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When you hear “Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,” the first thought that pops into your head might be “finance”—and understandably so, given that the Wharton MBA program has been a leading institution in the area of finance since the school was founded in 1881. But what you might not realize is how much of a powerhouse UPenn Wharton is in other business domains. Its marketing and customer analytics courses are cutting-edge, while aspiring entrepreneurs will find loads of resources in Wharton’s new Tangen Hall, the largest student entrepreneurship hub in the world.

UPenn Wharton has a streamlined—some might even say brief!—application. As you will see once you examine the school’s essay prompts (as we do in detail in this post), Wharton focuses on two areas: your goals and your potential to contribute to Wharton. 

However, do not let the brevity of the program’s application essays, totaling just 550 words, mislead you into thinking that crafting strong responses will be easy. Based on our conversations with members of Wharton’s admissions team, we at Gatehouse know that the program invests significant time and energy into analyzing its admissions process, inspecting historic data to determine which applicant information is most essential to predicting students’ success both in the program and beyond. Therefore, we can assume that Wharton’s team has designed the application to provide enough inputs to make an informed decision on who should join the school’s community. So, again, although Wharton’s essay questions perhaps look easier than others, they are definitely no less critical or worthy of a strong strategy. 

Essay 1: Two short-form questions

Part 1: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 words)

Part 2: Describe your medium- and long-term professional goals after your Wharton MBA. (150 words)

Wharton’s first essay question reminds once again that the MBA is a professional degree. Wharton’s intention is to help propel you toward your career goals. Therefore, asking what your intention is in attending Wharton is perfectly reasonable. 

It goes almost without saying that before you start crafting your response, deeply consider what you actually want to do professionally after you graduate! Your short-term career goals should be feasible, reasonably ambitious, thoughtful, and logical. More specifically, your goals need to be feasible in terms of whether Wharton is well positioned to help you reach them; reasonably ambitious in that the power of the Wharton MBA will enable you to reach further than you would otherwise be able to (but not so ambitious that your goals seem unattainable—think: becoming a CEO of a CPG company right after graduation); thoughtful in that you understand the impact you want to have and the personal growth you aim to gain along the way; and logical in that the goals “make sense” based on the skills and experiences you have accrued to date. 

When crafting your response, be direct and specific. The Wharton admissions team suggests that you can note your desired “title, function, industry, etc.” in your response. We appreciate such guidance—often, applicants do not reflect to that level of detail, but Wharton’s advice should steer you toward a clear response that leaves the team little question as to where you want to be upon graduating. 

For the second part of the question, consider the fuller equation of your goals. The position you want to obtain in the short term should somehow relate to where you have been and then logically flow into where you want to end up in the next 5 or so years, and even longer term. We encourage you to reflect in your response on the personal and professional development you seek, the impact you aim to have, and how your goals relate to your experience to date. That is a tall order in 150 words, made all the more challenging because you need to also explain the goals themselves. On the plus side, including these additional elements can help more of you come through in your response. We often say, “You get no points for the originality of your goals!” Lots of applicants will be admitted with goals as commonplace as “becoming a management consultant.” (No offense to management consultants! Several members of the Gatehouse team were management consultants after business school.) What you do get “points” for is having goals that are feasible, reasonably ambitious, thoughtful, and logical.

Essay 2: Long-form essay

Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (350 words)

To compose an essay that effectively captures your potential contribution to Wharton, you will need a strong grasp of Wharton’s community and resources. 

As you start brainstorming potential areas of contribution, let us share a potentially uncomfortable truth, but one you need to keep in mind with respect to this essay. All of the following contributions are incredibly valuable, but you should assume that many—even most—other Wharton applicants can offer them as well: analytical skills to help classmates who might struggle with some of the initial coursework (this scenario is actually extremely rare), a robust network, a willingness to help (other) international/LGBTQAI+/minority/etc. classmates get settled, and an interest in being an alumni mentor and/or interviewer. Does that mean that under no circumstances should you mention any of these? Of course not! But if you do, you absolutely must offer clear stories and reasons that substantiate why you are (or will be) especially adept at what you propose.

Regardless of what you choose to highlight, your essay should not end up being just a laundry list, in part because you do not have enough space to enumerate a large number of ideas, but more importantly, because this is about quality, not quantity. In your mere 350 words, you want to highlight two or three examples of how you will participate in the community—the Wharton community, the Penn community, and/or the Philadelphia community more broadly. How can you make an impact? Have you identified a gap in the school’s offerings that you could help fill or a resource that is already available that you could improve (innovation!)? Can you offer something relatively unique based on your personal experiences and background? What would you do, and what role would you take?

A key part of this essay question that applicants often overlook is the intro phrase: “Taking into consideration your background.” Wharton is asking not just about what you expect to do, but why. What is motivating you to participate in the activity you mention? How does it connect with your life experiences, good or bad? Of all the many things you could choose to be involved in at Wharton, what has prompted you to focus on this one?

And to set the record straight, you do not have to avoid getting personal or worry about being “basic.” The main thing is to be authentic. For example, if you are an expert skier or wine connoisseur, stating that you plan to join the ski club or wine club is perfectly acceptable, but you need to then go a step further and explain what you specifically can bring to the table.

More about Wharton

We have added this section because too often, we hear candidates dismiss Wharton because they assume the program is either too competitive or too focused on finance. Wharton is of course full of driven, ambitious students, but so is every top business school; collaboration on campus is still pervasive. Likewise, Wharton’s finance curriculum is top-notch, but so is its prowess in marketing, strategy, entrepreneurship, and other key areas. 

At Wharton, collaboration is crucial to success. From its team-based admissions interviews to the structure of its learning teams, Wharton demonstrates again and again that working with others to achieve a mutual goal is held in high regard. With respect to its essays, highlighting teamwork examples can therefore be useful, but note that a team involves people in many different roles, and various types of leadership are valued. Do not feel you must present an example of professional success or a team you “led” to be able to submit an effective essay; examples that demonstrate other types of leadership, or other roles on a team, can be equally or even more effective. (Note: If you are not familiar with the McNulty Leadership Program and what it offers, quickly reviewing it would be worth your time.)

Wharton has tried hard to break free of its former reputation as mostly a “finance school,” and one of the ways it has succeeded is by embracing innovation, through its courses, venture conferences and competitions, and student body. Demonstrating that you have an interest in being innovative, or in engineering change in any form, can help convince Wharton that you will be a good fit with its program.

Your analytical skills can be communicated through your GMAT/GRE scores and your undergraduate coursework and GPA, but if your skills are lacking—and even if they are not—your essays (and/or your resume) can offer additional avenues through which to show the admissions committee your analytical prowess. Wharton wants to see quantitative proficiency, so make sure to show evidence of such. Note that we are using the word “show” here intentionally; you want to include examples that effectively “show” the admissions committee that you possess these skills, not just tell the schools that you have them.

In an effort to create future leaders with a global mindset, Wharton prides itself on the diverse makeup of its student body, with members hailing from around the globe. Describing the experiences you have had across different regions and cultures, and explaining what you learned/gained from those experiences, can reveal your ability strengthen the student body.