With the exception of one new prompt, Wharton’s 2008-2009 essay questions are largely the same as last years, though the topics have been slightly shuffled. The general question about “leadership capacity” that was one of several options last year is now a required response. Meanwhile, the school has scrapped, last year’s “outsider” prompt entirely, adding a new question about an experience innovating or initiating.

Essay 1: Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect a Wharton MBA to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program? (1,000 words)
The school’s career goal essay has not changed in the last few years. The thousand word limit provides applicants with a good deal of room to work with in describing their professional progress and aspirations, and their motivation for pursuing an MBA. One thing to note is the strong emphasis on the “why now” element of the prompt, which indicates that the timing of the application with respect to one’s current job and future plans will be a very important idea to address.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Wharton’s program is crucial to an effective response to this question.  Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities - whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Wharton - will pay dividends here.

Essay 2escribe a failure or setback that you have experienced. What role did you play and what did you learn about yourself? (500 words)
While Wharton has been asking a failure-themed question for several years running, this particular inquiry is identical to last year’s essays. The adcom clearly acknowledges that no one is perfect, and seeks a perspective on each prospective student beyond his or her success, wondering about an applicant’s maturity (as evidenced by an ability to learn from mistakes and handle disappointment) in addition to his or her achievements. Meanwhile, the “setback” element of the question opens the floor to situations in which applicants had to overcome an obstacle or recover from an unanticipated complication that was truly beyond their control, offering a change to highlight their resourcefulness and resilience. The range of potential topics is rather broad here, candidates could provide an example from the professional, academic or extracurricular realm.

As is always the case, it’s important to focus on the positive elements of this scenario. A sound approach to any essay that explicitly asks applicants to recount a time when things went less than well is to summarize the failure itself briefly, spending the bulk of the essay relating his or her response and lessons learned. Also along these lines, rather than commenting that he or she learned about a weakness as a result of the failure, it would be ideal for an applicant to select a situation in which something positive was discovered due to the response. This is not to say that your essay should fall into the trap of merely being a ‘veiled success’ (a failure that isn’t really a failure at all); however, it is important to demonstrate positive growth and the learning experience that can come from missing the mark.

Essay 3:Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential? (500 words)
This question was included in last year’s application as one of several options. Now mandatory, it replaces an essay about candidates in ‘outsider’ situations. While focusing on a single example could be a sound approach, this prompt seems to call for a several-item inventory of leadership successes. Remember that it’s best to show rather than tell - with this broad focus on leadership capacity, it might be better to relate a handful of illustrative anecdotes from different aspects of your life than dedicate 500 words to the minutiae of one example from work. That this is now a compulsory question suggests that the adcom is more explicitly focused applicants’ abilities to contribute to existing teams and lead others, as opposed to simply fitting in.

Essay 4: Please Complete One Of The Following Two Questions:
4.a. Describe an experience you have had innovating or initiating, your lessons learned, the results and impact of your efforts. (500 words)
4.b. Is there anything about your background or experience that you feel you have not had the opportunity to share with the Admissions Committee in your application? If yes, please explain. (500 words)

Question 4a is new for this admissions season. The addition of this prompt seems to suggest an increased interest in gauging a candidate’s ability to see the larger contexts of different situations and find novel ways of working within them. Wharton prizes a high level of reflectiveness in its applicants, and this question is no exception; the comments about what was learned from this experience and the larger impact of the candidate’s proactiveness are just as important as a clear recap of the situation.

The final broad inquiry about the applicant’s personal background, meanwhile, has been a standard component of the Wharton application for many years running. Which of these two essays to answer will depend on the subjects of the three required responses. A good approach might be to complete the required essays, and then reflect carefully on your candidacy to determine what’s missing from the picture, keeping in mind the importance of leadership examples. This exercise will likely draw out which format and what subject matter will complete your application.

To read essay topic analysis of other top schools:  
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