Online Chat Hosted by U Penn’s Wharton School Admissions Team Answers Applicants’ Questions Regarding Round One Interviews
The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania yesterday hosted an online chat in which members of its admissions staff answered participants’ questions regarding the application process, including Wharton’s new Team-Based Discussion (TBD) interview.
Round One applicants to Wharton learned about the early evening chat in an email invitation that went out yesterday morning, both to applicants who had already been invited to interview and to those still awaiting an invitation.
As Admissions team members shared during the chat, invitations to interview are not sent out in any particular order. The period to receive an invitation began on October 23rd and will continue through November 9th. Wharton does attempt to prioritize international application notification because of the travel involved, but notifications – including to international applicants – can be sent out at any time, up to and including the very last day of the notification period, the Admissions team stressed.
Once an applicant receives an invitation to interview, he or she can go in and schedule an interview date. Only certain interview times have been released to date, as part of an effort by Wharton to hold time slots for candidates not invited to interview until later in the invitation period. Additional interview times will be released in time, though the Admissions team members did not share specifics regarding when.
Several participants asked about the new TBD interview, which Wharton piloted in previous admissions seasons but has only incorporated as an official part of the admissions process this year. According to the online chat, the TBD interview will be somewhat moderated, but candidates will have a lot of leeway to speak amongst themselves. Once candidates confirm an interview date, they will be provided with two prompts to prepare for the TBD. The Admissions team advised that candidates should spend about an hour preparing a response to each of the two prompts they receive.
“In the team based discussions, we are looking for how you interact with a group of your peers to work on a real life business scenario,” replied an Admissions committee member to one of the questions posed during the online chat. “However, we are not looking for any one specific answer to the prompts – it is more about how you engage with your group and solve the problem together – just as you will do in our classrooms.”
During the online chat, Wharton’s Admissions team shared that the TBD topics will be the same for all Round One interviews, and applicants will be asked one of the two questions as part of the group discussion. The TBD topics will likely change for Round Two, the team members shared.
The in-person element of Wharton’s application process will include both the TBD and a 10-15 minute one-on-one discussion. Much of the format of the one-on-one discussion will be determined by the interviewer. In some, applicants may be asked to share their opinions of the TBD. This component is also intended to offer candidates an opportunity to ask questions they may have about their candidacy.
A few final points that came out of yesterday’s chat:
• Applicants who have scheduled their interview dates can change them if necessary, but they must give up their current slot before being able to sign up for an alternate interview time.
• Applicants who do not receive an invitation to interview by the end of the notification period on November 9th will receive notification at that time that their application process is complete.
• The percentage of applicants Wharton expects to invite to interview on average is 40 to 45 percent, but actual numbers will depend on the strength of the overall pool.
• Final decisions regarding Round One will be released on December 20th.
Good luck to all of you preparing to interview at Wharton or awaiting an invitation. As always, remember that the Clear Admit Wiki is a great place to share your Wharton interview experiences and learn from those of others.
Related articles
- U Penn’s Wharton School Shares Details of New Team-Based Discussion Admissions Component (clearadmit.com)
- Admissions Director Q&A: Ankur Kumar of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (clearadmit.com)
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