Wharton MBA Application deadline for the year 2013-14 has been released.
MBA Program Deadline Decision Release Date Round 1 October 1, 2013 December 17, 2013 Round 2 January 7, 2014 March 25, 2014 Round 3 March 27,2014 May 6, 2014
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania offer world’s best MBA programs. Let us compare the programs based on 9 factors: Location, Ranking, Cost, Class Profile, Curriculum, Experiential Learning, International Learning Opportunities, Post-MBA Opportunities, and Alumni Network.
1) Location
Booth is located in Chicago, the third largest city in the US and home to 29 Fortune 500 companies, Federal Reserve Bank, and five major financial exchanges - Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX), the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, and the NYSE Arca. The City is one of the most diversified economies in US with contribution from a wide range of sectors that include Finance, Manufacturing, IT, and Health Care. Chicago is known as the global center for derivatives trading. It is also known for sustainability, hosting 23 leading Clean Tech and Wind Energy Companies. Wharton's main campus is located in Philadelphia, the second largest city in US East Coast. The city is known for healthcare and biotechnology, financial services, media,...
Learning by doing is an approach that some of the top Business Schools have adopted. Booth and Wharton have implemented them through Exchange Programs, Summer Projects, Student Club Projects, and Labs.
At Wharton, the Experiential Learning is focused on leadership development rather than individual functions. Booth on the other hand looks at experiential learning at Functional level with Lab Courses in Management, New Venture, Private Equity, Social Entrepreneurship, and Clean Tech. Both Wharton and Booth offer experiential learning opportunities through Elective Courses. Marketing Research and Consumer Behavior are two courses that involve Experiential learning at Booth.
Chicago Booth provides experiential learning through Lab Courses. The Management lab, in addition to offering opportunities in developing strategic thinking,...
Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. is a Turkish American cardiothoracic surgeon, who is also an author, and television personality. He is of Turkish descent, and completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University. He received a joint MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's The Wharton School and School of Medicine in 1986.
Oz is Columbia University's Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery. He leads the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, performing over 250 surgeries a year. He has co-authored 400+ research papers, book chapters and medical books. He has several patents. Today, he also hosts 'The Dr. Oz Show' on TV and won a Daytime Emmy Award.
Dr. Oz is also the founder and chairman of a non-profit called HealthCorps, which pays a stipend to recent graduates to spend 2 years mentoring high school students on nutrition, health and fitness.
In this video, Dr. Oz speaks to the Class of 2012 during Wharton's MBA graduation ceremony held on May 13, 2012.
Video Summary - Dr. Oz at Wharton MBA Speech
21:50 Starts with what Dr. Oz was thinking during his graduation day.
Mar 28 2013: Ankur Kumar, the Director of Admission at Wharton has announced the Interview decision dates for Round 3 applicants. It would be April 5th 2013. The Team Based Discussion and One on One Interviews will be conducted on Campus in April.
For questions regarding the interview process, contact the office at +1.215-898-6183 or email at mba-admiss@wharton.upenn.edu.
When the MBA Application Essay Questions are filled with the “Why MBA” and “Why our Business School” questions in a written format, and Interviews restricted to the standard format, there were some Business Schools that have tried to be innovative.
1) Tippie Twitter Essay – Pulling the Plug too soon?
When Tippie School of Management retired the Twitter Essay, it was not because of poor response. In fact, when the pilot was run the responses were overwhelming and this led the AdCom to make the Twitter Essay a formal part of the application.
So what went wrong?
Innovation by definition “is the use of novel ideas or methods for better results” and Tippie AdCom was innovative in their approach.
Business Simulations are an extension of the traditional classroom lectures and case-study method of teaching in an MBA Program. The real value of this tool comes from testing what you have learned through these simulations.
How valuable are these simulations?
