FAQs

You can attend MBA classes, have lunch with a current student, attend an information session hosted by a member of the Admissions Committee, and attend the MBA pub (only available on Thursdays). Some of these activities are not available from May through September when students are not in session. For more information, explore the student2student discussion board or go to the Visit Wharton page.

Please review our list of hotels.

Although our alumni have occasionally been overwhelmed by requests to meet one-on-one, they are eager to discuss the benefits of a Wharton education with prospective students at the scheduled receptions and forums in which we participate throughout the World. For a list of these events, please check the Admissions Events page. Alumni also conduct more than one-third of all our interviews. In addition to the forums and receptions, we invite candidates to visit campus, sit in on classes, and speak with current students. A campus visit remains one of the best ways to get to know the program and what we have to offer.

The university is unable to sponsor individual visits to the campus. The Office of International Programs, which handles visa and immigration issues at the university, is restricted to support for students who have been admitted and intend to enroll at the school.

The materials are typically available in August for admission in the following year. In an effort to support Penn President Amy Gutmann's commitment to environmental sustainability, the Wharton MBA program will no longer be printing and mailing paper brochures. By doing so, we will significantly reduce our carbon footprint and conserve valuable environmental resources. We welcome you to use the website to view, print and/or download some forms and informational brochures. For more information on Penn's commitment to sustainability, please visit the Penn Green Campus website. To download our current brochure, please visit our Request Information page.  

Wharton offers three rounds of admissions. To determine which is the best round for you, please visit the Quick Facts and Dates page.

• The minimum requirements to be eligible to apply for admission to the MBA program are as follows:
• Completion of an undergraduate program in an accredited U.S. college or its equivalent in another country.
• Results of the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)
• Submission of the Wharton application
• Results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) unless you have earned an undergraduate or master's degree in an English-speaking country or from an institution in which English is the language of instruction. To waive the TOEFL, you must include a letter requesting the waiver in your application AND documentation that your education was in English.

For more information on the application process, go to the Admissions Process page.

Yes you can apply. We do not exclude candidates who have an MBA or any other graduate degree. You should, however, fully explain your reasons for pursuing a second MBA in your application.

There are a number of universities around the world that offer 3-year undergraduate programs. If you have received a Bachelor's degree upon completion of such a program, you are eligible to apply to the Wharton MBA program.

We receive 5000-7000 applications in a given year. Of these, we generally admit about 1,000 candidates for a class of 800 students. It is fair to state that approximately 75-80 percent of all applicants are qualified for admission.

We interview by invitation only. After we review the completed application, Wharton selects candidates for interviews. No candidate is admitted without an interview.

If you submit material before you submit the actual application, we will start a correspondence file for you. Once we receive the application, we will transfer the materials in the correspondence file to your application file. If we receive additional information after you have submitted your application, then you must make sure we are aware that you have already applied. We prefer you do not submit additional material after you submit your application. Once the review of an application has begun, we cannot guarantee that any additional materials sent by an applicant will be considered.

To request an application fee waiver, you need to submit a written letter to the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid detailing why you should be considered for the waiver. Your request must be emailed before submitting your application, not after submission and payment (see Contact Us for mailing address). This waiver is granted only under extreme circumstances related to financial need.

All applicants receive their decision letter over the Web, regardless of how they applied (Wharton's online system, or via paper). We do not release decisions over the telephone or via e-mail or fax. If admitted, you will receive additional information, along with a hard copy of your admissions letter, via regular mail.

The three round deadlines for Fall 2010 entry are:

MBA Program

MBA/MA–Lauder Program

For U.S. students entering Wharton in September 2009, the average GPA is 3.5 on a 4.0 scale; however, as with the GMAT, there are no cutoffs. (International students or U.S. students who were not awarded GPAs from their undergraduate institutions should not translate their grades into a GPA score. If this is your situation, report your performance as it was recorded in your official academic records or transcripts.) In evaluating transcripts, the Admissions Committee does not focus on the GPA in isolation. The entire academic history is examined to reveal the rigor of the program, any trends of strength or weakness in specific areas, and any patterns of improvement. In addition, we factor into our evaluation any additional commitments (such as work or extracurricular activities) an applicant had while studying. We will also look at all classes taken since undergraduate, including additional graduate work.

GMAT Questions

The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is offered year round as a computer adaptive test. You should plan to register for the test at least 1 month before you plan to take it. You need to have completed the GMAT test before we can process your application. GMAT scores are valid for 5 years after the test date. You should include a photocopy of your official GMAT report. If we are unable to locate your official score sent by ETS, we will confirm your score with ETS by telephone. Our average GMAT score for recent entering classes is approximately 715, but the range of scores of admitted students is very broad. A high score does not guarantee anyone's acceptance, nor does a low score preclude it. There is no minimum score required. If you take the GMAT more than once, the Admissions Committee will evaluate your highest score. We do not average multiple GMAT scores. For more information, go to Admissions Process.

The GMAT is the only test designed specifically for business schools to test the skills required to successfully complete an MBA program. Other entrance exams do not measure the same abilities in a comparable way.

