I will teach you how to bring your life stories to essays faster with F1GMAT's essay guides. Download below or subscribe to F1GMAT's Service and work with me - Atul Jose, Author/Editor/Founding Consultant, F1GMAT(16 Years of helping applicants gain admissions to M7 and Top 30 schools) In the second part of the Booth vs Wharton MBA Series, we cover Experiential Learning and International Learning Opportunities. Read the first part - Booth vs Wharton MBA: Location, Ranking, Cost & Class Profile
5. Curriculum
The Booth curriculum is structured in a traditional format with the core courses in the first year, followed by electives in the second year. Both schools offer a quant-heavy syllabus. However, Wharton adopts a flexible curriculum.
Flexible Core: The fixed and flexible core classes allow Wharton students to postpone some of the core to the second year while they prepare for an internship or global experiential learning programs or other niche specialization in the first year itself.
Core: The core at Booth covers traditional courses - Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, and Statistics. The fixed core at Wharton also covers Statistics and Microeconomics, with the difference lying in including Marketing instead of Financial Accounting in the fixed core. The Leadership and Communication courses are two other additions unique to Wharton.
Flexible Core: The flexible core is a traditional coverage of Operations, Accounting, Corporate Finance, Macroeconomics, and Management with a unique course in Legal Studies & Business Ethics. Flexible Core also builds on the Communication and Marketing primer courses introduced in the fixed core.
Clearly, Wharton is focused on balancing the development of leadership and communication skills in addition to core management skills in Microeconomics and Statistics.
Majors/Concentrations: Although the core courses have a traditional structure at Booth, most Boothies graduate with 3-4 concentrations, whereas 40% of Wharton MBAs graduate with two majors. However, the choice of majors is vast and diverse at Wharton (18), whereas Booth follows a traditional 13 concentrations designed on post-MBA functions and industries.
Hands-on Experience and Networking: Booth runs a Masterclass Series for its MBAs with the focus on bridging the industry-academia gap in the fields of Behavioral Science, Decision-Making, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Leadership, Marketing, and Operations Management. Wharton provides access to conferences and assists MBAs in networking with top government officials, alumni, and non-profits through its Global Modular Courses.
Industry-Relevant Courses: Booth stands out in its effort to make its graduates exposed to industry-relevant courses.
Functional and Leadership Courses: Wharton focuses on role-specific skill development with leadership and communication as the foundation.
Flexibility (Core): Wharton MBA > Chicago Booth MBA
Specializations: Wharton MBA > Chicago Booth MBA
Industry-Focused: Chicago Booth MBA > Wharton MBA
Function-Focused: Chicago Booth MBA ~Wharton MBA
Leadership Development: Wharton MBA > Chicago Booth MBA
| Wharton MBA Curriculum | Chicago Booth MBA Curriculum |
|---|---|
| Fixed Core Themes: 5 | Core Themes: 3 |
| Fixed Core Theme: Leadership, Marketing, Microeconomics, Statistics and Management Communication | Core Themes (Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, Statistics) |
| Flexible Core Themes: 8 | Electives: 10 (In Addition to Specializations) |
| Specializations: 18 | Concentrations: 13 |
| Majors: Two (Majority Students) | Concentrations: 3-4 (Majority Students) |
| Majors from 18 Specializations (below) | Concentrations from 13 Specializations (Below) |
| Accounting | Accounting |
| Business Analytics* | Analytics |
| Business Economics and Public Policy | Finance |
| Business, Energy, Environment and Sustainability* | Behavioral Science |
| Entrepreneurship and Innovation | Business Analytics |
| Finance | Econometrics and Statistics |
| Healthcare Management | Economics |
| Individualized MBA Major | Entrepreneurship Finance |
| International Business | General Management Management |
| Management | International Business |
| Marketing | Marketing Management |
| Marketing and Operations (Joint Major) | Operations Management |
| Multinational Management | Strategic Management |
| Operations, Information and Decisions* | |
| Organizational Effectiveness | |
| Quantitative Finance* | |
| Real Estate | |
| Statistics* | |
| Strategic Management | |
| *STEM certified |
6. Experiential Learning
Wharton offers experiential learning opportunities mainly through its Global Modular Courses and its Global Immersion Program with a macroeconomic and international perspective. Chicago Booth contrastingly provides experiential learning opportunities in the form of Labs, focusing on functions and industries.
Both the schools have a variety of student clubs and regional treks exploring different geographical and economic contexts while providing MBAs with several leadership development opportunities.
Labs vs. Global Experiential Learning: Wharton has restarted the Global Immersion program with the 2022 schedule listing one Global trip to Costa Rica with possibly more to follow in contrast to Booth’s 13 Labs – Leadership Lab, Leadership Effectiveness and Development (LEAD) Lab, Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab, Real Estate Lab: Real Estate Challenge, Scaling Social Innovation Search Lab, Lab to Launch, Lab in Developing New Products and Services, Digital Marketing Lab, Algorithmic Marketing Lab, Healthcare Analytics Lab, Reputation, Regulation, and Communications – How Media Influences Business – Lab, Consulting Lab, and Social Impact Lab.
