mbaMission

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is a world-renowned business school, and many aspiring entrepreneurs and future C-suite executives set their sights on Wharton for its rigorous analytical curriculum, impressive roster of professors, and vast network of well-placed MBA alumni. However, Wharton’s acceptance rate is only 22.8%, and its admissions process is highly rigorous, with its MBA Admissions Office showing an independent streak. Whereas many other MBA admissions officers have coalesced around the same questions for recommenders, Wharton’s admissions officers have created their own. And while every other top-ranked MBA program conducts one-on-one interviews, the Wharton Admissions Office has created a one-of-a-kind Team-Based Discussion (TBD). This is why if Wharton is your dream school, you should acquire as much information about the admissions process as possible before you apply.

If you have set your sights on the Wharton MBA program, mbaMission offers a depth of resources and services to help you on your journey.

The Wharton School Insider’s Guide

After consulting with Wharton MBA students, admissions committee members, and alumni about their Wharton experiences, we have prepared our Insider’s Guide to the Wharton School. We take an in-depth look at life as a Wharton student, highlighting how the school’s location, class size, curriculum, teaching methods, facilities, alumni involvement, and rankings all affect its culture and MBA experience. Then we discuss Wharton’s well-respected faculty and professional student clubs, revealing how they facilitate the careers of Wharton MBA students. Learn more about Wharton beyond its perennial strength in finance. For example, delve into its entrepreneurial offerings through its Venture Lab, hosted in the university’s new entrepreneurship center, Tangen Hall. Or discover more about opportunities to study internationally through the Wharton-INSEAD alliance, the Global Immersion Program, Global Modular Courses, and MBA Leadership Ventures expeditions. Finally, learn how Wharton dean Erika James is shaping the institution for the future, notably by making it the first MBA program to have more female than male students. The more you discover about the Wharton MBA, the more you will likely want to learn.

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The Wharton Interview Guide

Have you ever been in a four-to-six-person group interview in which you had to present your own ideas and then critique—and be critiqued by—others? If you are fortunate enough to be invited for an interview at Wharton, you will have just such an experience because this is the nature of the Wharton Team-Based Discussion (TBD). Because of the unique aspects of the Wharton TBD, we strongly suggest reading our free Wharton Interview Guide. In this guide, we give you a deeper understanding of the TBD process, share insights from former mbaMission clients who have completed the TBD, and provide our tips for success. Further, while the Team-Based Discussion is the main component of the Wharton interview experience, our guide also offers insight into the brief one-on-one interview that follows the group discussion.

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Wharton Essay Analysis, 2023–2024

As a pair, the prompts for two application essays the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania requires essentially ask applicants to describe a kind of give-and-take with respect to their engagement with its MBA program. For Essay 1, you must discuss what Wharton can do for you, and for Essay 2, the focus is on what you can do for Wharton. Your greatest assets in crafting strong essay responses for both will be (1) a profound understanding of the school, its culture, and all it offers and (2) your ability to infuse your essays with a high level of detail. So, be knowledgeable, be authentic, and be thorough, and you should be well positioned to submit compelling, effective essays.

Essay 1: How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)
Essay 2: Taking into consideration your background—personal, professional, and/or academic—how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)

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Wharton Team-Based Discussion Simulation

Because of the atypical nature of the Wharton School’s team-based interview, we strongly suggest that you prep beforehand via our Wharton TBD Simulation, which is held over Zoom and completely secure. You and the rest of your “team members,” who will use their first names only, will participate in a group interview simulation using the very question the Wharton Admissions Office will ask. Two mbaMission Consultants facilitate this 90-minute session, providing the group and each individual with direct feedback on their performance. Our simulation of the Wharton Team-Based Discussion will help each applicant feel prepared when the actual interview arises.

