Wharton has insufficient hub interviews for international applicants: WTF!

Wharton has insufficient hub interviews for international applicants: WTF!

Nov, 09, 2011

My analysis of Wharton MBA interviews can be found here.  This is my rant about their applicant unfriendly admissions committee.

First, let me state that I generally find MBA admissions offices in the US, especially at schools like HBS, Stanford, Chicago, Kellogg, Tuck, and MIT to work really effectively at handling their interview processes.  I guess that is why I find it so amazing that Wharton can’t get it together.  As reported in GMAT Club (See here), international applicants are finding it impossible to get interviewed in their home countries and are finding the only option is to visit Wharton. This was never a problem for Wharton applicants before because they had plenty of alumni available to interview them, but this year adcom eliminated alumni interviews and replaced it with… well, seemingly NOTHING.

I first heard this was a problem from my own clients, but see that it appears to be a wider problem.   While I know that Wharton is not famous for its logistics curriculum, one would assume that the Wharton MBA holder who serves as admission director there would have made some allowance for this.  Perhaps making people spend money on last minute international air travel to the US because they were unable to grab a hub interview space in their home country is justifiable in someone’s world view, but not in mine.

It is not as though this is an isolated incident. Last year, Wharton adcom screwed up completely with their new approach to interviewing (See here). I wouldn’t even bother discussing their earlier scandal before the current adcom crew was in place.

I don’t know what these people have against being customer friendly, which is what MBA applicants are, but all I can say is WTF!

Finally, I should add that Wharton Adcom can’t get their own story straight because their website says the following:

“All applicants will have the option of interviewing on Wharton’s campus or with an admissions staff member in one of our selected major cities around the world. “

Since obviously all applicants don’t have that option, Wharton adcom should alter their interview information to reflect that not all applicants will have the option to interview in selected major cities around the world.   Is it so much to expect a school to provide accurate information about its own admissions processes?

Now, back to work.
-Adam