I know it seems like I am focusing solely on Wharton, it is not the case. After knowing one alum I saw at their info session was in my department, I had to talk to him. After being postponed many times, I finally had the chance to talk to him.
Same format, here are my random thoughts/observations/takeways in random order before I forget them:
- He applied to Wharton, HBS, U Mich, Stanford, MIT, Kellogg. He got into Wharton, U Mich, Kellogg and waitlisted by Stanford.
- According to him, Wharton looks more for very well-rounded people, while it seems Stanford/HBS look more for superstars (people that may be very bright in one area and not so good in others). Convey that in your application.
- Wharton curriculum is very strict, and the grades really go from A to F whereas some schools will have 50% As in 50% Bs in a class. Show that you can handle the course load.
- Consistency again: the idea of 3 themes you would like the adCom to remember about you (through applications, interviews…)is a great one.
- Tell where you want to go/do in the future, and demonstrate how your past supports it and makes you likely to succeed. He wants to be a Steven Covey type of person back in his home, and mentioned how he helped people get better grades in high school and how he won “best trainer” award at his last company.
- Follow the previous point, stick the impact your MBA will have in you future plans and relate it to where you are right now.
- You do not need to know exactly where you headed after your MBA down to the specific details, but you need to have a good idea of what you want to do later. Beyond pleasing the adCom, you will not waste time during your MBA and add more stress on top of class workload, recruiters coming and interviewing for companies you ultimately don’t want to work for anyway.
- If he had to change anything, it would be going to B School a lot earlier. Everybody more or less gets an entry level position after graduation. Going earlier would have given him the opportunity to try out things.
- Talk a LOT to alumni. He had a lot of friends at Wharton prior to applying, knowing specifically what a particular school wants in an applicant gives you a great edge.
- He majored in finance, and feels like he learned a lot he couldn’t have learned else where. He took some marketing classes too, but felt like it didn’t teach him much without application.
- One example: at the beginning of each finance class, the professors take 15 mins to talk about the current market, the trends then make predictions. That helped a lot of students with investing.
- Show in your application what is it that you will contribute in class discussions; what knowledge do you have that people will be happy to hear you talk about? For him he knew a lot about emerging markets and economy in developing countries.
Alright, I just wanted to dump what I got from that discussions quickly. I will add some more if I forgot anything.
In the next weeks I will focus more on GMAT stuff and ideas to bolster my applications and may talk with other alumni from my list of targeted schools when I have the chance. One of my close coworker actually went to HBS (how come I didn’t find that out earlier?!!).
Filed under: research
