| Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1881 |
| Type | Private |
| Endowment | $800 million[1] |
| Dean | Thomas Robertson |
| Academic staff | 304 |
| Undergraduates | 2,306 |
| Postgraduates | 1,671 |
| Location | Philadelphia, PA, USA |
| Alumni | 81,000 |
| Affiliations | University of Pennsylvania |
| Website | www.wharton.upenn.edu |
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States. It was established in 1881 through a donation of Joseph Wharton.
Alone and in conjunction with the other schools and colleges of the university, Wharton grants B.S. and MBA degrees, offers a Ph.D. program,[2] and houses or co-sponsors several diploma programs. With the most electives of any business school,[3] Wharton's MBA program offers concentrations in accounting, business and public policy, entrepreneurial management, environmental management, finance, health care systems, human resource and organizational management, insurance and risk management, legal studies and business ethics, management, marketing, multinational management, operations and information management, real estate, retailing, statistics and strategic management.
The school currently has 278 faculty members, translating to a 17:1 student-to-faculty ratio. The school's faculty is the world’s most published and most cited among business schools.[4] Research published in the peer-reviewed Academy of Management Journal ranked Wharton as the top institution in the simultaneous pursuit of scholarly achievements and excellence in teaching.[5] Most recently, The Chronicle of Higher Education rated Wharton's Marketing and Management departments as the first and second in the world for research productivity, respectively.[6] In terms of MBA program ranking, the Financial Times has placed the Wharton School as the top business school in the world for eleven out of twelve years from 2000 to 2011.
The admissions process at Wharton is highly selective; it is one of the most competitive business schools in the world. A high GPA, high GMAT score, and very strong non-quantitative credentials are typically required for admission.
The school publishes an online journal, Knowledge@Wharton, that is "the envy of every other school" according to The Economist,[7] and has a newly established publishing house, Wharton School Publishing. Wharton maintains the world's largest financial, economics, management, marketing, and public policy data warehouses accessible through state-of-the-art web-based data management services, called WRDS.[8]
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The Wharton School, the world's first collegiate business school, was founded in 1881 by Philadelphia industrialist and philanthropist Joseph Wharton.[9] A native Philadelphian, Wharton became a leader in industrial metallurgy and built a fortune through his American Nickel Company and Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The anvil, a School symbol, reflects Wharton's pioneering work in the metal industry. Joseph Wharton envisioned creating a new collegiate foundation that would produce educated leaders of business and government. From the beginning, he defined the goal of the Wharton School of Finance and Economy to be "to provide for young men special means of training and of correct instruction in the knowledge and in the arts of modern Finance and Economy, both public and private, in order that, being well informed and free from delusions upon these important subjects, they may either serve the community skillfully as well as faithfully in offices of trust, or, remaining in private life, may prudently manage their own affairs and aid in maintaining sound financial morality: in short, to establish means for imparting a liberal education in all matters concerning Finance and Economy."[10]
Prospective Wharton candidates apply in their senior year of high school either through the early decision (ED) process or regular decision (RD) process. Unlike many other undergraduate business programs where students transfer in after their freshman or sophomore year (University of Virginia's McIntire, Emory's Goizueta, UC Berkeley's Haas), Wharton applicants apply specifically for Wharton during their senior year of high school. These candidates are then grouped with a pool of applicants separate from those applying to University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), or School of Nursing.[11] Though some of the admissions criteria for admissions into Wharton, CAS, and SEAS overlap, the admissions committee, when selecting Wharton students, also looks for qualities that fit with the business school's unique undergraduate culture.
The admissions process for Wharton's undergraduate program is extremely competitive. Wharton's acceptance rate in 2009 was 9%. Wharton's yield, or the percent of students who matriculate after being accepted, is about 77%, a number matched only by Harvard (76%).[12][13] Princeton's yield in 2009 was 60% and Yale 69%. Through its selective admissions process and consistently strong performance, Wharton has maintained its position as the top undergraduate business program in U.S. News & World Report since the ranking's inception.[14]
Students in the other three undergraduates schools who satisfy certain prerequisites may apply to transfer into Wharton or pursue a dual degree after their freshman year. The transfer/dual degree process is subjective. Students with the necessary coursework must fill out a three question application to be considered by a panel of Wharton faculty. The application questions include reason for interest in transferring, intended course of study in Wharton, and extracurricular activities and hobbies with which the applicants occupied their time in and out of high school. Only those applicants who achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.40 or above are considered by the panel, though the GPA of accepted applicants will typically exceed 3.70. Conversely, Wharton students may also transfer out of the business program into CAS or SEAS.
