wharton mba essay tips

wharton mba essay tips

Effective Strategies for Writing Compelling Essays for Wharton MBA Application

1. Introduction to Wharton MBA Application Essays

Psst. The question totally implies that you need to have a plan for your time at Wharton. You don’t have to go overboard and craft a complete plan, but understand why you’re going to business school and what do you expect to derive out of the experience. Dig deeper than the surface level. “I want to build a credible business network”. Why? What do you hope to achieve through the network? Wharton is very focused on community and culture and they wouldn’t want an uptight competitive, lone ranger in their downtown not minding their own academics and future career plans. If the admissions committee can tell that you’ve done your due diligence and researched the school thoroughly, your sincerity will shine in the response.

Murder your darlings. Anyone who has labored over their college applications can probably conjure that advice they heard if they could wring their hands fast enough. Well, first of all, let’s introduce the Wharton essays which are arguably known as the most straightforward essays in the MBA world. After all, only Wharton would see two 500-word essays and call them 250-word essays. What sets Wharton apart from other b-schools in terms of the essays is the clarity around the questions and what Wharton admissions is really seeking in the responses.

2. Understanding Wharton’s Admissions Criteria

MBA School expects knowledge with real-world experience. They also rate forward-looking leadership, superior work ethics, decision-making skills, especially under the conditions of uncertainty of knowledge and equipotential of diversity. In addition, Wharton rates problem-solving skills very highly by pointing out that such a student doesn’t just look for the right answer and backstabs his colleagues to find it, but is rather one who can “sort out the issues, choose the right course of action, and make a strong defense for that choice” and be seen by the rest of the group members and facilitate the process. Finally, Wharton rates community involvement and team skills as very important as it seeks to build a small group of 70 students who can perform together capably and be genuine and credible representatives for the institution on campus, in alumni and recruiting activities, and in the business world at large.

In contrast to most of the other top business schools in the United States, Wharton has no mission statement. Although such an absence may seem peculiar, Wharton’s Admissions Committee is not simply being secretive when it says that the lack of a mission statement or a clear strategic objective at the top reflects the fact that “Wharton isn’t about training you for jobs that already exist, but preparing you for the challenges you’ll face in the years to come.” Although such an open-ended approach is not the most specific, it is so for good reason. Just consider the Institute for the Future that was set up within the Wharton School in the late 1950s.

3. Crafting a Strong Personal Narrative

This method works best because, in the end, it’s important to start with the outcome you want to tell and then backtrack to give more context. This allows you to focus on what you want and incorporate feedback throughout the essay-writing process. It’s very important to get feedback from at least one person familiar with the b-school application process and, if possible, known to the target b-school community.

SUBSTANCE: Internship/Full-Time Work, Academic, Community Work, EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: Leadership Position, Non-Leadership Position. What was the outcome and, more importantly, what was your personal story about the situation?

3.1 Brainstorming Method: When brainstorming, it can be super helpful to first list out accomplishments for each of the life events captured in the resume. Then list key capabilities that made that achievement possible and finally pick some personal story. Typically, the Adcom is looking for a success story from each of these sections:

The Adcom is primarily interested in understanding how applicants think. Your past experiences are the best predictors of how you will perform in the future (in this case at Wharton). Therefore, an essay that effectively shows anecdotal evidence of how you think is needed to paint a strong personal narrative and to set up future goals (which typically demonstrate leadership and teamwork skills in your essay/interview answers). The committee wants to make sure you can walk the talk.

4. Showcasing Leadership and Impact

The credentials brought by Wharton University students are certainly on the wanted list of many companies in different sectors. This test only reinforces the ability and willingness of the candidate to give his/her best in all possible courses offered by the University to contribute to the performance achieved by his/her colleagues during the MBA. Demonstrating good networking is one issue that many professionals may find incompatible with innate shyness or introversion. In other situations, poor preparation means that the company representative has no questions of his/her own to ask on the subject, which frustrates the interviewer. The company requires people capable of facing challenges on behalf of the organization, and the essay only serves to confirm that impressive rates of activities destroy this skill of the candidate.

Individuals in different career stages demonstrate leadership and impact in a variety of ways. Identify the formal and informal opportunities for developing business leadership by which one can drive change and establish credible influence among peers and colleagues without formal offerings. What aspects will you keep in mind as you prepare for business school and for how will Wharton help you and how will you contribute in this respect to the community at the school? You will be asked about these issues in one of the interviews with the admissions board at the University of Pennsylvania. Thus, company names will not be needed on this essay. Many candidates are successful in receiving promotion after promotion and achieving superb results in the academic or extracurricular fields while overlooking the preparation of such a question. If delivered correctly, this issue confirms the applicant’s assertiveness and ability to establish respect.

5. Tips for Polishing and Proofreading Your Essays

5. Use a direct style that subtly impresses rather than grandstands and uses verbal nuances to assert your points persuasively. Demonstrate how you would act among the classmates who are your future friends and colleagues. Be specific so you avoid the pitfall of writing a reductive essay that gives an admissions officer no insight into your potential. If you are not proud of the outcome of any essay submission, then leave it on your application and submit it to any other school to which you are applying.

4. Don’t simply use your computer’s spell check function to catch typos and grammatical errors. An error-free application is a reflection of your investment in perfection. Remember to answer the whole essay question completely; most discerning readers will not be fooled by an interesting, engaging answer that does not match the question. Also, stay on topic while remaining within the word or character limit.

3. Look for problem areas, such as unnecessary commas, sentence fragments, dangling participles, and verbal tics.

2. Remove it when you find it.

1. Read each sentence, seeking weak and uncertain language.

Polishing and editing your writing is essential before submitting your application to the Wharton MBA program. Do not exaggerate or display your vast vocabulary. Remember, you are submitting your essays to your future colleagues, so you want to communicate clearly. They will appreciate editing and enjoy your writing more than if you wrote in a caffeine-fueled, freestyle fashion.