In this post, I discuss how to prepare for Wharton Interviews for fall 2021 entry.
There are two parts to the Wharton interview, the team-based interview and one-to-one interview. Each part can be prepared for. I am assuming anyone who is reading this post has actually been invited for a Wharton interview and has reviewed the official information regarding it.
TEAM-BASED DISCUSSION
I will not disclose the contents of the specific team-based question that Wharton has asked interviewees to prepare. I do know the question and it changes every year, but the question itself is not really that different: Different topic, but requiring the group to reach consensus on a proposed topic related to Wharton. I do provide analysis of the TBD discussion question to my own clients, but will not do that here.
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. I had such clients and they were dinged. I warned them. Stanford Professor Bob Sutton's
No Asshole Rule surely applies here:
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT IF YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE. If you are, take corrective action. Of course, most assholes wouldn't check this out.
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. Those that actively listen seemed to have a better outcome in previous years of the TBD.
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 were about being perfect, 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 , but are sitting tall and look like a positive and engaged person.
11. If possible make every effort to bond with or at least meet your fellow participants prior to the actual interview. You will have 10 minutes for the purpose, so be on Zoom 15 minutes before the scheduled start time, so you can enter into the Zoom room as soon as possible.
12. Appearing effective on video is really important. This involves setting and performance.
Setting: Make sure your internet connectivity, lighting, and the space you are in is optimal.
13. Keep in mind that you are being observed by two Admissions Fellows, so your performance is being evaluated by a peer-level individual and not an admissions officer. Hence you are being judged by someone who can easily consider how well you would fit in at Wharton.
How I prepare my clients for the team discussion: The main thing I can do is go over the question and make sure my clients are prepared for the topic. The nice part of the Wharton team discussion is that you do have the question ahead of time. I assess their content on the following basis:
1. Does the suggested answer address the topic directly?
2. Is the suggested answer one that other group members and the interviewer can easily understand?
3. Can the answer be communicated very briefly? Given time limits you will need to communicate it very briefly.
4. Is the answer interesting/original/creative?
5. Are there any negative aspects to the proposed answer?
6. Are they providing an effective 1-minute opening statement?
7. Do they have different approaches to their 1-minute to adjust to what others might have covered first?
I can't effectively prepare someone for the actual dynamics of a group conversation on a one-to-one basis, but by at least making sure my client's opening is solid, I know they will at least be well positioned to start strong.
TBD Simulations
I don't run a TBD simulation. In past years, I would direct clients to 2 options:
Simulations in their locality: When TBDs consisted primarily of applicants from a particular country (In my case India, Japan, or South Korea) where colleagues hold TBD practices, I was encouraging clients to attend such practices, especially as it was an opportunity to meet with possible team members before the actual event. However, given the altered situation since R2 for the Class 2022, this is not inherently helpful. Fine to use such services but a Zoom-based session is the only effective way to prepare.
Online TBDs: My colleague, Andrea Sparrey, has been doing online TBDs for a couple of years. Please see
http://www.sparreyconsulting.com/page/wharton-group-interview-prep. I consider this to be the best practice for the Wharton TBD now that they all will be conducted online. Past clients have liked doing Andrea's session. Please let her know I sent you.
SHORT INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION (ONE-TO-ONE POST TEAM-BASED DISCUSSION INTERVIEW)
This is the standard part of the interview but it is incredibly short. If you are doing more standard interviews, it will be easy to prepare for this part. For advice on more standard interviews, please see my MBA Application Interview Strategy. I highly recommend reviewing your resume and Wharton essays as part of your preparation.
In recent years clients have reported the following:
Class of 2022 two recent reports for interviews conducted online.
1. A second-year student called me after finishing an interview with another applicant. She said that it was strictly a 10-minute interview and read out an instruction that she’d ask why MBA/Wharton questions which will be followed by a Q&A session. My friend who had a virtual interview a day before me had told me that his was a phone interview, so I prepared a script for why MBA/Wharton questions.
2. For the one-on-one, the interviewer mentioned that we had 10 mins and his "one & Only question" was "Why MBA and why Wharton?". Once I finish answering the question, I could ask him any questions I may have regarding the student life at Wharton"
All Class of 2022 and 2021 reports indicate the same thing. While in the past (Class of 2020 or earlier), interviewees were asked to assess how the TBD went, this has not occurred in the last two cycles.
We can break Why Wharton and Why MBA into into one part of two parts but essentially you should prepare a long but clear answer that assumes the interviewer knows very little about you and hence briefly introduce yourself when answering this.
Have questions ready for your Admissions Fellow (2nd year student) as according to the instructions, they and only they will be the interviewers. According to this year's instructions admissions officers will not be.
How I prepare my clients for the individual interview: I would typically ask my clients these two questions in a mock interview. It would not be completely realistic because I would go over all the above questions just to make sure that my client was covered for all the above topics. If we were preparing for more standard interviews (Booth, Columbia, Kellogg, Haas, etc.), it might not really be necessary to go over this part of the interview for Wharton. For more about my interview services, please see http://www.adammarkus.com/services/.
Best of luck with your Wharton interview. I hope that you get admitted to the Class of 2023!
Cheers,
Adam
