TBD Interview Advice from Former Wharton Admissions Staffers

05-17

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TBD Interview Advice from Former Wharton Admissions Staffers

Acing the Wharton TBD: Advice from Former Wharton Admissions Staffers

By Jeanette Brown

There』s been a steady stream of bright yellow interview invites to Wharton lighting up Clear Admit』s LiveWire for two weeks running, suggesting that many of you

are in the throes of preparing for the school』s unique team-based discussion

(TBD).

The prompt Wharton used for the TBD with Round 1 applicants in the fall was

as follows:

「For many students, the global perspective fostered by Wharton』s

international community is brought into focus through immersive learning

opportunities like Global Modular Courses (GMCs). GMCs are full-credit courses

in an intensive workshop format that take place in a location relevant to the

topic.

For the purpose of this discussion, consider yourself part of a group of

students invited to design a new GMC. As a team, agree upon a topic to explore

then plan a four-day course in a location or locations relevant to that topic.

Provide opportunities for academic and cultural immersion experiences while

keeping in mind logistical constraints and clearly articulating your course』s

desired outcomes.」

rend we』ve seen in recent years, namely that Wharton is choosing to present

scenarios as part of the TBD that MBA students could very well encounter while

at the school. In its initial iterations, the TBD prompts were frequently a

little more abstract.

This year』s assignment seems pretty cool, in fact. You and your teammates get

to plan a once-in-a-lifetime trip to another part of the world where you』ll have

some hands-on learning opportunities as well as a chance to get to know the

local culture. Not so hard, right? Ah, but here』s the twist: Each of the five

applicants in the TBD brings his or her own idea for a GMC and has one minute to

pitch it to the others. Then, the group together selects just one of those ideas

to develop further as the real heart of the exercise.

TBD Designed to Allow Wharton to Evaluate Candidates in Multiple

Ways

「Certainly this prompt gets closer to really understanding how someone

will contribute during their time at the school, so it has value beyond seeing

how someone interacts in a group discussion,」 says Alex Brown, a Clear Admit

consultant who worked for several years in admissions at Wharton. But as for the

part where the group determines which of the ideas to run with, 「That could get

『tricky』,」 he says.

Tricky indeed, agrees Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond, another former

Wharton admissions officer who also happens to hold an MBA from the school. 「All

the work you do in advance might be for naught, since you have only a 1-in-5

chance that your 『great idea』 for a GMC will be chosen by the group,」 he

says.

「Talk about a tough dynamic,」 he continues, 「since many will assume that if

their idea is chosen they will have a slight advantage out of the gate…and they

therefore may be reluctant to let it go/to not battle a bit for their idea to be

chosen.」

How to Prepare for the Pitch

Putting aside for a moment that particular wrinkle, let』s think about how

to approach preparing your individual GMC idea to pitch to the group. Richmond

sees this as a two-part exercise, beginning with developing a very clear

understanding of the GMCs currently on offer at Wharton.

For starters, visit the GMC page on Wharton』s website to get a feel for what

they involve—and what』s already been done. Because you should most certainly

think of the TBD as an opportunity to show your knowledge of what happens at the

school, Brown points out. While you could certainly propose a GMC to a region

where these kinds of trips have already been taken, if you went that route,

you』d want to be sure to propose a topic that hasn』t already been covered,

Richmond cautions. Or you could argue in favor of a destination outside of the

seven currently on offer.

Become intimately familiar with some of the ideas that have worked as GMCs in

the past so that you can take the creative leap from what has been done before

to what could be new and novel. 「Once you』ve done some homework on what has been

offered in the past, you might even reach out to current students who have led

or participated in GMCs to get their insights of what worked well,」 Richmond

says.

International Applicants: Embrace Your Home Country

Advantage

If you are among the large percentage of international applicants to

Wharton—by all means let your knowledge of another part of the world be your

guide. You very likely know your home country better than anyone else in your

TBD group and can make a compelling argument for what relevant topic might best

be explored. You also have an insider』s understanding of the possibilities for

cultural immersions that could be integrated into the trip—and are probably well

aware of any logistical challenges that might arise as well. This home country

advantage can help you make a strong case for why your proposed GMC could be the

best one for the team to pursue.

If you』re not an international candidate—or even if you are—remember that the

GMC you propose should also be consistent with your goals and your candidacy.

「View this as an opportunity to highlight important aspects of your

application,」 Richmond suggests. 「In other words, this is your chance to show

that you are the corporate social responsibility gal or the energy sector guy,

etc.」

Next, once you have a great sense of the preferred destination for your GMC

and you』ve honed in on a topic that could be truly important to study in the

region, you then need to figure out how to pitch it…in one minute or less. 「You

need to present your idea in a way that is concise, compelling, and

convincing—without sounding cocky, condescending, or close-minded,」 says

Richmond.

And that』s just the two-part process for preparing your pitch. Next up: You

need to really consider the team-based part of the TBD. Richmond advises

thinking about this along two tracks, one in the event that your idea is chosen

and the other if it』s not.

How to Prepare for the Discussion

「If your pitch is picked, then you need to think about how you will work

with the team to flesh out your idea and incorporate what the group might add,」

he says. 「Your goal here is to be seen as an inclusive leader who works well in

teams.」

If yours is not the idea the group decides to run with, then it』s time to

pivot quickly to finding a way to jump on board with someone else』s concept,

says Richmond. 「You want to look for ways to marshal support for the idea and

have a really productive, friendly brainstorming session with the group.」

Some applicants might worry that demonstrating leadership skill and vision as

part of the TBD will be hard until it』s their idea that』s chosen. Not

necessarily the case, Richmond says. 「I would argue that the person who helps

identify another TBD team member』s idea as the one to pursue—and rallies support

for it while striving to include all TBD members in the process—might actually

be just as well served (if not better) than the person who』s idea is

chosen…」

So give that some thought as you consider how hard to fight for your idea

over another』s.

以上內容摘自：

https://www.clearadmit.com/2018/02/wharton-tbd-prompt-revealed-former-wharton/