It gives students the ability to take the type of risks that normally cannot be taken in real life. By observing the consequence of these actions, students can learn about themselves and how various elements in a Business Environment influences each other. Simulations require collaboration with team members and teach students to think for the team and effectively communicate with each other. The learning experiences develop team building, leadership and problem solving skills.
The Simulation Games can be broadly categorized based on the learning function – Communication, Finance, Sustainability, Leadership & Teamwork, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain, Change Management, Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, Economics and Pricing, and Statistics.
Let us look at some of the best simulation games used in top Business Schools.
The McCombs School of Business offers a Full-time MBA program with a concentration in Accounting. The concentration is offered by the renowned McCombs Department of Accounting. The program covers in details: Corporate financial reporting, making and analyzing corporate financial statements and financial reporting. It has 2 areas of focus - Investment Banking and Corporations. The core curriculum is the same as that of the general MBA program, covering Financial Accounting, Financial Management, Statistics, Marketing Management, Operations Management, Managerial Economics and Strategic Management. The flexible core has the option of a Responsibility and Integrity Requirement. The subjects offered as part of the concentration include Financial Accounting Standards and Analysis, Strategic Controls, Advanced...
Operations Management (OM) is the science of streamlining the design as well as management of processes, products, supply chains and services. It deals with the process of producing goods, and delivering services. OM ensures the efficient utilization of resources, be it within the organization or outside. It also delivers goods and services promptly to fulfill client needs.
What are the applications of Operations Management?
Operations Management can be applied at various levels, based on the location and size of a manufacturing plant to the structure and delivery of a service or a telecom network, and could even include designing technology supply chains. Besides the overall perspective, this management stream also deals with tactical and technical details such as plant layout, project management techniques, technology & equipment selection, and replacement of older methods or machinery. The operations management team also determines production schedules, manage inventories, control quality and manage material flow. A plant's equipment management and maintenance policies are also set by them.
What are the responsibilities of Operations Management...
Wharton’s leadership programs are practical, hands-on learning experiences. The curriculum is enhanced by experiential co-curricular activities that help students develop their own leadership style. The first step is to analyze strengths of each student, and build learning experiences that enhance them.
Wharton’s Center for Leadership and Change Management is at the heart of all the leadership development activities at Wharton. It researches and creates innovative leadership experiences to bring out inherent leadership qualities and develop new leadership skills in MBA students. The Center is run by Professor Michael Useem, a top international expert in corporate leadership and change management. The center strives to nurture leaders, who are deeply aware of themselves, and clearly understand their organizations and the community, making positive contributions towards each of them.
Here are the many leadership opportunities available to further student's leadership potential at Wharton.
Learning Team Retreat
Wharton emphasizes on teamwork and team-leading skills fully understanding that success in the Business world depends on it. The stress is...
Business is now a global affair. Markets in the developed nations have become saturated with very low growth rates. USA grew at 1.7% in 2011. Germany, among the EU's better performing economies grew at 3.1%. In contrast, China's growth rate for 2011 was 9.2%, growing at 7.2%. The 6 countries that registered double-digit growth in 2011 are a few unexpected diverse set of countries - Qatar (18.8%), Mongolia (17.3%), Turkmenistan (14.7%), Ghana (13.6%), East Timor (10.6%) and Panama (10.6%). Companies seeking high profits should look beyond the traditional growth markets. US businesses have already invested $4.3 trillion abroad as FDI. China alone utilized $116 billion in 2011, to total nearly $781 billion invested since the Chinese markets opened up. What's more, the US exports $ 1.5 trillion worth of goods and services, while Germany exported $1.4 trillion. China exported $ 1.9 trillion worth of goods and services and imported goods worth $1.7 trillion.
The money and goods changing hands require specialized management, marketing, supply chains and other strategic services that can be best provided by an MBA with an International focus.
Type of International MBAs – How to Pick the Best?...
