MBA ADMISSIONS BLOG

Meet Wharton in your city this summer!

2013-05-22T18:58:00Z

Now that the 2012-2013 application cycle has come to a close, we wanted to provide you with the dates and deadlines for the 2013-2014 application process. With these dates in mind, please note that our 2013-2014 application will become available on our website in early August.

• Round 1: October 1, 2013
• Round 2: January 7, 2014
• Round 3: March 27, 2014

As you are beginning to think ahead about which MBA program would be the right fit for you, we wanted to provide you with an update on our on and off-campus summer travel plans. While our Campus Visit Program resumes in September, there are a number of ways to connect with the Wharton MBA off-campus this summer! The MBA Admissions events page provides details about all of our upcoming admissions events being held in over 20 countries around the world – from general presentations, to alumni-led events and industry-specific panels.

The MBA Admissions team really enjoys the opportunity to meet prospective students on the road, while also having the opportunity to reconnect with our local alumni around the globe. In the coming weeks, we look forward to seeing many of you in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia!

Please note that we will continue to add more events throughout the summer, so if you don’t see a location close to you at this time, please check back again soon.

MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office Closed on Friday

2013-05-15T13:32:00Z

The MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office will be closed on Friday, May 17, 2013 for an off-site meeting. Regular office hours will resume on Monday, May 20th at 8:30 am. Should you have any questions, please contact the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office directly at 215-898-6183.

Meet Wharton students in your city this summer!

2013-05-08T18:53:00Z

In the coming months, current Wharton MBA students will be spread across the globe for their summer internships. To take advantage of having so many student ambassadors around the world, Wharton MBA Admissions offers informal 'coffee chats' with these students for prospective students to learn firsthand about the Wharton experience and life in Philadelphia.

If you are interested in learning more about the Wharton MBA, register today for a meet-and-greet near you, as space is limited (click on the 'Coffee Chats' tab). Additional dates and cities will be added soon.

The students look forward to meeting you!

Best Regards,
The Wharton MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Team

June Kinney Recognized by the Business School Alliance for Health Management

2013-04-30T19:24:00Z

With its 18 majors and over 200 electives, the Wharton MBA Program prides itself on the strength and variety of its curriculum. Within this curriculum, one of the most unique programs is Health Care Management (HCM). HCM is the only major within the full time MBA program where students must indicate their interest at the time of application. This major helps students strengthen their management skills and expertise within the health care industry. Leading the way for the HCM program is June Kinney, Associate Director and Lecturer in the Wharton School Health Care Management Department. Recently, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and The Wharton School joined together to congratulate June as the inaugural recipient of the Business School Alliance Health Management (BAHM) June Kinney Achievement Award for “outstanding service” in advancing health care-related education, research and practice at Penn. You can read more about this award here.

The MBA Admissions & Financial Aid Office would like to congratulate June on this wonderful accomplishment and thank her for her ongoing enthusiasm for the program!

Notes from the Director: Spring Welcome Weekend Recap

2013-04-22T19:13:00Z

Greetings from Philadelphia,

It was such a pleasure to see so many familiar faces on campus last week for the Spring Welcome Weekend events. Despite the initial torrential downpour (Wharton umbrellas to the rescue!), we had a wonderful turnout with over 400 of our Round 2 admitted students from around the globe in attendance. Last week also marked the completion of the Round 3 interview process on campus. Needless to say - it was a busy week here in Philadelphia!

Welcome Weekend is not only an exciting time for our admitted students, but it also helps to bring together the greater Wharton MBA community – from our faculty to staff to current students. Along with our Welcome Committee, we had over 300 current students participate throughout the weekend – from club-related events to dinner soirees, such as the ever popular Spring Welcome Soiree at the Ritz Carlton.

