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Wharton Interview Notes
Atypical for me.
1. At the very beginning telling me to use own words & speak slowly.
2. Recording notes on PC. The whole process seems not so continuous because of the PC.
3. Emphasize on the publications that I made (very detailed, so I explained a lot on the conclusions and methodology for my three papers, while less time on my career development)
Q List:
1. Highlights of career
2. Why current employer wants me
3. Why MBA (ST< career goal)
4. Teamwork/ Leadership experience
5. Any clubs interested in and contribution to Wharton
6. What to learn in Wharton
7. Any ideas about wharton, if got touch base with Wharton people
8. Anything want to share with her
9. Questions for her
BTW:
1. BS Jinmao not letting me in.
2. Regret to choose the first morning session.

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2/28 wharton 上海第一个HUB面试
想到我今天是上海第一个，有种奇妙的感觉~~ 怕堵车我去的很早，老师到了9点半来
career parth，都是她问来着, 这里是怎么样，那里怎样, 我一边讲，一边被她跳着问，我说得很快，她思路也很快，要10分钟
career goal, 简单几句，跟了几个问题。
why MBA, 简单几句过
WHY Wharton，这个问题回答更少，我只说了1句，wharton is famous for marketing，（可能我是特例，大家还是多准备些），她就接着说学校换了新的dean, 以后会注重marketing， 要我修一个entrepreneur, 说对于帮助公司开创新局面有帮助。
why now, 简单几句过
after work what do you do，提了我跳latin来运动
in wharton what will you do after study, 说了voluteer program
what other things didn't mention, 我说似乎都提到了。
ask her question. 于是我开始发问。感觉送了口气，终于轮到我了。
没有问我strength weakness, challenge, failure, leadership, 不过大家还是准备着把，20分钟+10分钟问题，挺准时的。走的时候她说有问题写信。整个过程没有什么紧张. Marilyn 女士很会引导你，她给我的感觉是位很牛的老师。她的第一个关于行业的问题让我有点吃惊。我的问题被打得很散，基本上是说到哪里，问到哪里。其他她问了喜欢什么国家，基本没什么废话。这个46楼的基金公司叫国安联什么的，楼下领卡要问。

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2月28日上午上海HUB-WHARTON
今天上午面试的已经有2位.我是第三个.我面试时间比较长,大概讲了45分钟.主要是我废话比较多.
有2个问题,我没有讲好.给后面的人参考.
1,what make your success today? 这个问题我建议大家想好了再过去.我之前看到过类似的问题,但是一直没有找到合适的答案.所以今天碰到了,还是挺头疼.
2,do you think your contact with local(foreign colleague) difficult?
因为我有海外经历,而且是面试官曾经呆过的地方,所以她对这块问了很久.其实我也总结过海外经历对我个人心路和思想的影响.但是面试的居然脑子短路忘记了. 这个问题的回答我后来想了想,可以简单化解成 siar: situation, action, result, learn. 所以大家碰到类似不知道怎么回答的题目,一定不要慌,化解成这四个方面去回答. (说来容易做来难)
其他没什么了.大家一定要多说.尤其是她说:what else do you want to say about yourself? 我认为这是个很好的机会抓主动.就像打牌一直都是对方坐桩,现在轮到自己做庄了,一定要好好利用.我觉得我就是从这里开始大谈特谈.从这个入口,讲个有意思的话题,抓住对方兴趣和对方谈下去.只要能谈下去,就有讲话的空间.(我认为面试除了证明你是否会英文外,还要印证你是否还是个有趣的人)
祝后面的好运.
对了,我走的时候,看到后面的是位男士,不知道谈的情况怎样?
(昨天晚上到上海,在酒店的床上怎么都睡不着,折腾到半夜将近3点.今天归程时国航又晚点.不过在快深夜的时候我总算回到我深圳可爱的家.写下上面的简单文字.祝各位好运!)