Team Based Discussions are the latest addition to the Business School Admission process at Wharton. The idea has come from a committee that served at the innovation group. Team Based discussions were tested during the 2011-12 admission season and after positive feedback; it is now an official part of the 2012-13 admission process.
Once prospective students are invited for the interviews, they are sent two prompt questions. On the day of the interview, a group of 4 to 6 students are put together, and asked to spend 45 minutes discussing one of the 2 questions. According to Wharton, the point of the interview is not to pick a winner, nor is it to make a final judgment on the candidate. The purpose is to see how the candidate operates. All the group members could be selected, or even none. Wharton is looking at the applicant's thought-process, how they engage with others in the group, their leadership qualities, their intellectual curiosity and their contribution in the discussion. Through this, Wharton also tries to discover what kind of contribution the candidate will make in the class if he or she is selected.
Another reason Wharton came up with this process is to introduce students to the Wharton method of learning, which is based on teamwork and groups. Students on average are part of 15 to 20 teams during the MBA program. Team Based...
CommonBond, has recently announced that it will disburse $2.5 million in student loans at Wharton, benefiting as many as 50 students. What makes this significant is that the loans are funded by Wharton alumni itself. CommonBond is a startup founded by Wharton Alumni. They oversee the disbursal process. At the heart of CommonBond's effort is a philanthropic quest - a positive social change. A case in point is that for every fully-funded degree, the company will sponsor a child's education, for a year in partnership with the African School for Excellence.
The news is a boost to the nascent alumni-sourced loan industry, which seeks to ease the difficulties faced by MBA students looking for loans. Students do not have to put up with the intense scrutiny and paperwork, which they must go through otherwise. And even more significantly, the interest rates are just 6.24%, lower than the lowest Federal loan rate of 6.8%. Private loan rates go even higher, averaging around 12%. Alumni who contribute to the loan pools get returns of above 4.25% - profits with a cause attached. What's more, the risk factors are very low. The 10-year cumulative loss rate estimated for the Wharton loan pool is around 0.70%.
Wharton is among the pioneers in entrepreneurial education, formulating the world’s first completely integrated curriculum for entrepreneurial studies all the way back in 1973. As a result, its trademark entrepreneurial support environment - Wharton Entrepreneurship is one of the top-rated Business schools for Entrepreneurs.
In 2011, 61 out of 853 MBA students (7.15%) did not seek employment as they were either self-employed, or starting their own business. Wharton ensures an entrepreneurial perspective across concentrations and disciplines. Graduates are therefore, imbibed with a flexible, adaptive management style that leads to career success, irrespective of whether the path chosen is entrepreneurial or not. As a result, other departments like Operations, Marketing, Information Management and Legal Studies also offer courses that dwell on entrepreneurship.
At Wharton, entrepreneurship is considered so important; it is one of 4 scholarship sub-fields under the ‘management’ discipline. Every MBA student must take MGMT 801, which is the basic entrepreneurial course where students complete a comprehensive business plan. The school offers an...
Wharton’s EMBA program is held in two locations in US - San Francisco and Philadelphia. The two-year EMBA requires students to stay on campus, every weekend. A student can also choose his or her own concentration, which can be mastered with the help of a faculty expert. EMBA graduates have a network of 85,000 alumni spread across 140 countries, including 4,300+ alumni in Asia.
Key advantages
• Two campuses
• Exact same features as the Full-time program – degree, curriculum, faculty, and facilities
• Stresses on experiential learning, enhanced by team tasks
• 250+ faculty members
• 200+ electives.
• 2 unique individually designed topics as electives
• Can switch between campuses if an elective is not offered at one campus
• 1-week International Study Seminar
Course Structure
1. Classes: Fridays & Saturdays on alternate weekends that are residential.
2. Around five additional extended sessions are held each year.
3. Students need to spend 15-25 study hours outside of class every week.
4. The first year focuses on the core curriculum.
5. The second year offers almost 200 electives, of which students can select 25-30 courses for concentrations that include Finance, Health...