As promised, today’s blog entry offers a quick breakdown of the Wharton essay topics for 2005-06. These tips were compiled by members of the Clear Admit admissions counseling team (a team that includes Alex Brown – former Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Wharton).
1. Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals and why now? (1,000 words)
As is the case with the main essay of most schools, this is fairly straightforward. At the same time, your response to this question will ultimately become a critical component of the admissions file, so it’s important to get it right. Focused goals and a good deal of school-specific detail are important. As your discussion evolves, keep in mind that you are being asked to discuss three main points (i.e. your career path to date, future plans, and reasons for seeking a Wharton MBA) and that you’ll want to devote roughly equal portions of the essay to each. Many applicants make the mistake of devoting 80% of the essay to a discussion of their career progress to date, leaving only limited time to cover their goals, interest in the MBA and passion for Wharton.
2. Describe an impact you’ve had on an individual, group or organization. How has this experience been valuable to you or others? (500 words)
Many applicants lead off the shorter essays with a recent professional accomplishment, but if you have done something that has significantly benefited one person or an organization in which you are involved outside of work, these are viable options as well. This question is really driving at the results of your actions, but remember that the process is just as important. You’ll want to pick a specific instance in which you’ve made an especially significant impact, discussing the steps you took to bring about the positive results and their lasting consequences. A comment on your development as a leader as a result of this example would be a nice way to address the second part of the question here.
3. Please complete two of the following three questions (500 words each):
- Describe when you were part of a team where the group process and/or intended outcome failed. What did you learn?
This is a tricky question to navigate, as you’re being asked to volunteer information about a negative aspect of your background. The key with this response is to select a failure for which the blame is shared among a team rather than an instance in which something went wrong as a result of your actions or oversight. You should then summarize the failure and the reasons behind it as briefly as possible, spending the bulk of the essay discussing the lessons you learned – and providing another more recent example that illustrates that you have successfully used them since. Keep in mind that part of the reason Wharton is asking this question is due to the program’s reliance on Learning Teams during the first year.
- Describe a situation where your values, ethics, or morals were challenged. How did you handle the situation?
This is very similar to the ethical dilemma question posed by many schools. See our comments on Columbia’s questions [http://www.clearadmit.com/2005/06/admissions-tip-columbia-essays.html] for our advice on approaching this essay.
Beyond the ethics framework, you might also note that the “values” element of the question could provide a great platform to discuss a challenging cross-cultural experience, a great way to showcase international work experience or extensive time spent abroad.
- Describe a personal characteristic or something in your background that will help the Admissions Committee to know you better.
This is a great opportunity to introduce an interesting element of your candidacy that you have not had a chance to mention in your other essays. You have a chance here to set yourself apart from other applicants by commenting on what drives you or by sharing a unique hobby or interest. Of course, it would also be ideal to share a story that illustrates your leadership ability or is linked to some contribution you could make to the business school community.
Optional: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application).
Remember that in responding to an optional question, you are creating more work for the person reviewing your file. This question should be used only to address serious weaknesses or issues in your profile, and you should cover these topics as briefly and in as straightforward a manner as possible.
