Penn / Wharton Essay Topic Analysis 2011-2012

In one respect, Wharton’s MBA application essays for the coming year look very similar to last year’s; after a brief required question about professional objectives, applicants choose among a handful of additional essay options (two of which are returning topics from last season) to round out the set. The difference, meanwhile, is that applicants now respond to just two of three essay options, whereas last year they chose three out of four topics to address. The upshot of this is that candidates now have one fewer essay through which to share information about their backgrounds, accomplishments and interests, effectively putting even more pressure on the three essays they will ultimately write.

Let’s take a closer look at each of Wharton’s prompts and consider what  effective responses might include:

Required Question:
What are your professional objectives? (300 words)
Wharton’s abbreviated opening essay returns for a second year, allowing applicants just 300 words to describe their post-MBA plans to the admissions committee. While this is a variation of the typical career goals essay, applicants will likely be well-served by adopting a big-picture approach to this question; in addition to describing their immediate post-MBA career goals, applicants should also explain their long-term plans and the broad impact they hope to have on their industry, community, country or region. With only 300 words allotted for this essay, applicants will need to be highly efficient with their writing. It should also be noted that this prompt doesn’t specifically call for a ‘why Wharton’ discussion, though a few words on how the MBA program would facilitate one’s progress toward the outlined objectives would certainly be appropriate, if space allows.

Respond to two of the following three questions:

Option 1: Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today? (600 words)
Also making a repeat appearance in this year’s essay set, this question poses an interesting challenge for applicants. There’s a good deal of nuance to consider here; for example, if one responds with an instance in which he or she would not make the same choice today, this may begin to sound more like a mistake or a failure if not presented in an effective way. At its heart, this is a question about the ways the applicant approaches the decision-making process: the way he or she weighs priorities, evaluates risk, and determines a course of action. To keep the tone positive and avoid the subject of regret, one viable approach would be to outline a time you saw an opportunity but realized it would be unwise to take it because you weren’t prepared to fully benefit from it. Another example could be a time when an applicant made a well-considered decision to turn down an opportunity, undertaken for the right reasons, that opened up doors that accepting the opportunity would not have.

Regardless of the nature of the opportunity and whether you would make the same decision today, the key here will be to provide a sound explanation of the reasons you made the decision you did, providing the adcom with insight into your thought process and allowing them to better understand how you would function at Wharton and in your future career. We encourage applicants to think strategically about the topics they might use in answering this question, and to consider how the content would work with other essay topics. For example, the ultimately-turned-down opportunity might in itself present a chance to introduce a new aspect of one’s candidacy to the application that the adcom would not have learned of otherwise.

Option 2: Discuss a time when you faced a challenging interpersonal experience. How did you navigate the situation and what did you learn from it? (600 words)
This question, albeit with a slightly different wording, appeared in Wharton’s application for the first time last year, and although the prompt no longer explicitly says so, applicants could conceivably answer this question with a story about a challenging episode in either their personal or professional lives. The requirements that the experience simply be “challenging” and “interpersonal” opens the floor to a wide range of situations; for example, one might write about recognizing a professional opportunity and struggling to bring someone else on board, or about leading a team with a particularly uncooperative member. For those who are more inclined to tell a personal story, remember that no matter what the topic, the goal is to demonstrate one’s maturity and ability to overcome obstacles. Whether the story is personal or professional, the major themes of growth and learning remain the same. After describing the initial challenge and its origin in detail, applicants should comment on both their thoughts and actions in response, highlighting their perseverance in resolving the situation – ideally to positive effect. This essay is a good place to highlight instances of resourcefulness, as well as to provide a comprehensive picture of personal and professional development over the course of the narrative.

One final note about topic selection for this essay: Wharton likely asks this question to understand how the applicant manages conflict or misunderstanding, and to generalize this one situation to a broader picture of how he or she might work through issues with Wharton classmates, learning team members, and future colleagues. The interpersonal experience that you select should therefore be transferable in some way, centering on a relationship that is similar to those you will forge in the future. Colleagues, supervisors, subordinates, classmates, teammates, friends, and even one-time interactions with strangers are all fair game here. Meanwhile, though the door is open to personal examples, challenging situations involving interactions with members of your family will probably not be sufficiently transferable to future working relationships.

Option 3: “Innovation is central to our culture at Wharton. It is a mentality that must encompass every aspect of the School – whether faculty research, teaching or alumni outreach.” – Thomas S. Robertson, Dean, The Wharton School
Keeping this component of our culture in mind, discuss a time when you have been innovative in your personal or professional life. (600 words)
A new prompt for this admissions season, this question invites applicants to discuss a situation in which they’ve applied creativity and resourcefulness to effect some kind of change for the better. As with the program’s other essay options, Wharton allows applicants to draw from the personal or the professional realms in addressing this prompt, so candidates could conceivably write about anything from developing a defensive strategy for a recreational soccer team, to devising a marketing strategy for a struggling product line. Whatever sort of example you settle on, remember that, by definition, “new” and “novel” will be key criteria in judging whether your example is in fact innovative; the admissions committee is looking for examples in which applicants have generated solutions, fabricated items, or created new tools or techniques. To demonstrate the value of your innovative act, it will also be important to provide a complete narrative in your response to this essay, explaining the situation and the need you saw, commenting on your innovative thought process and actions, and providing an ‘after’ snapshot that illustrates the results of your efforts. Finally, considering Dean Robertson’s definition of innovation as a “mentality,” applicants may want to conclude by describing how the situation they chose is part of a broader pattern, or to comment on their characteristically creative approach to problems or commitment to improvement.

Conclusion
Wharton introduces their essays by encouraging applicants to be “introspective, candid, and succinct.” To this, we would like to add “careful and strategic,” particularly with respect to choice of topics and the ultimate balance of content across the full set of essays.  If you’re struggling here, feel free to contact us for a free consultation, during which we can help you go through the elements of your candidacy and determine which experiences and characteristics to highlight in this set of essays.