Wharton To Add New Novel Admit Test

THE GOAL: ASSESSING APPLICANTS IN ‘A LIVELY AND THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSION ON A REAL-WORLD BUSINESS SCENARIO’

In an email invitation obtained by Poets&Quants, the school had told the applicants that “The new team-based discussion will allow candidates to have the opportunity to interact with fellow applicants in a lively and thoughtful discussion based on a real-world business scenario.

“Our hope is that through a team-based discussion, applicants will not only be able to present how they approach and think about certain situations, but will also have a chance to experience, firsthand, the team work experience and group learning dynamic that is central to our program.”

Admission consultants have generally reacted favorably to the change. “I am glad to see that Wharton is innovating in the admissions process as well as in the curiculum,” said Betsy Massar, founder of Master Admissions. “Wharton is looking for all-around leaders, not just individual contibutors. The team evaluation is one way to see how the candidate behaves in a group,not just one-to-one and it mirrors the business school experience and real life. I think it will give a 360-degree picture of how the candidate shows up for unpredictable situations, and will require flexility and an awareness of others’ contributions.”

WHARTON MBAS TYPICALLY INVOLVED IN 15 DIFFERENT TEAMS DURING THEIR TWO-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Ankur Kumar, Wharton’s director of admissions, earlier had told PoetsandQuants that the school decided to do the test to gain insight on a candidate’s ability to work well with others. “At Wharton,” she said, “teamwork is an integral part of the experience. In fact, we were doing some research and found our students were a part of 15 different teams inside and outside the classroom during their two years here.”

Though Kumar would not disclose the topic of the team-based discussion for the trial, she laid out the framework for the evaluation. “There was a prompt to initiate the discussion. It’s not just discussion for discussion’s sake. They have to draw a conclusion to it. A member of the admissions team was in the room with them and keyed up the dialogue but it is really around having the candidates interact together and lead the discussion themselves.”

Wharton would not have to increase the size of its admissions staff to roll out the evaluation process to all interview applicant, according to Kumar. “The admissions team currently travels to interview candidates around the globe so we are fully equipped to handle the logistics and the time needed for that and any other process in our admissions,” she said earlier. It’s highly likely that the school’s group of Admission Fellows, roughly 45 second-year students trained to interview applicants, can be deployed to facilitate the in-person evaluation process.

The school had told applicants it invited to the test that the new evaluation model was not mandatory. “As we are currently ’beta testing’ this evaluation structure,” Wharton told applicants, “your participation is entirely voluntary and will have absolutely no bearing on the decision made on your application.”

The change would follow major admission changes at Harvard which cut in half the required essays for MBA candidates this year and added an essay for applicants invited to interview with HBS. That third essay would be required within 24 hours of the interview. That later requirement, a chance for students to reflect on their Harvard conversation, also is an outgrowth of MBA curriculum changes. Harvard’s new curriculum requires students to be more introspective about their leadership and team experiences.

DON’T MISS: WHARTON MAY ADD NEW ADMISSIONS TEST or BEHIND HARVARD’S BIG ADMISSION CHANGES