Interview with Wharton’s New Dean of Admissions J.J. Cutler

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In January we reported here on the Clear Admit blog that the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania had hired alumnus J.J. Cutler (BA ‘93; MBA ‘97) to serve as the school’s new dean of admissions. In his very first weeks on the job – facing the daunting task of getting up to speed in the middle of admissions rounds 1 and 2 – Cutler was generous enough to make time to speak with us a little about his new role and his goals for the future. A transcript of our conversation follows. Thanks again, Dean Cutler, for speaking with Clear Admit.

Clear Admit: Has admissions at Wharton changed in the years since you applied? How?

J.J. Cutler: I would say it has changed in some ways. It is certainly more holistic and more iterative than it likely was when I was here. There are some process changes as well – such as the fact that it’s done in rounds now.

Also, we involve current students to a much greater degree today, which I think is a great asset. It’s very personal. And it has grown more global – which is to say there is certainly a much greater focus on diversity in terms of gender, students of color.

So, I do think the admissions process has continued to get much better. We look for people who will contribute in a meaningful way to our community, which gets back to my earlier point that the process is much more holistic. We don’t just look at one thing – we look at the whole picture.

It’s been very enlightening, being new, to see how it has gotten richer.

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CA: Can you provide any insights into current application volume?

JC: Through rounds one and two we are slightly up. And the strength of the pool is certainly as good as it has been historically. So it’s going to be very competitive.

That’s not really going to put anxious applicants at ease. But I do understand that applicants are looking for as much insight as they can get – I remember it well from when I applied.

It’s a very dificult process. We appreciate and respect how much time and energy and thought go into most of our applications, and that’s why we treat them with such respect when we go through them, and when we go through them as many times as we do. We have a lot of empathy for what it takes to go for it and to put yourself out there. For students that are applying now we really encourage them to be reflective and to be themselves, and we really apprecaite all the work they put into their applications. I must say, I have found many to be very humbling and very inspiring.

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CA: A former admissions director at Wharton, Bob Alig, once said that he was equally concerned with the several thousand applicants Wharton rejects each year as he was with the small group that actually make the cut – his point being that sending rejected candidates away ‘happy’ was crucial to maintaining the Wharton brand.  Despite this point of view, there is a perception in the applicant community that Wharton has gradually moved away from the level of admissions transparency that had become the program’s hallmark under Alig’s tenure. Do you intend to maintain these policies?

JC: I think everything is becoming more transparent, and I think we will continue to be more transparent as we move forward. It brings to mind another analogy to the healthcare industry. Hospitals now have to report a whole variety of data about the healthcare experience in hospitals, and that just allows people to make better and better decisions. That’s the real objective of transparency. The technology and access to information has grown, and I think you have to embrace that.

We do encourage people who we don’t admit to engage with us and to let us speak with them after they have received word from us. I certainly agree with Alig that how you handle the applicants that we don’t accept – which of course, given our numbers, is the large majority – is an important part of the brand. I think it is very important to help them find the right fit and help them understand what it is that we stand for.

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CA: What is the most exciting thing happening at Wharton right now?

JC: It is an incredibly challenging time, and that is true for everyone. What I think is most exciting is that here at Wharton we are looking at this economic situation as an opportunity to define our MBA program much more broadly – so it’s not narrow around a specific industry or a specific function.

We are continuing to think more broadly about how we are helping to provide the world’s future leaders with the skills and tools they will need to solve some of the problems and issues we are facing on a global basis. That is very exciting because it helps us look at the ways in which an MBA can help people who want to go into the social sectors, who are looking at green technology, who want to be involved with WIMI [Wharton Interactive Media Initiative].

I am excited about the fact that we now have the ability to think about an MBA much more broadly as a leadership development program regardless of the specific industry or function. Thinking about how those skills can be translated into different sectors to help us fix some of the problems that we are currently dealing with makes it a very interesting time to be part of management education.

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CA: What words of advice do you have for anyone considering an application to Wharton?

JC: Begin with a really good self-evaluation. Before you sit down and put together your application, take time to reflect, to think about the whys. Why do you want an MBA? Why is it going to make a difference? Why Wharton?

Another piece of advice would be to be yourself. And think about the fit – think about what it is that’s going to make you happiest and most successful. If Wharton is a good fit for that, then that’s terrific. If not, then it will be clear that there’s some other fit out there for you.

Being reflective and thoughtful before you sit down to put together the application will make the actual putting together of the application so much more rewarding and insightful, both for the applicant and for the admissions staff.

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CA: How might the admissions process at Wharton change under your tenure?  Do you have any plans to do things differently than your predecessor?

JC: Yes. In the short term we are right in the middle of round two, so nothing is going to change today. And I am just a few weeks into the job, so I think it’s premature to make changes right away.

Longer term, I do think that innovation is a hallmark of Wharton’s curriculum and a hallmark of the way in which we view all of our processes, including admissions and financial aid. Going forward, we will be looking for innovative ways to attract the right candidates, as well as to be innovative in terms of the transparency of our process.

We want to continue to arm prospective applicants with the tools they need to provide us with the best applications they can. To that end, we will continue to providing opportunities for students to come tour our campus, to sit in on classes. And we’ll look for innovative ways to expand on these offerings. And we will also be going out and doing global presentations about Wharton so that applicants around the globe know what we have to offer.

So I do think that there are lots of ways we will continue to be innovative. But in the short term, for rounds two and three of this year, we will continue with the process as it currently exists.

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CA: What made you decide to leave the healthcare consumer goods sector to take on a leadership role at Wharton?

JC: I get asked that question a lot. Well, there are a couple of things. First, healthcare and education are actually industries that have some real similarities. Both have a high degree of mission and purpose – a public good kind of approach. Both involve a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit institutions that are rooted in academia. And they are two industries that I feel strongly about in terms of the mission and purpose of what they are providing for the public good.

Second, as an alum, it was especially inspiring and humbling to come into a situation like this.

Finally, I think to be able to come into a place like Wharton and be the director of admissions is not an opportunity that comes along that often. It appeared that a window was opening in my career path, and sometimes you just have to go through the window even if you’re not sure what’s on the other side.

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CA: How do students play a greater role in the admissions process today than before?

JC: We have second-year students who do presentations for prospective students, and they are often the people who do some of the early reading of applications. We have a group that we have trained here to help with that part of it.

I actually get to read all of the applications myself. I don’t know if that’s always been the case, but it’s certainly nice. But we also have this group of second years who knows what we are looking for and can serve as additional readers. That ensures that we are looking at students from multiple vantage points – from mine, students’, other members of the admissions staff. It’s a very high touch process, I have to say.

Actually, I would have thought that as the diversity and the growth and the global nature of Wharton accelerated to as a great a degree as it has, it would be hard to maintain such a high-touch process. That we can is in great part because we are able to involve current students in many aspects of what we do. I know that’s not the case at every school, but we take real pride in that fact.