Welcome Weekend serves as a way for our admitted students to get a real feel for the Wharton experience. It provides an opportunity to learn more about academic offerings, student-led clubs and career services, while also being able to attend social events such as the MBA Pub and Follies. New to the Welcome Weekend scene, we had over 200 admitted students attend a housing fair at our new 2401 Walnut Street facility. We had local property management companies, realtors, student start-ups, and Penn housing services available to speak about housing options in Philadelphia. Early feedback from students and local buildings has been extremely positive!

The Partner’s Club saw over 80 partners registered for the weekend and the current Wharton partners ran a fantastic program educating incoming partners about Wharton, Philadelphia, accessing the community, and resources available to them. All in all it was a fantastic weekend and it’s always wonderful to see so many recent admits on campus after meeting you on the road.

Not only was last week a busy time for us at Wharton, but it was also a trying time for many of you around the country. It is with heavy hearts that we, here in Philadelphia, extend our deepest condolences to those affected by the events in Boston. Please know that our thoughts are with you all during this very difficult time.

Wishing everyone a safe and restful week ahead,

Ankur Kumar

Campus Visit Program Ending on Friday, April 19th

2013-04-12T14:19:00Z

The Campus Visit Program will officially end for the academic year on Friday, April 19th. The full campus visit program will start back up again in late September 2013.

Information sessions will be held at 3:00pm on the following days:

Monday, April 22, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013

Round 3 Update and Spring Welcome Weekend

2013-04-05T14:53:00Z

We are excited to announce that our Round 3 interview invitations were released on Friday, April 5th. If you have not done so already, please check your application status through your myWhartonMBA account and be sure to register for an interview if you have been invited. We look forward to meeting many of you in the upcoming week!

Congratulations again to our Round 2 admitted students! We look forward to seeing many of you in a few days for Spring Welcome Weekend!

If you have any questions, please contact our office directly office via phone at 215-898-6183, or e-mail at mba-admiss@wharton.upenn.edu.

Sincerely,

The Wharton MBA Admissions & Financial Aid Team

Updates from the Office of Student Life

2013-04-01T15:38:00Z

Dr. Kembrel Jones, a.k.a. Wharton's "Dean of Happiness"

Greetings,

Only at Wharton!

It is hard to believe that it is already Quarter Four at Wharton…time flies when you are busy and enjoying your life! The action has been nonstop for the Office of Student Life and shows no sign of abating until graduation in May. Already this quarter we have had our Student Life Fellows Retreat. The Student Life Fellows (SLFs) are rising second years who, along with the Cluster Directors, will serve as advisors and activity coordinators for the Class of 2015. The retreat was held at our newly opened MBA space at 2401 Walnut Street in Center City, already being referred to as simply “2401.” Philly Fight Night was held last Saturday where 1,500 Wharton and Penn Law students gathered to support their classmates in boxing matches with each other. Needless to say, Wharton men and women knocked out the competition! The event also supported the Philadelphia Boys and Girls Club to the tune of $85,000. Last night a thousand Wharton MBAs gathered to watch nearly 300 of their classmates shake it at the annual Wharton Dance Studio show. The audience was thrilled with dances ranging from a classic Broadway tap number to a cosmic collision of hip-hop dance styles, with a big Bollywood production featuring bhangra and garba to spice things up! Still ahead this quarter, Wharton will produce the Annual Cultural Show, the Charity Fashion Show, the Wharton Relays, and the Battle of the Bands. O.A.W., I say. Only at Wharton!

Congratulations and Welcome Round 2 Admitted Students!

The Welcome Committee and Student Life Fellows are busy prepping for our big Spring Welcome, where we share two days in the life of Wharton with admitted students from the second round. The first day of Spring Welcome begins with academics, moves into careers and ends with the Pub and small group dinners in Center City (downtown Philly where 95% of Wharton MBAs live). The second day focuses on leadership programs and student life and features the “The Follies” spring production. In its 37th year, the Follies performance is a beloved Wharton tradition. The Follies’ mission is making most laugh and some squirm as they poke fun at the countless nuances of life at Wharton both inside and outside of the classroom through musical satire. The show is a distinctive collaboration of the talent of the 100 members of the Follies’ team – the writers, producers, techies, orchestra and cast. We will close the weekend with the Spring Soiree at the Philadelphia Ritz Carlton - the perfect way to celebrate an acceptance to Wharton!

