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DISCUSSION FORUM

• Recommendation Letters From: whartonapplicant  Mar 26, 2011 Posts 1

  To whom it may concern. For unsuccessful applicants, can you please let me know whether the applicants get the opportunity to view the recommendation letters? Thanks in advance. Regards, WhartonApplicant Reply

• Re: Recommendation Letters From: Patricia Blanco  Mar 29, 2011 Posts 63

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  Hi, I believe you do not get access to the recommendation letters. Best, Patricia WG'11 Reply

• Re: Recommendation Letters From: Fanaticalfan  Mar 29, 2011 Posts 1,159

  In reply to

  Assuming you did not waive your rights to review the recommendations, you can obtain a copy by putting a request in writing to the Director of MBA admissions. If you did waive your rights, then the only way you can get a copy is to approach your recommenders directly. This is purely a personal view, but an applicant who doesn't trust their recommenders enough to believe they wrote a solid recommendation without supervision, is probably asking the wrong people. Also, be aware that your request for a copy of the recommendations will be on file should you choose to reapply to Wharton in the future. FF Reply

• Re: Recommendation Letters From: victormlee  Mar 29, 2011 Posts 2,531

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  I have to agree 100,000% with FF, above. If you wish to see your letters of recommendation, the best way is to ask your recommenders directly. Any other method of pursuing access to the recommendations is more likely to hurt than help. Frankly, I think that asking recommenders to see their recommendations (if they did not already offer that option to you during the time of the application) suggests that: a) you may have picked the wrong recommenders; and/or b) you already have in mind that the recommendations might have been a weakness in your application (there are, of course, other possibilities which I will not list, here). If b) is the case, then you already know what should be your next course of action: pick new recommenders for the future; in this scenario, there is little need to ask the old recommenders for a copy of their recommendations. Furthermore, if you reapply, it would be a good idea to seek new recommenders, anyway, so asking for a copy of the recommendations at this point is likely to yield virtually no positive utility to you. Apologies if this comes across as being blunt, but I think this is very important to understand and appreciate. -Victor WG '11 PS - In my opinion, not waiving your right to see the recommendations can do nothing but hurt your case. I strongly recommend that all applicants waive their rights to see the recommendations. If they really want to see the recommendations, they should be able to leverage their presumably good connections and relationships with their recommenders to see those recommendations. Even better would be choosing the right recommenders whom one can trust to write well on one's behalf without monitoring. Reply

• Re: Recommendation Letters From: Advyth  Apr 14, 2011 Posts 9

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  hello Forum,   My name`s Ady. and i wish to apply to Wharton for an MBA...i have been working for 2 years now. and i wanted somebody to answer a few of my questions...    1. Is there something like a min. number of years of work-ex that one must posses before applying for an MBA at wharton..if so, what is it? 2.The letters of recommendation , must be from where? my work place ir college( Bachelor of engineering) or both? which is preferred? 3.When is the best time to apply for an international applicant?   All the graduates from wharton, kindly assist this aspirant..!!   cheers!!! Reply

• Re: Recommendation Letters From: Fanaticalfan  Apr 14, 2011 Posts 1,159

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  1. No, there isn't any minimum, and every year the accepted class comprises of very broad range of both length and types of work experience. But typically applicants with a number of years of work experience have greater personal maturity and greater insights into issues of leadership, teamwork and organizational behavior, and into what they want out of their own career, than applicants very early in their professional careers. But levels of maturity and insight vary significantly between candidates even with the same length of work experience - fortunately there is enough information in the application for adcom to assess these issues directly, rather than using length of work experience as a very crude proxy. Some people are mature at 22, others are still immature at 28 - it is up to each applicant to best use the application to show their own level of personal development. The class profile http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/student-life/class-profile.cfm shows a significant portion (26%) of the class with 3 years or less work experiece. 2. The nature of the questions asked in the rec means they are probably best answered by someone who knows you professionally and in a supervisory capacity. Academic recs are probably best avoided, unless the relationship was professional in nature (eg. you worked for them as a Research Assistant). 3. Because of the lead time required to obtain a student visa, international applicants are advised to apply in Rounds 1 or 2. FF Reply

• Re: Recommendation Letters From: Advyth  Apr 14, 2011 Posts 9

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  hey FF,   Thanks for the super fast reply..Really appreciate it.  can you brief me on the entire admissions process..im pretty unclear as to how things are to be done..I have worked for close to 2 years now, and plan to apply, may be in the august of next year..so i will have had 3 years of work-ex by the time i send in my application. what happens after i submit my GMAT scores, Reco letters my SOP etc etc...what next? If my application is strong, will i be given admission directly or will i have to undergo another screening process ?, Viz. a telephonic interview etc.? 2. Can you also, brief me on the expenses that one is likely to incur if admitted?  (assuming, i will stay outside the campus) ..   im sorry i have loads of questions in my head..i hope im addressing it to the right person FF...may be you can be my guiding guru!!! ;-)   ady Reply

• Re: Recommendation Letters From: Fanaticalfan  Apr 14, 2011 Posts 1,159

  In reply to

  if you want an overview of the admissions process, I would recommend looking at http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/admissions/admissions-process.cfm 1. However, in answer to your specific questions, adcom conduct an initial review of the entire application (they receive a lot of applications, so typically this takes 3-6 weeks) and extend interview invitations to 30-50% of applicants. Interviews can be on-campus, in a handful of major 'hub' cities or with alumni in most major cities around the world - whatever format is most convenient for you. Where other options aren't suitable, adcom do offer telephone interviews. After all interview reports have been reviewed, final decisions are made (with 40-50%of those interviewed being admitted). The entire process takes 10-11 weeks from the deadline. 2. Indicative costs are available on the website at http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/admissions/cost-summary.cfm FF Reply