Preparing for Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015
Feb, 03, 2013
Categories: Admissions Consulting | Interview Analysis | Interviews | MBA | MBA留学 | Wharton
In this post, I discuss how to prepare for Wharton Round 2 Interviews for fall 2013 entry. This post consolidates my three previous posts on Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015:
Wharton Group Interview Questions Now Made Public (Round 1, not Round 2)
More details about Wharton MBA Interviews for 2013 entry
Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2015
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 Round 2 interviewees to prepare for because it is not available on the web as of the time of this posting. I do know the question, but it is my policy not provide such information unless I have obtained it from a public source.
SHORT INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION (ONE-TO-ONE POST TEAM-BASED DISCUSSION INTERVIEW)
Based on what my Round One clients reported to me and the public reports on Clear Admit, the 15-minute one-to-one interview is likely to consist of 4-6 questions, which I have divided into the following two categories.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEAM BASED INTERVIEW
It appears that all applicants were asked both of the questions below. Be prepared to provide your feedback on the team-based interview. Assume that this is a test of your self-awareness of group dynamics, an opportunity to explain the role you took in the group, and a chance, hopefully to correct any misperceptions of yourself on the part of the interviewer.
1) How do you think the team-based interview went?
2) Was your behaviour typical of how you work in a team? / Was your behavior in the Team-Based Discussion representative of the way you typically act in group settings?
How I prepare my clients for this part of the interview: I can’t really do that because it is based on what actually happened in the interview. The only thing I can do is make sure that my client realizes that they will be asked such questions and that they should be mindful of the role that they performed in the group. For example, if the interviewer perceives you, as say, overly reserved or overly aggressive, you need to be ready to discuss that issue.
TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (Assume 2-4 such questions)
This is the standard part of the interview. 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 preparations. You should surely be able to explain why Wharton in particular is the ideal place for you to study. You should have 1-2 questions available. If you are interviewing off-campus, you should have questions ready for an admissions officer. If you are interviewing on-campus, you had better be prepared to have questions ready for both an admissions offer and a 2nd year student.
Do you want to highlight anything in your application?
Introduce yourself
Discuss your career progress
Tell me about a time when you worked in a group in which everyone did not agree and how did your team resolve the situation?
What is your post-MBA goal?
Why MBA?
Why Wharton?
Do you have any questions for me?
Anything you want to add?
How I prepare my clients for the individual interview: I would typically ask my clients these 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/.