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The Wharton Interview February 24, 2005

Posted by Simba in : Uncategorized , trackback

Read the title clearly.. it is ‘The’ Wharton Interview… as in ‘The Mother of all’ kinds. :-) But I surely had a great time.

I had scheduled my interview with the Adcom as a part of the Mumbai hub. The last 2-3 days, I looked around the entire Wharton website and poured into my application n times. I knew that having a Wharton call was no joke and I would be an a$$ if I take this thing lightly. As per my good pal’s suggestion, yesterday evening I sat with Montauk’s book and looked through the sections where he talks about ‘Essays’ & ‘What the School is looking for’. I introspected about the everything that makes me passionate about an Wharton MBA. I plowed through the normal set of questions ‘Why MBA’ & ‘Why Wharton’ ‘What am I gonna contribute at Wharton’ etc. I have never prepared for an MBA interview as intensely as I did for W. I almost knew the certain things that I had to mention during the course of conversation. I made bulleted points for ‘Why’ questions :) because I didnt want to rattle on aimlessly. I was just hoping to speak passionately without sounding as if I was reading a sermon!

Anyways, I was up at 5ish something & jolted myself with a steaming cup of strong coffee. I caught a Mumbai local & headed straight to The Oberoi, yes, the same hotel I had my Oxford interview. The same Business Centre and thankfully, not the same Lounge :D Actually, I reached there just in time, read the newspaper and started studying the paintings on the wall. I have a great desire to paint something abstract, but it eventually ends up in a riot of colors. Anyways, I was called immediately and the first thing I got to hear from the Adcom was “You sure have had a busy life” :-)

The questions buzzed around the same set of questions - my career progress, the companies I worked for, the challenges and defining experiences, my future goals and my passion for community involvement, interests with regards to women-in-business etc etc. I think I was able to convey most of the things I wanted to and it helped that the bulleted points came out quite easily and fluently. :-) We discussed a lot about Women - @ Wharton, in different fields, challenges that we face, S2S boards, Adm Blog etc and I passionately spoke about some of the issues and problems I have faced “the glass ceilings” and I sincerely hope that I made some sense! Attimes, I really blabbered and as soon as I realized I tried to move closer to the answer. :-) I asked her a couple of things about the program and it was over. I was happy with myself when she said that it was amazing to meet people like me, yeah, she said that, she was happy that I was so passionate about so many things and she also said, “Its great because I hardly get to meet such people like you” :-) So, I hope to have made a favorable impression on her but come to think of it, I think my candidature will now be looked upon in its totality and only then will a decision be made. So, another month’s wait…

Comments»

1. Atta Girl - February 24, 2005

Ha!!! This one too is in your pocket babe..!!! LOL!! Rock on!! The sky is the limit! :-)

2. Simba - February 24, 2005

LOL, girlie.. Its Wharton!!! ;-) ;-)

3. uRmad - February 24, 2005

Rock on soWmya :D All da best :)

4. kalyan - February 24, 2005

Hey Saumya,
Looks like u r going to make it thru Wharton too!!!!!! all the very best once again and yes the comments made by the adcom are very very positive…… m just waiting for ur treat…….

regds
Kalyan

5. Atta Girl - February 24, 2005

So what if it’s Wharton, you are super ‘SIMBA’;-)

6. shameek - February 24, 2005

awesome !!! simply awesome !!!

u are making it to W . mark my words girl :)

7. Dave - February 24, 2005

All the best!!

8. Vish - February 24, 2005

The jury’s unanimous verdict…

IN

:) Way ta go soWmya

9. Metal - February 25, 2005

Simba..ur definitely in…now the question is whether they offer u some schol. Till then stay put with Team Fuqua.

10. Ketan - February 25, 2005

I WARNED you !!!!

Now you have a tough choice between FUQUA and WHARTON :-)

What a choice, cool !!

Best Luck

11. Simba - February 25, 2005

LOL, Thanks everybody… Howcum everyone’s so sure except me.. :-) Anyways, am just crossing my fingers!!

And Metal, Wharton giving me an admit is GREAT.. And no, I wont get any schol…Have u heard of someone with a low GMAT score (much lesser than school’s average!) get a scholarship!! Tsk Tsk!!

And the decision b/w F & W is OBVIOUS!! Whats there to even think… ;-) ;-)

12. Vish - February 25, 2005

OMG not back to GMAT again! You can always tell W “Gimme schol or I goto Duqua”. They’ll move the congress to get ya one :mg:

13. puneet - February 25, 2005

simba , great interview … now here’s a connection W Mod —> W :-)

14. Vish - February 25, 2005

HEY Puneet .. thats MY LINE x-(

15. Wakechick - February 26, 2005

Sounds like it went well. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

16. Simba - February 26, 2005

Guys.. Theres one more connection of W.. think think!! ;-)

And WC - Thanks a lot…I shall pray for u too!! :-)