Even As Apps Plunge, Wharton Hits New Milestones

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FINANCE STILL TOP BACKGROUND FOR INCOMING MBA STUDENTS

As you might expect, the largest single group of students had worked in finance, with that industry representing 32% of the class, down from 35% last year; followed by consulting (25%), technology and Internet services (9%), nonprofit and government (9%), healthcare (5%), consumer packaged goods and retail (4%), energy (3%), and media/entertainment (3%). All are in line with recent-year totals.

In the finance group, students from private equity and venture capital topped every sector, with 12% of the class. Some 9% were in investment banking, 5% in investment management, and 6% in “other.” Though consulting was down just 2% from last year, that’s 2 points off the record for Wharton.

Those percentages reflect only small, inconsequential changes from last year’s mix of work backgrounds. One of the larger shifts: Nonprofit and government students, which stayed steady at 9%, had fallen by 3 percentage points from 12% two years ago.

WHARTON INCREASINGLY TAKING STUDENTS FROM INTEGRATED PROGRAMS

Of the 856 students in the new class, some 15 are JD/MBA students, down from 26 last year; 67 are in the dual-degree Lauder program, down from 70 in 2018; and 78 are in Wharton’s health management option, up from 72. Last year’s near-doubling of JD/MBA students from 14 the year before reflected an improving market for law schools in general after a severe multi-year slump; this year’s shift may be a correction or a sign that difficult times are returning.

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