Whew...finally managed to complete my interviews for Wharton & Chicago. Became especially tight since, the Wharton i'view was fixed at very short notice.
About the schools
While both Wharton & Chicago are reknowned for the large no of grads who join finance/consulting, there seems to be a very distinct difference about the mindsets that drive students/personalities to Wharton or to Chicago -as a recent alumnus said, they operate on entirely different planes... this is where the famou F word of B-school admissions comes in - "FIT".
WHARTON
Wharton seems to be a classic Ivy league school; takes in a large number of very proactive ultra-confident individuals who want to make a lot of money/ transform themselves and the world. Wharton allows them to freewheel, gives them cutting edge analytical skills from fantastic professors and then unleash them on the world.
A former colleague now at McKinsey remarked that while Harvard guys are born believing that their fathers own the world, Wharton guys step out thinking that they own the world post Wharton. Uber-confident (to the point of being arrogant sometimes), capitalists, Ivy league pedigree and an ability to come on top of any situation - this eems to be the quintessential Wharton grad - I know am going out on a limb here because like every other B-school, there is no "typical" student...but if one were to check the Wharton resume book, speak to alumni, attend receptions and check recruiter speak, this is what one would carry away from the "Wharton" experience.
You wanted to be a master of the universe in your Armani suit and Fendi shades? Wanted to jetset across to the Riviera and fly down to Pattaya for a colleagues engagement and be back in the Big Apple to close THE deal of the month...you belong to Wharton! Although one hears that much of this competitive "shark" reputation is undeserved and is a vestige of the schools investment banking/ financial roots, one cannot clearly make out a stance otherwise. A lot of us esp....sales/mktg/ibankers like this "fast/hard/results" reputation...and if you do, then Wharton is for you. One gets the feeling that to belong to Wharton, you need to be very quick on your toes and mind, have a clear idea of your priorities while at school, have what you can call the entrepreneurial ability to gel-well with a wide range of individuals and kind of do your own unique thing...among 1000 talented others! An amazing school in its own right...maybe ideally suited for the fast forward, global business environment of the 22nd century.Maybe.
THE WHARTON INTERVIEW
I got the standard questions during the Wharton interview...
Run me through your resume...
Where else have you applied?
What are your plans after wharton?
Why Wharton?
Biggest disappointments?
Valued achievements?
Why take you instead of the other 10K odd applicants?
Ganja Turtle did quite well
...as well as one can do in a full suit in a non-a/cd office at 2pm on a Bengalooru afternoon...did a classic Ganja fumble..."So, I basically think I am unique because of a. my passion-in all that I do, my passion shines through...for eg..etc etc.
b. because of my multifaceted personality - I am a performer at work, a quizzer, a poet, a volleyball/tabletennis/soccer player, an avid reader, a martial artist etc etc.
c. and finally because of the amazing experiences that I have been through - Indian telecom in the last 5 years, a merger with an MNC etc etc...
Not being satisfied with merely stating 3 points, GT attempts a masterly conclusion here...
"So to sum it up...
"ONE"(thumb goes up-amaerican shtyle) My experiences...
"TWO"(a well practiced index finger pops out) my multifacetedness (all behold, a new word was born!)
"THREE"....the middle finger pops out right on time...but my mind jams....uh oh...total traffic jam. I try to do the "thinkers frown" while my mind desperateley races about what the #@&$%# my first point was...but naaahhhh...while my finger twitches around, my mind says naaahhh,not today,boy!
Thankfully, the interviewer had the graciousness to turn away and start writing in his golden monogrammed Wharton notebook.
Except for this big stumble (aow!) and one small one (ouch) about Whartons core curriculum, I think I managed to come across quite well - expressed my career goals,
the reason behind pursuing my MBA and why Wharton. Somehow all I do now is to think and chuckle about this goof-up...a colleague tells me its my way of rationalizing a
bad experience...thats me, your everyday Freud, chuckling away while the gates of U.Penn slowly close...(slow, flowing sad music and lights dim,please!)
More about Chicago in my next post...
Foodspitality
2 weeks ago
5 comments:
Hello GT! A fellow mallu Wharton R1 applicant like yourself. Your interview sounds good - mine was death by firing squad.
Anyway best of luck for the rest of your interviews...
@anon-such is life,pal! Am not expecting miracles either after my showdown! Cheers for the other schools!
ouch for the bloopers..but really the situation was better than if u had began:"so to sum it in three points.... " and then dramatically brought out ur fingers.. ;)
Hey which course are you applying for?
@di-thanks silver,for the lining!
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