If I can be of any assistance to you as you navigate Wharton, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or to any member of the Student Life team. I look forward to meeting you.

Go Wharton!

Dr. Kembrel Jones
Deputy Vice Dean, Student Life

Notes from the Director: Round 2 Decision Release and Round 3 Update

2013-03-28T14:28:00Z

Greetings from Philadelphia,

With the close of March has come spring (finally!), and we hope that the weather stays after a last hurrah for winter and bout of snow earlier this week. In addition to the change in season, March also brought our Round 3 application deadline and the much-anticipated (from our end and yours) Round 2 decision release. Tuesday morning, the Admissions Committee and our Welcome Weekend Committee had the always delighting opportunity to call and congratulate our extremely excited new members of the Class of 2015. For our admitted students on the West Coast, it was the best kind of wake-up call and for those in Asia, a great way to end a long day of waiting to hear the news. For all of us, it is hands down one of the best days of the year – and from your excited reactions (we love you, our screamers and criers!) we know it was for you as well.

Yet, not unlike the weather, I recognize that this is also a season of highs and lows and mixed emotions, as we were unable to offer admission to every outstanding candidate that we met during the process. On behalf of the entire team, we sincerely appreciate your engagement throughout our process and truly enjoyed getting to know you. We wish you all the best in your future professional endeavors and have no doubt of your incredible accomplishments to come wherever your journey takes you next.

For our Round 3 applicants, we know you are eagerly awaiting interview decisions as your next step. All interview decisions will go out next Friday, April 5. Round 3 Team Based Discussions and 1:1 interviews will take place in April on campus. Should you have any questions around the application or interview process, please contact our office directly by phone at +1.215-898-6183 or via email at mba-admiss@wharton.upenn.edu.

Looking ahead, for those of you considering applying to Wharton next year (or for admits who have not been able to visit yet) please note that this academic year’s full Campus Visit Program will conclude for the year on Friday, April 19. We will offer limited information sessions at 3:00 p.m. Monday, Thursday, and Friday during the week of April 22 as well. Please consult the website for details or call us with any questions. Our full campus visit program will start up again in late September. Keep an eye on the website for exact dates to come later this summer, and we will certainly keep you posted on the blog as well.

In the interim, we are excited to bring Wharton and life in Philadelphia to you! Beginning in June, the Admissions Committee will be back on the road and hosting information sessions around the globe. The schedule and registration for these events will start to be posted on our website in late April. Please stay tuned for more details to come. As always, don’t hesitate to be with our office by email or phone for any other questions.

We look forward to seeing many of you on campus or around the world soon!

Sincerely,

Ankur Kumar

Round 3 Deadline and Update on Round 2 Interviews

2013-03-07T13:20:00Z

Tuesday marked the Round 3 deadline, closing out the application submissions for the 2012-2013 admission cycle! Congratulations to everyone who submitted their application and we look forward to reading them in the upcoming days as we continue to wrap up the Round 2 interview process.

Over the past few weeks, we have enjoyed meeting many Round 2 candidates in Dubai, Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and on-campus. In the remaining days of interviews, we look forward to meeting many more of you in London, Mexico City, New Delhi, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, Shanghai and Philadelphia. Similar to Round 1, we are overwhelmed by the amount of positive feedback that we are hearing from you, and our alumni, regarding the new Team Based Discussion. Your enthusiasm and level of engagement continues to make this process more difficult for the Admissions Committee every day!

Regardless of the outcome on March 26th, we wanted to take a moment to thank you, again, for taking this journey with us over the last couple of months. Whether you’ve ventured to campus or we’ve met you in a city around the globe, we have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get to meet you in person and see you in action.

Should you have any questions over the next few weeks, please do not hesitate to contact the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office at mba-admiss@wharton.upenn.edu.