For international students entering Wharton in Fall 2009, the average TOEFL/iTOEFL score is 633/110. We keep TOEFL scores submitted within the previous 2 years, or as long as they are valid (2 years from the test date). If we cannot locate your official report, we will verify it with ETS. For more information, go to Admissions Process.

International students may waive the TOEFL exam if they have earned an undergraduate or master's degree in an English-speaking country or from an institution in which English is the language of instruction. Other international students, with extensive work experience in an English-speaking environment, can include a waiver request with the application. The admissions committee will review this request before granting a waiver.

No. Because we want to evaluate all candidates against the same measure, applicants need to submit the TOEFL. The TOEFL is one tool we use to assess English proficiency. We also pay careful attention to a student's GMAT (verbal percentile and AWA score), written and spoken English, recommender observations, and exposure to language. Applicants who earned a baccalaureate or advanced degree at an institution where the medium of instruction was English, or who have had considerable exposure to the language, may waive the test. A waiver request may be submitted as part of your application.

The average student has worked for 5 or 6 years between college and the MBA program. The program does accept early career candidates with limited or no experience who exhibit strong managerial and professional potential. The Admissions Committee looks for individuals who exhibit professional maturity. In other words, we evaluate work experience not in terms of years but the depth and breadth of an individual's position, his or her contributions to the work environment, and level of responsibility and progression.

Wharton looks for diversity in the professional backgrounds of its admitted students just as it does in all other parts of our applicants' profiles. No one industry is favored over another, and experience in a Fortune 500 company does not have higher value than experience in a small business or public institution.

While we recognize the value of graduate academic work, we do not count academic work towards professional work experience.

Absolutely. The service provides many rich and varied opportunities for professional growth and development. Military candidates are evaluated based on the same criteria as other candidates, including the nature and scope of the work, the skill sets required, work progression, and general leadership and management skills developed.

Certainly. As with all work experiences, we are interested in the skills acquired on the job and level of progression (measured by scope of responsibilities, job title, salary).

We welcome applicants directly from undergraduate school who are motivated and exhibit strong leadership and managerial potential. In preparation for the Wharton MBA program, the stronger your quantitative background, the better prepared you will be to take finance, statistics, accounting, economics, and other quantitative courses offered in our curriculum. Calculus and/or statistics are good foundation courses. We do accept students without this type of background, but we like to see evidence of a capacity to handle these types of topics (e.g., strong quantitative GMAT scores, strong academic performance in quantitative subjects). We are also interested in your history of involvement in extra-curricular activities, community service, and hobbies. We advise undergraduates to apply in the Fall prior to the academic year in which they want to enroll in the program. Admission to the program is contingent upon successful completion of the undergraduate degree. We do not offer deferred admissions for those applying while still in an undergraduate program.

Each year we welcome a number of early career candidates(individuals with 0-3 years of professional work experience) into our program. We are more interested in the skills you have acquired to date, including leadership and management opportunities, than the number of years you have been in the work force. We consider not only the skills you have demonstrated to date but also your future potential.

No. Many students at Wharton have not had business courses prior to entering the program. Generally, 40 percent of our class is made up of people with liberal arts backgrounds. Pre-term offers incoming students an opportunity to "brush up" on their quantitative skills before classes begin. Candidates are also encouraged to complete introductory courses in calculus and statistics prior to entrance, since much of the course work requires quantitative skills. Please go to Nontraditional Students for more information.

Consider the joint MBA/MA – Lauder program if you speak one of these eight languages relatively well: Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish. Other options for language study at Penn include courses through the School of Arts and Sciences or Penn Language Center.

Applications for dual-degree programs must be filed separately with Wharton and the co-sponsoring school. Often the co-sponsoring school has earlier deadlines and different procedures than Wharton. Applicants to dual-degree programs should make sure to follow the individual school's instructions carefully. For a full list of dual degree programs, visit Interdisciplinary Programs.

Prospective students interested in these dual-degree programs should request Wharton School information and should contact the co-sponsoring school directly for their admissions information. Note: The Lauder Institute's MBA/MA program is an integrated curriculum, so please submit applications to Wharton and Lauder simultaneously.

Wharton does not accept transfer credits, but does encourage students to waive required core courses, either by furnishing the required academic or professional credentials or passing Wharton's waiver examinations. Waiving courses gives you the opportunity to take more electives.

You can reapply to the MBA program, but not during the same academic year. For more information, visit Reapplication Procedures.

We allow admitted candidates to defer enrollment by 1 year for extenuating personal circumstances beyond the student's control. Send all defer requests in writing to the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid after you have matriculated into the program.

The median total compensation package for graduates of the class of 2008 was $137,000 . The median base salary was $100,000. Other compensation included sign-on bonus, year-end bonus, tuition reimbursement, relocation expenses, mortgage assistance, automobiles, stock options, etc. For more detailed information, please see the MBA Career Management Website.

Other than the Wharton MBA for Executives program, the Wharton MBA is a 2-year, full-time program with most courses taught during the day (Monday-Thursday). Other (non-MBA) programs that may interest you include Wharton Executive Education and Wharton Programs for Working Professionals.