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Wharton Hub Interview 3.1
我是11：30面的。
一开始玛里琳女士就问我是不是P什么的，我犹豫的一下，感觉好像不是说我，但是又怀疑是不是老美我的姓发不准（公司的老美就经常这样说），所以就还是应了一下，然后就是寒暄。后来交简历的时候就发现名字确实不对，玛里琳女士确实即严谨又很nice，一边上网查，一边叫我不要担心 （其实我一点也不担心，反正是学校这样通知我的，哈哈），后来查出来确实是重排了schedule，因为我book的比较晚，可能玛里琳没有更新。anyway, 还是正常开始
一开始就问我毕业后想干什么，sign，害得我准备得career progress都没得说，然后就是我对social responsibility的看法，因为我的career goal里提到了，我就balabala的说了一下volunteer work. 后面的问题顺序记不清楚了，大概有如下几个
1. why wharton
2. why now
3. management experience
4. will you stay at US or come back to China after graduation (sign,每个学校都问了我这个问题，难道次贷危机真这么厉害？）
5. community work (这个我回答得特别不好）
6. what will you do at wharton outside of class?
7. have you met any person from wharton
8. anything to ask
感觉我说的挺散的，玛里琳女士确实比较厉害，我真的只是完全的 be myself，基本上没能用上什么修饰，wharton的面试官是我在这几个学校中遇到的最厉害的一个了。后面她还说了她是woman adimission之类的成员什么的。后来我还想寒暄几句，不过感觉可能有点画蛇添足。
感觉wharton确实是我面的几个学校中最好的一个，也是最难面的一个，这样就越让人想去。但现在，也什么都做不了，总之一句话，得之我幸，不得我命。自己面的比较迟，可能这个面经对今年申请的人也没什么帮助了，希望对来年面的人有所帮助。

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Wharton Hub Interview @ BJ
地点：国贸二座 中金office
Interviewer:Marilyn Yakowitz
总共时间大概30分钟，Yakowitz女士非常Nice，上来就讲这个是informal 的，不用紧张。可能我今天穿得太正式了，让人觉得紧张?
1. Walk through resume , 聊了一些我现在的工作问题。
2. Past working experience
2. Long Term and Short Term Goal, which concentration will choose in Wharton, 这个我回答的不太好，她追问比较多...
3. What do you do outside work, 特别问了community service, 因为我确实这个方面比较缺乏，只好讲我将要去参加。。。汗！
4. Strength and Weakness， 我讲到 fast learner , 然后她追问 moving fast 有什么优缺点.... 然后weakness 也追问了一下..
5. How do you learn English? 这个完全没有准备，只能说我自学啥的，然后她还追问 writing English怎么样，我就说我的IBT分数啥的...
6. What things else do you want to talk to me? 我讲了一些我对Wharton 的印象，算了扯了扯why school
7. Qustion 我问了关于 leadership venture program 的问题，后来就扯到我自己在大学参加的一些club.
总体感觉比我预计的要好一些，昨晚到今天一直在紧张中度过，以为自己会上场哑口无言。结果是基本上我在哇啦哇啦说....
Anyway, 该做的都做了，剩下的就是祈祷了～～
Good Luck to all!

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面筋：wharton 3.1 hub interview shanghai
周六早上9点，俺是第一个面试的，进了会议室adcom officer marilyn就说：好像名单上被面试人是个韩国gg，你是谁啊？当时吓得我一身冷汗，赶紧把所有和interview相关的邮件都拿出来给她show, 她这才说，可能是招生办弄错了，直向我道歉，所以大家去面试的时候，一定带上相关邮件。
问题：
career progress and follow up questions
why MBA and follow up on why not a technical MA in the sector I am interested in
why now
cross cutural experiences, how to handle work relations with foreign colleagues, and how to lead in such an environment
what do you do outside of work including community service
how do you learn english
any question
因为是blind interview, 在整个面试过程中，面试官一直在laptop前不停的打字纪录，有两次面世官叫我hold on, 示意我慢下来，看来语速控制得还够好。
Marilyn 以前在经合组织的环境部门工作，因为俺的public sector背景和环保志向，问了俺你认不认识这个领域XX ，XX 和XX啊？我提到了一个环保组织，她问这组织头头叫啥名？我紧张得忘了，只好说回去查了告诉你。
星期五晚上飞到了上海，在酒店房间里伴着窗外呼啸的车流噪音挣扎了半宿，各位在外地面试的同学一定选一家服务好又安静的住处，睡眠不好会影响面试效果的。

