Wharton MBA Interview Tips
Congrats on receiving an interview from Wharton MBA admissions! Take a moment to revel in the fact that your hard work has paid off. I know it’s a grueling process, but this is an incredibly positive sign. Below I’ve articulated some tips to help you prepare for your interview. I don’t elaborate on the format, timing, etc. because that’s all available elsewhere — in the logistics sent to you by the Admissions team and elsewhere online. Rather, I’ve included a swath of useful pointers and gut checks to help you succeed in your Team-Based Discussion and subsequent one-on-one.
The TBD
Do your research on the prompt. And make sure you know your Wharton facts around the subject. For example, for 2022-2023 admissions, we had to propose a country for a Global Immersion. Super awkward if you propose a country where Wharton already has a GIP. Don’t miss little things like this!
Know your pitch backwards and forwards. Practice keeping it within the 90-second time limit and covering all the points articulated in the prompt. This is the one thing you CAN prep for, so be sure to nail it.
A good rule of thumb is to practice any speech 7 times. Once you go beyond that, you’ll be too focused on regurgitating what you’ve memorized, and if you mess up mid-pitch, recovery will be tough. Focus on the details you want to convey, not the pitch you want to give verbatim. I believe you can have notes in front of you. Don’t depend on that, but keep it handy for the mental comfort.
*Note: It seems pitching a class on AI may be quite popular this year. Up to you on what you want to pitch, but I may consider reading up a bit on this so you can add some commentary.
This interview is all about team dynamics and how you interact with others. At Wharton, many activities inside and outside the classroom involve group interactions (presentations, simulations), so this is an important evaluation metric. Be mindful of how you’re showing up in the room. It’s not just about having a great pitch, but being a good teammate and a good person.
Practice good team etiquette. Say people’s names. Be nice. Show appreciation for their insights. Don’t veer off topic — piggy back off of and build upon their points.
Know your pitch but don’t be married to it. If people are leaning towards someone else’s pitch for the prompt, drop yours to move to consensus quickly. This will speed things along and avoid a merry-go-around where everyone is advocating for their own idea. Also, you don’t want to end up in a situation where you’re trying to go with everyone’s idea. In some cases, you can take elements of each other’s pitches, but that won’t apply 100%, so rally behind a good idea and bring the team along with you. The success of the group coming to a solid conclusion and presenting it such that meets all the parameters within the given time frame matters.
Many people choose to take on a role, like timekeeper, information consolidator, or group leader. This is a great way to establish yourself show engagement. But if that stresses you out — you don’t have to. I certainly didn’t! If your group doesn’t realize that it might be helpful to have someone doing these things, you can offer the roles up. “Does someone want to keep time for us or keep track of the pitch components?” It shows initiative. But if no one volunteers, you may have to bite the bullet and do it yourself.
In my opinion, it’s better to speak a few times and have strong, insightful points, than to speak a lot and say nothing. Everyone is going to be fighting for airtime and that’s ok. There are a lot of people. Just don’t be silent. And also be considerate in reverse: if someone hasn’t spoken much, score some points by asking their view and bringing them into the conversation.
At the end when you present your final pitch, it may be instinctive to have everyone present. If you’re short on time or there are only a few pitch components, it’s sometimes easier to just let a few people present. If you want to, you can ensure everyone has time to speak, but it’s not necessary. If you’ve spoken very little, would definitely volunteer for this.
I would avoid giving critical feedback to people. Some people love to play contrarian — which can work if done well. To each their own, but I think it could potentially do more harm than good.
Mock interviews help a lot! This is not sponsored. I did one with Leland and it helped a ton — especially since you get to actually practice with other people, get feedback, and try out the actual prompt.
The 1x1
For your 1x1 you’ll likely be given 10 minutes to answer the question: ‘Why Wharton?’ Don’t use all 10 minutes. Give a strong, concise, structured answer. I (shockingly) got asked a follow up, which was, “Given your interests, what’s one specific class you’re excited about?” So know your stuff — clubs, classes, and other Wharton specifics (McNulty Leadership, MGMT 6100, Leadership Ventures, and GIPs/GMCs are all great ones to reference).
Make your answer quite specific to Wharton. If you could repeat the same answer or HBS or Stanford, you’re not being specific enought. It should effectively be a condensed version of your “Why Wharton” essay. Don’t forget to set the stage by telling them a bit about who you are / your background.
Alternatively, you may get asked to reflect on how the TBD went by the interviewer. I didn’t. Have some insightful comments or two to make. If you’re not first in the line up for 1x1s, take a second to gather your thoughts as you wait. Sample structure: “We came out really strong because we did XYZ. We could’ve done this better, but overall XYZ.” Don’t name any individual names.
Prep 2-3 REAL questions to ask your Interviewer. It will LIKELY be a student interviewer so questions can follow threads like: “What surprised you most about Wharton? What’s been most impactful in terms of progressing your career?” I wouldn’t go too specific on a niche industry because they won’t necessarily be able to answer if that’s not their personal area of focus. And pro-tip: this post will be viewed by many, many people, so come up with your own unique questions!
Friends, that’s all I have for you. I’ll caveat all this by saying that while you can prepare a few big things for this interview (your pitch, your ‘Why Wharton’), you can’t prepare for how things are going to play out in a group interview. So take a deep breath and have some faith. The other people in that room want to succeed just as you do and it’s nice because there’s a shared camaraderie that comes out of that. Pro-tip: be sure to try and capture their names in case you all get accepted — it’ll be a nice memory + thing to look back at it. And please, if you get accepted to Wharton and found this useful, let me know! It’s a magical place and I’d love to hear from you. But in reality, you can’t go wrong no matter where you end up for school, so deep breaths and best of luck!