Wharton: Five Things You Need To Know Before You Apply

August 22, 2012 :: Admissionado Team

You’re applying to Wharton this year? So are LOTS of other folks, and you can bet TONS of them will have great applications. Intimidating, huh?

Well, in the immortal words of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy, “DON’T PANIC.”

If you want to understand Wharton, you have to talk to somebody who KNOWS Wharton. And our very own MBA consultant and Wharton alum Kyn Chaturvedi is just such an expert.

When it comes to Wharton, entrepreneurship is the name of the game. Kyn’s got some primo insight into Wharton offerings that’ll help you find your fit with their program.

1. Small Business Development Center (SBDC) – Highly prestigious and exclusive management consulting group that hires Wharton MBAs and Undergrads.  And it hires only 15% of those who apply.  The consultants get hands-on experience working with small businesses on an assortment of operational and strategy-based issues.  SBDC consultants gain relevant experience to help them launch their own businesses.
2. The Founder’s Club – A small group of experience entrepreneurs founded this small group to help one another with their startups.  Group members meet weekly and do presentations on current problems they are facing in their startups and receive aid from the audience.
3. Wharton Venture Initiation Program (WVIP) – On-Campus incubator for startups.  Highly selective.  The program is well structured and run by advisers who are entrepreneurs, professors, and angel investors.  There are weekly talks from experts and every semester ends with an investor pitch session.
4. Wharton Entrepreneurship Program (WEP) – Wharton’s body for entrepreneurship, managing a variety of programs and initiatives to aid Wharton students in fulfilling their startup visions.  There is the yearly Wharton Business Plan Competition which provides winning startup teams with a chunk of seed funding to accelerate their business and the Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program which brings in successful entrepreneurs as mentors.
5. Entrepreneurship Curriculum – Wharton provides multiple courses in entrepreneurship and allows students to major in the subject.  There are courses that teach how to put together business plans, raise VC funds, and understand the legalities around running a business, among a host of other topics on the subject matter.

Now that you’ve got the 4-1-1 on Wharton, it’s time to write those essays! Not sure how to approach them? Check out our 2012-2013 Wharton Essay Analysis.