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Wharton面经 2.29
今天下午的校友面试。运气实在是太好了，遇上一位特别愿意提携晚辈的老校友（岁数比较大，自己创业的）。
整个面试一个半小时，大概只有30分钟左右是在问一些standard questions. 不分顺序有：
1． Tell me about yourself
2． Why change jobs
3． Why MBA, why now
4． Why Wharton (he really want details for this question)
5． What do you want to get out of your MBA experience
6． Long-term, short-term goals
7． Team work experience and style (he gave me an example of a tough team situation, ask me how would I handle it)
8． How would you imagine your first 3 months at Wharton, what is on your top priorities
9． How would you allocate your time spent at Wharton
10. How many schools did you apply, why (he analyzed every school for me, then he reached the conclusion: Wharton is the best ^_^)
11. Community services
12．Last, I updated the recent change on my job responsibilities
大概有一小时都是在聊天，他告诉了我他的背景和经验，他喜欢Wharton什莫，不喜欢什莫。还给了我很多学习和工作上的建议：在Wharton上MBA成绩不是主要的，要建立network, learn to handle team environment, work & life balance, family is important (因为我告诉他今年Lg和我一起申请，但没拿到Wharton面试，他就很认真地和我讨论如果我去Wharton，Lg应该去那所学校，我们应该保持很好的communication…), 以我的背景应该申什莫summer intern, 以后在北京应该进那一行。。。他还告诉我，面试的时候一定要be yourself, 我如果说那些准备过的答案时，他一听就知道，而且不喜欢canned answer. 再次印证了不要背答案，要自然。
最后他说：Wish you and your family the best! Hope to see you in Beijing as a Wharton alumnus.
实在太感动了，遇上这麽热心的校友。觉得因为遇上了他，现在真地对Wharton印象太好了。觉得今天认识了这位校友，不管怎莫说这一趟都没白跑。

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08第三面－Wharton （yeah）
中彩票了，中彩票了。居然在倒数第二天收到Invitation。本来都要不指望了。不过，负作用是on－campus的位置全满了。偶道听途说，说还会加on－campus的位置，迟迟没有schedule alumni interview，每天F5的频率可比刷CGX的干劲。结果adcom出来说不再发了。 最最郁闷的是，某天早上看到一 on－campus opening， 大喜，打电话给朋友，5 秒后，没了。。。我，我，，，我倒。
还好找的这个Alumni很快就回了email，人也nice， 大大牛一个，还抽时间出来面我。超赞一下。
Questions:
Why do you want to go back to school?
Why Wharton?
Basically walk through resume, Under, graduate study, work.
Failure experience.
What do you do at your leisure time?
总结，我比较喜欢找早毕业的人面，顺带可以学习下人家的career经历。这次总结了上回Columbia Alum 面的经验，一开始就conversational，比较好适应。
另外：听说今年Wharton广发interview，cover rate 有56％， 但最后只收17－18％。interviewee 中还要三选一，惨烈呀。。那句话，成事在天了。 呵呵。。

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Follow up on Wharton Interview Tips

Below are some discussion with other Whartonites about the application in general.

Q: Is Wharton looking for certain types of candidate?
A:No. Wharton is looking for good candidates in every industry. As Ialways say, if you have unique background/experience, you are likely tohave better chance to get in than typical consultants/bankers as a lotof them are applying and every school is trying to diversify itsstudent pool.