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Wharton Class Profile (Class of 2024)

Number of Applications Received	6,319
Enrolled Students	877
Average GPA	3.6
Average GMAT	733
Average GRE (Verbal)	162
Average GRE (Quant)	162
Female	50%
International Students	35%
Countries Represented	77
U.S. Students of Color (Black / African American, Asian American, Hispanic / Latinx, Native American / Indigenous / Native Alaskan)	35%
LGBTQ+ Students	8%
Average Years of Work Experience	5
Years of Work Experience, Range	1–24

Wharton MBA Rankings

Wharton typically places among the top five in business school rankings. The 2022 Poets&Quants national ranking placed Wharton at number one, and in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report survey, Wharton was ranked third. In addition, Wharton was included among the top five MBA programs in the country in the following U.S. News & World Report 2023 specialty rankings: executive MBA (1); finance (1); real estate (1); accounting (2); marketing (2); business analytics (4); and management (5). Finally, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked the school seventh in the country in 2023.

Wharton Deadlines (2023-2024)

Round 1
September 6, 2023

Round 1 Decision
December 14, 2023

Round 2
January 4, 2024

Round 2 Decision
March 26, 2024

Round 3
April 2, 2024

Round 3 Decision
May 13, 2024

mbaMission Testimonials from Wharton Applicants

Gavriella made the impossible happen! Admitted to Wharton!

I genuinely believe I would not have been admitted without the help of Gavriella. I began the MBA process incredibly naïve and completely overwhelmed.

I initially enlisted Gavriella's help for a two-school package. However, the immediate value and impact of her services convinced me to expand my package to include a third school. I only wish I could have used her help for all my applications!

She is equal parts teacher, strategist, therapist, and friend. She dove headfirst into my chaotic mess of a story, helping turn it into a coherent narrative that accurately depicted me and my experiences. Understanding who I am also allowed her to guide me to apply to programs aligned with my interest and post MBA goals that I had failed to consider.

From there, she proved instrumental in assisting me in articulating my story logically, thoughtfully, and compellingly. When interviews came, I was extremely nervous. The preparation she helped me with gave me confidence and empowered me.

If that wasn't enough, she genuinely cared about me and my outcome. I distinctly remember email exchanges with her anxiously waiting for decisions alongside me. She celebrated my admittances AND helped me through rejections.

I cannot speak more highly of Gavriella.

Go with Krista!

In Krista you get so much more than a consultant – you get a mentor who is genuinely invested in this process with you. More than anything, I am grateful for Krista’s patience, encouragement, the confidence she instilled in me, and the areas she pushed me to improve. Krista commitment to her clients is further expressed in the excitement and happiness she feels when they succeed. Having achieved great results with acceptances to three schools, including my top choice in Wharton, I would strongly recommend Krista to anyone who is embarking on this admissions journey.

Heidi is awesome

After struggling with my essays for a whole month, I decided to get a consultant to help me improve them. Choosing Heidi was one of the best decisions that I'd made in my application process.

She first helped me realign my career goal with what I've accomplished and what might be more possible. Then, we started working on my essays and resumes. She was very insightful, always asking the right questions to keep pushing me to reflect on myself, to dig deeper into my stories, and to realize what I want to highlight and what is unnecessary. In addition, she knew very well how to motivate others, and turned the painful writing/revising into a smooth process.

With her help, my essays became a lot more compact and compelling. I got multiple M7 offers, including my dream school Wharton. This won't happen without her help and support! I highly recommend Heidi to anyone who is considering an application consultant.

Hire Melissa!! She genuinely cares and really helps you hone in the critical parts of your story!

When I first started looking for a consultant I had many different phone chats with different consultants at different companies and most felt so cookie-cutter & scripted or scorched earth and interested in bending my story to fit what they thought would combat my overrepresented background of white male / private equity.

Immediately upon chatting with Melissa I knew she would be my pick. She genuinely take a deep interest in understanding your whole story and is great at helping you find a way to authentically tell it while also focusing on the aspects that will be most impactful to the adcoms.

Working with Melissa made what at baseline is a grueling process that much better. She kept me on my timeline, was always super encouraging and helped me tell a story in my essays that we both felt strong about. With that said, she also wasn't afraid to stand her ground and tell me when she thought I needed to change something, which was very helpful.

I would not have gotten into HBS and Wharton without her help!!

Free Resources

The Wharton School: Everything You Need to Know