Perennially ranked among the top business schools in the world, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania—as its original name, the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, indicates—is best known for its reputation in finance, which is still the school’s largest department. However, if you are interested in a career in consulting but believe that Wharton is the program of choice for future investment bankers only…well, think again!
Check out these five facts about consulting at Wharton:
- Every year since 2005, more Wharton graduates have accepted positions in consulting than in investment banking.
- Wharton’s Consulting Club is one of its largest, with more than 800 members—that is approximately half the students in the MBA program.
- One of Wharton’s most popular electives is “Strategy and Competitive Advantage.” Professor Nicolaj Siggelkow, a protégé of strategy guru Michael Porter, is notorious for pushing students to clarify their answers, but if they use trite buzzwords like “adding value” and “frameworks,” they may find themselves in the hot seat for 30 minutes of additional questioning!
- The 2010 Consulting Conference was the largest student-run consulting event ever held at Wharton, featuring keynote speeches by the managing director of strategy of Accenture and the vice president of Bain & Company (Los Angeles), as well as panels on topics ranging from new media solutions to sustainable social impact.
- In recent years, Wharton’s Consulting Club has hosted an annual case competition for first-year students; winners have been offered summer internships with Boston Consulting Group.
For more information on Wharton or 15 other leading MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
