UPenn Wharton School
Why UPenn Wharton?
Wharton is the gold standard in finance, with a reputation built on decades of shaping the industry's top thinkers, investors, and executives. It's also one of the largest and most resource-rich MBA programs in the world, offering a scale and influence few schools can match. From cutting-edge research centers to a curriculum that blends analytics with leadership, Wharton attracts students who want to master the numbers and move markets. There's a sense of scale and ambition here that's hard to ignore, grounded in a program that has long defined what business education at the highest level looks like.
🎓 MBA Class Profile (Class of 2026)
Key Demographics
- Enrolled Students: 866
- Acceptance Rate: 20.5%
- Yield Rate: 57.8%
- Women: 47%
- International Students: 31%
Academic Profile
- Average GMAT Score: 732
- GRE Verbal: 162
- GRE Quant: 163
- Average Undergraduate GPA: 3.7
- Average Work Experience: 5 years
💼 Employment Statistics (Class of 2024)
Job Placement
- Median Base Salary: $175,000
- Median Signing Bonus: $30,000
- Received Offers (within 3 months): 93%
*Not all offers included a signing bonus
Top Industries
- Financial Services: 37%
- Consulting: 25%
- Technology: 14%
- Healthcare: 5%
- CPG / Retail: 3%
🎤 Interview Tips
Unique Interview Feature:
Wharton's interview process is unlike any other top MBA program — and that's intentional. It's built around the Team-Based Discussion (TBD), a collaborative group exercise designed to simulate the learning environment at Wharton. You and 4–5 other applicants will be given a prompt in advance (e.g., "Design a new Wharton course," "Create a global initiative that embodies Wharton's values," or "Propose a new MBA orientation event") and asked to come prepared with a one-minute pitch. During the session, you'll work together for 35–40 minutes to merge your ideas into a shared proposal.
You're not being judged on how flashy your idea is or whether your solution gets chosen. The goal is to see how you think on your feet, listen actively, and build on others' ideas without dominating the conversation. Collaboration, emotional intelligence, and clarity under pressure are key. After the TBD, you'll have a short 1-on-1 interview with a second-year student observer, where they'll ask follow-ups about your performance and your interest in Wharton.
| Unique Questions Common to Wharton | Prep Tips |
|---|---|
| "What was your role in the team-based discussion? How did you contribute?" | Be ready to highlight a specific way you shaped the discussion, ideally a moment that helped the team gain clarity or cohesion. For example, you might say you helped narrow the group's ideas by proposing criteria based on Wharton's values, or that you jumped in to structure the team's final pitch when time was running short. |
| "If you could go back and change anything about how the team discussion went, what would it be?" | Show maturity and self-awareness by pointing to something you could have improved. For instance, if you noticed a quieter team member wasn't getting airtime, you might say you wish you'd drawn them in sooner. Or, if your pitch ran long, you could reflect on needing tighter time management. The goal isn't to be perfect, it's to show that you reflect and grow. |
Note: For a full list of potential interview questions, check our MBA interview guide.
📅 Application Deadlines
| Round | Application Deadline | Decision Notification |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | September 7, 2024 | December 15, 2024 |
| Round 2 | January 4, 2025 | March 24, 2025 |
| Round 3 | March 29, 2025 | May 10, 2025 |
Note: All deadlines are at 11:59 PM ET. Applications submitted after the deadline will be considered in the next round.