),  I do have some suggestions. Here are some basic group interview strategies to keep in mind:

1. Be someone who makes clear and effective points in the conversation, but does not dominate the conversation.

2. Don't be rude to others. Rude jerks are the easiest people to get rid of when evaluating participants in a team based discussion.

3. Listen closely enough to others in order to say something that builds on or reacts against what other people are saying. Refer to what others are saying in order to build consensus.

4. Try to provide constructive communication that moves the discussion forward to a positive conclusion. Make an effort to include others in the conversation.

5. Don't be afraid to make a less than perfect point. If you do that too much, you will never get enough speaking time and perceived as shy and ineffective in team situations. That will get you dinged. 

6. Synthesize and summarize the team's conversation in order to move the conversation forward.

7.  Use hedging language and other forms of consensus building language. Try to avoid being dismissive of the views of others. 

8. If you are having difficulty understanding someone because of their accent or because of your poor English listening skills, still engage in non-verbal demonstrations that you understand what they are saying.  Non-verbal communication will surely be observed, so if you look confused or frustrated that could be used against you.

9. Smile and show eye contact with other people.

10.  Make sure that you don't slouch in your seat, but are sitting tall and look like a positive and engaged person. 

Do you want to be a guinea pig? If you are looking for a good reason not apply in the first round at Wharton, one of the best is not serving a guinea pig for this first ever attempt at conducting group interviews worldwide for an MBA program of this size.  Another is not having a clear idea of what the specific interview content might be. Another is knowing that the evaluators scoring these team discussions will have had very limited experience doing so. Maybe first time interviewees will be at advantage in terms of being given the benefit of the doubt, but I am not betting on that. 

Beware of old information on Wharton interviews: Until details emerge of the specific content for the team and individual interviews, it would not be a good idea to highly depend on the accuracy of past interview reports or past Wharton interview advice (like my old blog posts on Wharton interviews). 

Individual interview content: While it is inevitable that past Wharton interview questions are likely to be used in the individual interviews, the specific mix of questions that an applicant will encounter is an unknown at the moment (August 12, 2012).  You should surely be ready to answer questions about anything on your resume plus such common questions as:
Why do you want an MBA?
Why do want to go to Wharton?
What are your professional objectives?
What can you contribute to Wharton?
More to come as I know more.  In the meantime, I would encourage you to see my general posts on preparing for MBA interviews (here and here and here) because at least for the individual interview portion, my posts are still relevant. 

-Adam Markus

I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.