Labs (Diversity in Hands-on Learning Opportunities): Chicago Booth > Wharton MBA
7. International Learning Opportunities
Global Modular Courses at Wharton offer international experiential learning opportunities in economies undergoing rapid transformation relevant to the MBA program during winter, summer, and spring breaks. Since the inception of the program in 2010, each year, 12 courses have been offered.
In 2022, Israel, India, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden, Germany, ASEAN, Latvia, Estonia, UAE, Rwanda, and France are planned to be explored in different business contexts – Luxury Branding and Retailing; Environmental Sustainability, Mobility, and Innovation; Finance in the Middle East, etc.
Wharton’s Global Immersion Program is an elective program, shorter and more intensive than the Global Modular Courses offering an international experiential learning opportunity with a deliverable encompassing the learnings from the international study tour and on-campus sessions. It introduces students to business leaders, government officials, and Wharton alumni in an international location. The objective of the program is to get an overview of Economic, Cultural, and Geo-Political factors that influence the Global Economy.
In 2022, the Global Immersion Program to Costa Rica has been planned.
Global Career Treks: Wharton offers further extracurricular activities involving the participation of MBA students in International Conferences which address regional business issues, and Global Career Treks that offers informational interviews with 250 companies in various industries such as Venture Capital/Private Equity, Technology, Real Estate, Biotech/Health Care, and Media and Entertainment.
Wharton Exchange Partner (Schools): Traditional International Exchange Programs are offered with 17 partner schools in 15 Countries.
Wharton’s partner schools are Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), University of New South Wales, COPPEAD, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Guanghua School of Management (Peking University), INSEAD, HEC Paris, Indian School of Business (ISB), Arison School of Business, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) (Israel), SDA Bocconi School of Management, Keio University’s Graduate School of Business and Commerce (Japan), IESE Business School, Stockholm School of Economics, Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration (Thailand), Rotterdam School of Management, Asian Institute of Management (AIM) (Philippines) and London Business School. With Wharton-INSEAD Alliance, students can spend seven weeks in INSEAD’s Fontainebleau or Singapore campus.
International Dual Degree: Wharton also offers a dual-degree MBA in International Studies with the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, or Harvard Kennedy School.
Chicago Booth
International Dual Degree: Chicago Booth has a wider choice of dual-degree MBA programs than Wharton, with an international focus. They are - MBA/Master of Arts in International Relations, MBA/Master of Arts in Eastern European and Russian Eurasian Studies, MBA/Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies, and International Business.
The International MBA (IMBA) includes five International Business Courses, developing second language proficiency, and offering one study abroad academic term. Booth offers an international perspective on the following courses - International Commercial Policy, International Financial Policy, International Corporate Finance, Advanced Financial Analysis and Valuation for Global Firms, Managing the Firm in the Global Economy, Emerging Markets Finance and Entrepreneurship, Chinese Economy and Financial Markets, and Global Health and Social Policy.
MBA students at Booth can apply to spend from 2 to 3 weeks up to a full quarter studying at any of the 30 partner institutions in 20 countries.
IBEP: For the Study Abroad program through the International Business Exchange Program (IBEP), Booth’s partner schools are Australian Graduate School of Management, Melbourne Business School, Louvain School of Management, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, China Europe International Business School, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Guanghua School of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, ESSEC Business School, HEC Paris, Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore, Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, Bocconi University, Keio Business School, Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, Rotterdam School of Management, Nanyang Business School, University of Cape Town GSB, Wits Business School, ESADE, IE Business School, IESE Business School, Stockholm School of Economics, University of St. Gallen, London Business School, and London School of Economics. The short-term program’s partner schools are Vienna University of Economics and Business, Getulio Vargas Foundation, Guanghua School of Management, ESSEC Business School, Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Coller School of Management, and Stockholm School of Economics.
While Wharton offers a larger variety of international experiential learning courses through its Global Modular Courses programs, Chicago Booth offers more international exchange opportunities and global dual-degree MBA programs. On international courses and the depth of the global experiential learning programs, Wharton is ahead.
Global Experiential Learning: Wharton MBA > Chicago Booth MBA
International Courses: Wharton > Chicago Booth
Exchange Partners: Chicago Booth > Wharton MBA
Global Dual Degree: Chicago Booth > Wharton MBA
| International Learning Opportunities | Chicago Booth | Wharton |
|---|---|---|
| Global Degrees | 4 | 3 |
| International Courses | 8 | 12 |
| Exchange Partners | 30 | 17 |
Read the Third Part of the Series - Booth vs Wharton MBA: Post-MBA Opportunities, Scholarships and Fellowships
