Guide to University of Pennsylvania Wharton (UPenn Wharton)

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania was the U.S.’s first business school and now has the largest alumni network in the country. The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania offers these departments and concentrations: accounting, actuarial science, e-commerce, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, general management, health care administration, human resources management, insurance, international business, marketing, production/operations management, public policy, real estate, and quantitative analysis/statistics and operations research.

Wharton’s MBA program emphasizes an intensive, flexible core in general business education, with 19 majors and almost 200 electives. Wharton professors are leaders in their fields–half of them have active consulting practices with businesses, not-for-profits, and governments around the world. And this broad expertise creates a range and depth of courses unavailable at any other business school. Students will select a pathway through content areas based on their education, career experience, and goals. Wharton MBA allows students to customize their learning not just through the selection of  electives and majors, but also through choices in the core.

To assist students with navigating this robust program, is a team of professional advisors that offer guidance in areas of academics, student life engagement and career management. They will be available to engage with students and help them meet their goals throughout their MBA journey.

Full time tuition fee for the MBA program is US$81,378 per year with tuition and financial aid for applicable students.  Upon graduation, 98% of Wharton’s MBA graduates of 2019 received job offers with a median annual salary of US$150,000.

 Round 1: September 7, 2022 | Round 2: January 4, 2023 | Round 3: March 29, 2023
Application Fee: $275

Program length: 20 months with a 3.5 months summer internship
Acceptance rate (full-time): 5.68% for the class of 2025 (according to CollegeTransitions.com), 21% (according to TopMBA.com), 8.07% for the class of 2024
Average age of new entrants: 28
Required standardised test: GMAT/GRE
Average GMAT score: 733 | Average GRE Verbal/Quant score: 162 | Average GRE Writing Score: 4.6
Require work experience: Yes | Average work experience: 5 years

• Season: 2021
• Number of Essays: 2 for first-timers, 3 for reapplicants. There is another optional essay for both.
• Submission Deadline: Same as application deadline

Essay Topics
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)
Required Essay for all Reapplicants –  Please use this space to share with the Admissions Committee how you have reflected and grown since your previous application and discuss any relevant updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, and extracurricular/volunteer engagements). (250 words)
Optional Essay – Please use this space to share any additional information about yourself that cannot be found elsewhere in your application and that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee. This space can also be used to address any extenuating circumstances (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, areas of weakness, etc.) that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. (500 words)

• Season: 2021
• Number of Recommendations: 2
• Submission Deadline: Same as application deadline

Two letters of recommendations are required from individuals who are well acquainted with your performance in a work setting, preferably from a current or former supervisor. The title or position of the recommender is not as important as his/her ability to comment knowledgeably and specifically about you. Submit recommendations from people who can speak directly about your aptitudes and capabilities.

The Letter of Recommendation component will be broken into two sections

A selection of positive personality characteristics. Recommenders will be asked to choose three characteristics from a list of ten that best describe the candidate they are recommending.
Two free-form questions
Question 1: Please provide example(s) that illustrate why you believe this candidate will find success in the Wharton MBA classroom. (Word count: 300)
Question 2: Please provide example(s) that illustrate why you believe this candidate will find success throughout their career. (Word count: 300)

Selective