Wharton’s100% Behavioral Interviews: A Change Badly Implemented

Wharton’s100% Behavioral Interviews: A Change Badly Implemented

Nov, 17, 2010

WHY NOT OFFICIALLY TELL APPLICANTS WHAT TO EXPECT?

Any school has a right to change its policies and procedures.  Wharton certainly had the right to change its interview style.  That said, moving to 100% behavioral interviews without letting applicants know is just particularly mean and nasty for those unlucky enough to have been unprepared for the change.  Now that the cat is out of the bag,  whether Wharton writes about it or not, applicants who look at sites like mine and GMAT CLUB’s will know.  So basically it means that those who look for unofficial information will have a vast informational advantage over applicants who just read what is on Wharton’s site and have expectations for a standard interview.  Wharton’s site says only “Interviews may include behavioral questions.” This is an outright deception as reported interviews are now 100% behavioral.

From my perspective, it is a pity that the Wharton MBA holders who now manage admissions at Wharton could not grasp the basic unfairness of their approach.  This is particularly bizarre given that MIT SLOAN has been using behavioral interviews for years and much to their credit, provides a guide about what to expect from a behavioral interview. It is a pity that no one at Wharton could not have bothered to ask Rod Garcia how to effectively prepare applicants for what is, after all, a very specific and non-standard form of interviewing.

Hopefully Wharton admissions will take into account that many 1st round interviewees were not informed about their policy change.  It certainly is odd to have a situation where some applicants will know exactly what to expect and while others are caught completely off-guard because of the faulty implementation of something as basic as testing logistics.