Campus Visit Program Will be Closed March 4th-8th

2013-02-18T18:29:00Z

The Campus Visit Program will be suspended during the University's Spring Break, which will occur during the week of March 4th. The full campus visit program will start back up again on Monday, March 11th. Please be sure to register online to take full advantage of all that the visit program has to offer.

Notes from the Director: Updates on Round 2

2013-01-28T00:41:00Z

Greetings All,

Winter weather officially arrived in Philadelphia, surprising us with the first few inches of snow in the new year just last week. For the Admissions Team, this weather could not have come at a better time as we are hunkered down inside reading the Round 2 applications. We are thoroughly enjoying getting to know each and every one of you through your personal written story.

In the upcoming weeks, we look forward to the opportunity to meet many of you for interviews. Interview invitations will begin to go out on Tuesday, January 29 and continue through Friday, February 22. As a reminder, interview invitations are not released in any particular order as we do not read applications in a particular order. The timing of your invitation to interview does not indicate anything about your candidacy. I know waiting to hear from us is always nerve wracking and appreciate your patience with the process.

After the remarkably positive feedback that we received during Round 1, we cannot wait to see what Round 2 has in store. The interview process is not only a wonderful way for the Admissions team to get to know our candidates “off the page" but also a wonderful way for our candidates to get to know each other. Should you be invited to interview, we look forward to meeting you in one of the following locations: on campus in Philadelphia, Dubai, London, Mexico City, New Delhi, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, and Singapore. All Round 2 applicants received an email with more details on the interview process last week; we’ll be in touch with further details as well. You can also read more about the interview process in a blog posting from the summer here.

Thank you all for your patience during this time. We look forward to being in touch over the next few weeks regarding interview invitations and next steps.

Hope the new year has been off to a great start!

Sincerely,

Ankur Kumar

MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

2013-01-15T19:57:00Z

Please note, the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office will be closed on Monday, January 21, 2013 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

We look forward to seeing you soon, as our campus visit program starts back up on Monday, January 28th. Please be sure to register online to take full advantage of all that the visit program has to offer.

Best,

The Wharton MBA Admissions & Financial Aid Team

Happy New Year & Good Luck Round 2 Applicants

2013-01-02T20:46:00Z

Happy 2013! We hope that you had a wonderful start to the New Year and enjoyed a safe and relaxing holiday season.

As always, we look forward to kicking off a new year with the close of our Round 2 application deadline. We know that all of our Round 2 applicants have worked diligently to get to this point, and we are eager to review all of your applications in the coming weeks. As you know, our interviews are by invitation only; you will hear back from us in the near future with further information about the interview process if you are selected. In the meantime, enjoy this time, relax, and we will be in touch soon.

Best wishes,

The Wharton MBA Admissions & Financial Aid Team

Round 1 Decisions Released & Happy Holidays!

2012-12-18T18:30:00Z

We are delighted to share that our Round 1 decisions were released on Thursday, December 20th. Congratulations to our Class of 2015 Round 1 admitted students. If you applied in Round 1 and have not already done so, you may check your application status through your myWhartonMBA account. Thanks to all of our outstanding candidates for your interest in our program; we know from reading your applications and meeting you in the team-based discussions that all of you have the potential to do exceptional things in the future.

For Round 2 applicants and other prospective students interested in visiting Wharton in the new year: our Campus Visit Program, in which you can attend Wharton classes and meet with current Wharton students, will start again on Monday, January 28, 2013.

Looking ahead, the MBA Admissions Office will be closed for the University-wide winter break from Monday, December 24, 2012 to Wednesday, January 2, 2013. Round 2 applications are due the following day, on January 3. We would like to wish you a happy and safe holiday season and we look forward to seeing our next round of applicants in the new year.

Should you have any questions, please contact the MBA Admissions Office directly at 215-898-6183 when our office reopens on Wednesday, January 2, 2013.

All the best,

The Wharton MBA Admissions & Financial Aid Team