Interview: Wharton’s MBA Gatekeeper

Let’s talk about your Philadelphia location, which probably doesn’t necessarily carry the razzle dazzle of the Bay Area, New York City or Boston. Tell us about the benefits of your Philadelphia locale. What makes the City of Brotherly Love a great place to live for two years?

I am an unapologetic supporter of Philadelphia. I’m one of the biggest cheerleaders you’re going to find. The things that we hear most often from the students are number one about the community. I think the fact that very few students have built-in network who work in Philadelphia plays to our advantage. It forces our students to get to know one another. They all live in the same neighborhood. They’re eating at the same restaurants. That’s carrying over to campus. The bonds that they develop and the networks they wind up building is stronger as a result of there not being those distractions of maybe having friends or a network in the community at large.

The second thing we hear very often from the students is that they love the cost of living in this city. The vast majority of our students are living in and around Rittenhouse Square. It’s one of the nicest areas of Philadelphia, but its rent are about half of what you’re going to find in New York, Boston, or the Bay Area. At the same time, Philly has one of the best restaurants scenes in the country and it’s remarkably affordable. That cost of living really does play a big benefit.

Then there is the city itself. I’m totally biased, but it’s an easy city to fall in love with. It’s got everything you want in a world class city: arts, culture, food, entertainment. It’s got everything, but maybe with just a little less hassle of the crowd that you’re going to find in some other cities. It also helps that we’re an hour-and-a-half train ride from New York or DC, depending on which direction you’re heading, so we can leverage that strengths and many of our students certainly do.

What are the worst mistakes an applicant can make in applying to Wharton?

What I would say is the biggest mistake someone might make is not applying in the first place. The application process requires an incredible amount of trust and a bit of vulnerability. I think some people get it in their heads early in the process that they may not have a shot when they really do. So I really encourage them to do so. In a class as large as ours, we have a wide range of experience.

Your average GMAT for the 2018 Class was 731 this year, up from 718 for the Class of 2014.  Do you think Wharton is at the right level and further increases are unlikely or do you see GMAT averages rising further?

It’s more of a reflection on the applicant pool. What I would say is the GMAT isn’t, in and of itself, a measure of strength. A strong GMAT alone does not equal a strong candidate and vice versa. It’s just one signal among many that really helps us develop an understanding of how successful that candidate may be in a classroom. Equally important in that process is their undergraduate performance, professional licensures, and work experience. We’re looking at all of that to develop an understanding of an individual’s candidacy. The GMAT, again, is one signal and it’s not as though we have an aspiration for any specific average score. It’s whatever makes up the construct of the class that we’re trying to put together and that’s what it winds up being.

What are the top three reasons applicants give for applying to Wharton?

I think there is a wide range there. We certainly have the individuals who are coming from industries where they’re comfortable and they want to advance and they look to their mentors and at individuals who’ve found success in their industries — and they have their MBA and many are from Wharton. For some individuals, it is a matter of strengthening their skill sets so they can continue to advance in a field that they’re passionate about. For others, they’ve spent a few years in an industry and they want to make a change. For them, the MBA is an excellent way to develop an entirely new skill set, strengthen some new muscles, and pivot to something entirely different. There’s a natural progression that goes along with that and we can help students there.

For a growing number of students, it’s about the entrepreneurial experience. They recognize that they want to start something immediately or at some point in their career and the breadth of knowledge and the network that you build in an MBA program like Wharton really helps them to do that. Those are the motivating factors for our students here at Wharton.

This year, you’ve added a new essay question: “Teamwork is at the core of the Wharton MBA experience with each student contributing unique elements to our collaborative culture. How will you contribute to the Wharton community?” What was your thought process behind this addition?

For the last two years, we’ve been asking, essentially, “What do you hope to gain personally and professionally out of the MBA program?” What we heard from students after the applications were submitted and they got here and we were having conversations with them on campus was they felt a little tension there. How much should be personal? How much should be professional? What should they focus on and for how long? We were seeing that in the applications as well. They had a lot more to tell us. Well over half of our students last year were submitting the optional essay, which led us to believe there was a lot more to their story and they had a lot more to tell us. So we listened to our audience and split that question in half and gave them the room that they told us they needed to better tell their story and room, in most cases, they were using already. I think that’s going to help us get to know them better. That’s our hope.

What are the best things an applicant can do when applying or in an admissions interview?

I would go back to always paying attention to your daily interactions. In terms of the application process, one piece of advice that I usually give to students is that we recognize that many students are applying to more than one school. We understand that. When you’re applying to a business school, you’re applying to join a community that’s just going to be with you for two years but is going to be with you for life. So you want to have an understanding of the community you’re joining and the school of which you’re going to be a part. So I really encourage students, don’t just write one or two essays and switch around the formal identifiers. Spend the time that’s necessary to really dig deep and do your research. Learn more about the places where you’re applying and write essays for the institutions to which you’re applying. It’s the same advice I would give to someone writing a cover letter for a job. Do your homework and spend the time and you’re going to have a better product on the backend.

DON’T MISS:  WHARTON’S BIG PUSH INTO STARTUPS OR HOW MBAS CAN LEAD THE LIFE THEY WANT: AN INTERVIEW WITH WHARTON’S STEWART FRIEDMAN OR ‘HUMANS OF WHARTON’ ON DIVERSITY & INCLUSION