Preparing for Wharton Interviews for the Class of 2016
Oct, 23, 2013
Categories: Admissions Consulting | Interview Analysis | Wharton
In this post, I discuss how to prepare for Wharton Interviews for fall 2014 entry. My post on Wharton’s essays for the Class of 2016, can be found here.
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 Round 1 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 to provide such information unless I have obtained it from a public source. Should it become available in a public forum, I will then discuss it.
SHORT INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION (ONE-TO-ONE POST TEAM-BASED DISCUSSION INTERVIEW)
Based on what my clients reported to me and the public reports on Clear Admit for the interviews for 2013 entry, the 15-minute one-to-one interview is likely to consist of 4-6 questions, which I have divided into the following two categories. I will obviously modify this section if the content changes once 2014 entry reports become public.
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)
For a more extensive list of Wharton 1-to-1 interview questions, see this more recent post.
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 preparation. 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/.