The specialized program at Wharton focuses on a broad range of business or finance-related subjects. Though students graduate with a B.S. in Economics, Wharton's curriculum is very different from that of a typical economics major (which the University of Pennsylvania offers through its College of Arts and Sciences). Wharton emphasizes teaching students the skills they need to obtain and succeed in many careers as opposed to general economics theory.
At the same time, undergraduate students are given a general liberal arts education to complement their business concentration. Potential concentrations include Actuarial Science, Business and Public Policy, Environmental Policy & Management, Finance, Health Care Management and Policy, Insurance and Risk Management, Management, Marketing, Operations and Information Management, Real Estate, Statistics, and Transportation. Second concentrations are also available in more specialized topics such as Entrepreneurship & Innovation or Retailing. Emphasis is placed on an international perspective, aided by the geographically diverse student body. Leadership and communication skills are also an area of focus with many core classes incorporating group projects and all freshmen enrolled in Management 100, a course in which student teams complete a semester project benefiting a partner Philadelphia community organization.
A small group of students also choose to apply for a dual degree, allowing them to graduate with two degrees—a B.S. in Economics from Wharton as well as a B.S. or B.A. in another subject taken at the University of Pennsylvania such as Engineering or Mathematics.
Over 50% of Wharton's typical undergraduate class of 500 students go into investment banking with the majority employed at a bulge bracket firm earning a typical base salary of $70,000, a typical signing bonus of $10,000, and a year-end bonus for first year analysts as high as $100,000.[15][16][17][18][19][20] The next most common industry after investment banking is consulting, with firms like McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company and many other firms hiring approximately 30% of the students. A number of students also enter the buy-side with offers from top hedge funds such as Citadel LLC or private equity firms such as Silver Lake Partners or Blackstone Group.[17] A number of students, particularly those in the M&T Program, enter the technology industry with offers from employers such as Google and Microsoft.
Wharton School's differentiation lies in its 19 majors, over 250 faculty members, 11 academic departments, nearly 200 electives, 24 research centers and initiatives, and a strong alumni network.
The school offers two paths, an MBA for full-time students and an MBA for executives.[21] Students can elect to pursue double majors or individualized majors. During their first year, all students pursue a required core curriculum that covers traditional management disciplines—finance, marketing, statistics, and strategy—as well as the leadership, ethics, and communication skills needed at senior levels of management.[22] Students pick electives in the second year.[23]
Wharton MBA's required pre-term for full-time students includes coursework, waiver testing, and the "Learning Team Retreat". Coursework includes introductory and review courses in financial accounting, microeconomics, statistics, and financial analysis. Preparatory courses cover material not included in fall coursework that students are expected to understand. In addition, pre-term includes classes on business history and languages, as well as short seminars in communication skills, computing technology, trading simulations, and career management. Students may also spend term time at INSEAD's Fontainebleau and Singapore campuses.
Wharton's MBA for Executives is a two-year, lockstep, weekend residential program with the same curriculum, campus classroom time, credit requirements and elective choices as the full-time MBA program. As such, this is one of the most highly sought and rigorous programs with very high selectivity (low acceptance rate). This program, for more experienced professionals, has the same campus classroom time and credit hours as the full-time program by having longer classroom hours during residential periods and running full terms during summers (when full-time students are interning). Wharton admits only one class with a single entry point every year.
In July 2009 Wharton School announced that they would also accept the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for future admission to its MBA program in addition to GMAT scores.[24]
Though Wharton MBA students receive grades, students have for years enacted a policy of grade non-disclosure whereby such grades are not disclosed to or discussed with others. The school, however, does recognize students at the very top of the class. The top academic honor in the Wharton MBA Program is the Palmer Scholar designation, given to the top 5% of the graduating MBA class. Students who rank in the top 20% of the graduating class after both their first and second years are awarded Graduation with Honors. Students who rank in the top 20% of their class after the first year are awarded First Year Honors. The student or students with the top cumulative GPA at the end of the first year of the MBA program is awarded the Ford Fellowship.
Wharton offers Ph.D. degrees in applied economics and managerial science (as opposed to some schools, which grant DBAs.) However, unlike other programs at Wharton, "the Wharton School name will not appear on your diploma", as "the University of Pennsylvania awards all research Ph.D. and master's degrees."[25] It takes approximately four to six years to complete the doctoral program.
