Learning Team Retreat

This two-day, off-campus retreat is an integral part of Pre-Term. Students begin the process of team formation and learn to lead in a peer environment throughout the program.

The month-long Pre-Term session ensures that everyone in a diverse incoming class begins from a common knowledge base. Pre-Term is required and includes coursework, waiver testing, a Learning Team Retreat, and the chance to explore Philadelphia and build relationships with your classmates.

August 2011 Schedule (subject to change)

Year One

In your first year, you focus on the intensive core curriculum that gives you the foundation of broad management skills to succeed in any industry.

The first year is intense. You move through key courses in your first term with your learning team – a group of five or six classmates with whom you work closely on projects.

You will find yourself selecting between many options as you branch out in your second term and beyond. You’ll have a choice of content areas for some core courses and start picking your electives. In addition, you begin to get more involved in co-curricular and extracurricular activities.

Here is a Sample of a First Year Schedule 

Career Trek

In 2010-11, MBA students travelled to more than 250 companies in various U.S. and International cities.

Summer is a busy time with internships, career treks, and volunteer projects – many of them taking students all over the world.

Summer Internships

Your summer internship provides a 6 to 12 week experience that gives you the opportunity to:

• Enhance existing skills and build relevant skill set for post-MBA job
• Gain exposure to new companies/industries/functions
• Build relationships with people in your target company/industry/function (start networking for full-time position)
• Create a positive impact on an organization

Career Treks

Students and MBA Career Services co-organize Career Treks within the U.S., as well as to international destinations in Europe, Asia, and South America. Students travel to the region for a series of group informational interviews with prominent companies and meet with upper-level management and human resources representatives in specific industries or geographic regions. 

Wharton International Volunteer Program

Each year, teams of students go overseas to work for two to four weeks on development projects in emerging economies -- typically small, local organizations with limited resources. Students design projects that will allow these organizations to derive maximum benefit of their business skills and experience. Recent projects have assisted NGOs and small businesses in areas such as strategic and financial planning, performance evaluation and information systems.

WWIP Projects »  

SPIF (Summer Public Interest Fund)

Students head out to work at non-profits through the Summer Public Interest Fund (SPIF) – a fund that encourages and supports first-year students who wish to pursue careers in areas that serve the public good by supplementing their summer salaries. The SPIF is financed entirely by fellow students who pledge 1 percent of their summer salaries.

Year Two

Your second year is the time to follow your interests and try many things you may never have done before.

In your second year, you select from a wide range of majors and electives that help you develop one or more areas of expertise.

You take your remaining core requirements and drill deeper within the wide range of electives — you take at least nine electives, five of which form a major. For customized interests, students often partner with faculty and businesses on individual advanced student projects.

You will also have time to lead a conference, become a Leadership or Venture fellow, get involved in student government or practice your interviewing skills.

Leadership Fellows

Leadership Fellows are charged with providing every first year student the opportunity to enhance their leadership potential through the development of practical tools and concrete strategies applicable in every area of their lives.

Student Conferences

Each year, Wharton students plan conferences that attract influential international executives from both the public and private sectors and help to make Wharton a vibrant international hub for the exchange of business knowledge. A sample of annual conferences include:

• Consulting Conference
• Energy Conference
• Entrepreneurship Conference
• Finance Conference
• Global Business Forums
• Health Care Business Conference  

Second-Year Networking Expos

Second-Year Networking Expos are open forums that second-year students with exposure to employers with early exposure to second-year students. Because second-year students are often more targeted in their job searches, the format of the Networking Expos focuses on direct student-employer interaction rather than broad informational presentations. Companies targeting second-year students may attend either a Networking Expo or host a Combined First and Second-Year Employer Information Sessions.

Employer Information Sessions

Wharton typically hosts more than 150 employer information sessions each year. These sessions allow students to learn more about the culture and opportunities of potential employers and specific industries through presentations by senior managers and recently hired associates.  

Career Treks

Career Treks are student-managed visits to companies in various U.S. and international cities for the purposes of education and networking across all industries. The goal of Career Treks is to provide students access to companies or divisions that may not recruit on campus, build industry knowledge and foster a stronger job search network.