Response from Vickiyan, class of 08:

I would like to elaborate this point a little bit more:
I'm not quite sure that Wharton is looking for candidate in every industryintentionally, but I believe what Wharton is looking for are goodcandidates. No bias on the background, and I don't think the diversityis intentionally designed and picked out: good candidates happen to bespreading out in every industry. What impressed people most are alwaysthe personal qualities: achievements, solid skills (hard+soft) andpersonality.
For your reference.

Response from Jason, class of 10:

To elaborate even further, I'm not sure that there even exists a 'typical consultant/banker'. Everyone has had such a variety of experience, growing up in different places, attending different schools, and many have a lot of different jobs in addition to being a consultant/banker. Indeed, even within consulting/banking, there are so many ways to distinguish yourself, to seek out your own path, and etc. At the end of the day, what it really comes down to is who you are: which is why I'm always against someone using a 'profile' to determine whether he/she is suitable for a school. Indeed what is most important is not your profile, but the stories that you can tell about your life! For your reference as well

Response from myself:

Jason, it's great to see current student being active and help prospective students here on CD. Your background is impressive, too.
Let me elaborate more on what I meant about "typical consultant/banker." For consultant, if you join those big consulting firms right after college, it is a natural or sort of mandatory move to apply business school after 2 to 3 years of work because those big consulting firms need you to have a MBA degree to move up. Also for banker, even though you don’t need a MBA to be promoted from analyst to associate, many analysts tend to go to business school to 1) take a break 2) try something else after work 100+ hours per week for 3 years.

From my observation, 5-10 years ago, you can see many top b-school students with this type of “typical” background/experience”. 3 years in consulting/banking and then go to top b-school. However, I do see the percentage of this type of students is decreasing, especially for candidates with pure banking/consulting experience. Two main reasons:

1. Average age or years of working experience to enter business school becomes higher. (You are an extreme case which is very rare. The average age for class of 07 is 28.6 and average year of working experience is 6 years.) Understand HBS and Stanford started to look for young talents these years but you can see the average year of working experience is still higher than say 5 or 10 years ago. Having said that, people with 3 year pure banking/consulting experience need to try hard to persuade adcom to admit them.
2. Bankers and consultants are too busy to work on GMAT and application. Imaging if a person works till mid-night everyday, has almost no weekend and travel every week, it will be tough for him/her to focus on application and we both know MBA application is not just filling the forms.

However, from my perspective, consultants are at better position than bankers to apply business schools. Few reasons

1) The firm will prepare and sponsor them to go to business school. For Mckinsey, they have very comprehensive training and materials to help BAs to apply business school. Also their senior people all have MBAs and know the application process well.
2) Consultants tend to have more diversified working experience from and hours is not as crazy as bankers.
3) Many consulting firms have the policy “up or leave.” You need to have an MBA to move up.
4) Bankers were paid too well before. If you can earn +200K (USD) a year, spending 70K to go to business (a year) means your yearly opportunity cost is 270K.

I can’t agree more on there is no typical candidate/career path to promise you to get into top business school. The most important thing is you need to tell and persuade adcom why you need a MBA and why you.

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Wharton今年共申请了四所，现已面完三所，还等着Yale，还是申请得最认真的，怎么还没给面试呢。。。



从命中率来看，申请材料写得还算可以，但最近公司实在太忙，面对与金融危机的斗争，总觉得面试准备不足，sign...

明后天应该是Wharton Hub interview 的日子，先在这share下今天下午与Wharton alumni面试的情况，给明后天的战友们打打气。其他2个面经明后天继续发表



The 03' alumni is quite nice.似乎帮wharton面试好多年，但今天可能没怎么准备，问题如下：

1) Walk through your professional experience (似乎开场不确定该问什么，我就主动回答起了这个问题，呵呵）

2）Why did you choose current industry?

3) How do you select right person? ( related to my occupation)

4) How do you develop people

5) Case of facing conflict within team

6) what do you do in spare time

7) Anything else you want to tell me

8) Q&A

The interview lasted for around 40 minutes. 间或八卦闲聊了下生活.

God bless us!!