The admissions process for the Wharton doctoral program is extremely competitive. In 2010 the Ph.D. program received over 1,300 applicants for 35 spots. Applicants are expected to demonstrate exceptional quantitative abilities and most matriculants have perfect GRE Quantitative scores. Although verbal skills are somewhat less emphasized, matriculants average close to the 90th percentile on GRE Verbal scores. Most graduates of the Wharton doctoral program pursue academic careers after graduation, though some graduates choose to work in public or private sectors as well.[26]
Nine fields of specialization are offered by the program: Accounting, Applied Economics, Ethics & Legal Studies, Finance, Health Care Management & Economics, Management, Marketing, Operations & Information Management, and Statistics. The entering class of 2010 contained 35 students, more than half of whom were U.S. citizens. The average age of the entering student was 26. Three fourths of the 2010 class were men.[27] All Wharton doctoral students are fully funded.[28]
Options for international study and experience include Wharton's Lauder Institute, the Global Immersion Program, Leadership Ventures, Global Consulting Practicum, and exchange programs with schools in 11 countries, including the alliance with the leading international business school, INSEAD.
Wharton MBA students may pursue a dual degree with the Lauder Institute, Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, or in one of the graduate schools at the University of Pennsylvania:
Wharton undergraduates may pursue joint degrees in engineering through the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, international business through the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, Nursing & Health Care Management, and a joint program in life sciences and business through the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management. Undergraduates may also, independent from these programs, pursue dual degrees with any of Penn's three other undergraduate schools.
Wharton lists three types of degrees on their interdisciplinary lineup: Undergraduate programs, MBA programs and the Executive Masters in Technology Management Program. Wharton co-sponsors the EMTM Program with SEAS. This degree prepares engineers and scientists for leadership roles in technology-based organizations. Graduates receive a master's of science in engineering (MSE) in the management of technology from Penn Engineering.
The Wharton School operates the Aresty Institute of Executive Education, a highly regarded center for post-graduate and professional advancement.[29] Sharing its faculty with the full-time Wharton degree programs, the institute offers open-enrollment, semester, and custom programs in Executive Development, Advanced Management, Financial Wealth Management, and a wide variety of evolving fields.[29]
Founded in 1987,[30] the Aresty Institute has expanded its reach from the Wharton campus to a worldwide network of programs offered under its "Global Wharton" umbrella in Asia, India, Europe, and the Middle East.[31]
"Leadership in the Business World" is a summer program for high school seniors. The program is four weeks in length, held in the month of July. All of the classes are taught by Wharton faculty.
LBW gives students an introduction to undergraduate business education at Wharton. Through in-class discussions, lectures, team projects, site visits, and the final business plan project, high school students gain a business education foundation before entering college.
The Wharton Sports Business Academy is a summer program for high school students sponsored by the Wharton School and the Wharton Sports Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. The program, which is for high school juniors and seniors, is 4 weeks long and held in the month of July.
WSBA provides students with an introduction to ownership, sports agents, and celebrity endorsements in the sports industry. The program links general business education to topics within the sports industry, including the collegiate, professional, and Olympic levels.
The school has 304 standing and associated faculty, 11 academic departments and 20 research centers and initiatives.
| School rankings (overall) | |
|---|---|
| U.S. undergraduate business | |
| Bloomberg BusinessWeek[32] | 4 |
| U.S. News & World Report[33] | 1 |
| U.S. MBA | |
| Bloomberg BusinessWeek[34] | 3 |
| Forbes[35] | 5 |
| U.S. News & World Report[36] | 3 |
| Worldwide MBA | |
| América Economía[37] | 3 |
| Business Insider[38] | 3 |
| CNN Expansion[39] | 4 |
| Economist[40] | 15 |
| Financial Times[41] | 1 |
On December 5, 2003, Wharton enacted a policy of declining to actively participate in the rankings of business school programs,[42] citing concerns for alumni and students' privacy.[43]
The popular and financial press has consistently ranked Wharton as one of the world's top institutions for business education.[44] Moreover, it has been ranked the best business school in the world by the Financial Times from 2000 to 2009, and was again ranked #1 in 2011 (tied with London Business School).[45] Wharton usually receives the highest reputation scores from academics and recruiters.[46] According to Forbes, approximately 90% of billionaires with MBAs who derived their fortunes from finance, obtained their master's degree from one of three Ivy League schools: Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, or Wharton.[47]
In the 2010 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report[48] the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was placed second in North America, maintaining its 2009 position.
Wharton alumni network has over 81,000 members in 142 countries. Alumni have formed 82 alumni clubs. In addition to the annual campus-based Wharton reunion, Wharton partners with its alumni clubs to mount three annual Global Alumni Forums around the world.
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