<p>Just wondering, has anybody ever gotten into Wharton without an internship? Or at least an internship pertaining to business?</p>
<p>I had NOTHING that was in any way business related on my application and I got in. No internships, no starting my own company, no DECA, no economics and business classes, and no business summer programs. I think 5 people from my school applied ED to Wharton, and they all had several of those things whereas I was the only one who didn't have any. The others were all totally rejected, so clearly Wharton isn't looking only for kids with business stuff. </p>
<p>I think if you've done things business related, it can be used to explain your interest in business. Business experience is definitely not a requirement, though.</p>
<p>WOW!!! Thanks for curing my headache with that post</p>
<p>From the archives by Bern700:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Btw, just for those of you that are wondering what types of internships/jobs will look amazing on a Wharton app here are a few:
-Hedge Fund
-Investment Bank
-Private Equity Fund
-LBO firm
-Trading company
-Venture Capital firm/fund
-Consulting firm
-Working in the finance/strategy&corporate planning/marketing dept. of a mid to large cap company
-Starting your own company, however not just like a website design site that makes like $200 a month...i mean like a real company with big revenues. Like a guy in my class ('08) started his own exotic snake breeding company and he makes like $300k a year.</p>
<p>Note: The vast majority of these internships would require hardcore connections but I know a bunch of people at Wharton who landed these things through family, friends, etc.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sarah is exactly correct. You do not need business experience (academic, extra-curricular, or internship) to get into Wharton. </p>
<p>We try to dispel this rumor through our daily information sessions, but it seems that it still lives.</p>
<p>whartonAdvisor is what mahras posted true?</p>
<p>also, do you work in the admissions office?</p>
<p>bump.....................</p>
<p>
[quote]
whartonAdvisor is what mahras posted true?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>WhartonAdvisor clearly wrote that you don't need buisness experience. I don't see how it can be clearer.</p>
<p>Look up Nat Turner. Even coming close to what this kid has done would put you in pretty good shape.</p>
<p>In case you didn't notice, he started the snake breeding company at 12 I think. He followed it up with a few others and is a self-made millionaire.</p>
<p>Notice how it says internships/jobs "that would look amazing". It doesn't say that its required. </p>
<p>People with highly business centric activities get in as well as ones without any experience/activity of that sort. I am, however, part of the former group so I hope its helpful.</p>
<p>Let me preface this by saying again that I am not an admissions officer, and this is just my opinion.</p>
<p>I don't know how "amazing" those may be to an admissions officer, primarily given the fact that they are almost exclusively in finance (which is rather commonplace for Wharton) and that they require "hardcore connections" (rather than perhaps merit), and will probably only be available to a very small fraction of people who have friends/family who are capable of getting them these internships.</p>
<p>You need to realize that admissions officers might not know what an LBO firm or a Hedge Fund is and as wowing as PE might be to folks in finance, that doesn't mean it will impress an admissions officer. </p>
<p>However, admissions officers do know what it means to be in student government and debate and volunteer firefighting and working as a Subway Sandwich Artist... If you focus on trying to impress people with fancy jobs, you are just selling out - focus more on doing things you actually care about and enjoy. </p>
<p>PS the same thing applies to current Wharton students and not selling out for a finance concentration that they hate or don't do well in or a high-paying finance job that they can't stand.</p>
<p>A Wharton admissions counselor not knowing what an ibank, HF or PE is would be very surprising to say the least. (A school specific adcom reviews the app along with the regional representative).</p>
<p>However, some of the points raised is very applicable.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, admisisons officers are not all-knowing Gods. I don't think a Wharton admissions counselor's job is to know every little detail about business which an applicant might use to pad his/her application, but to determine whether an applicant has made use of the opportunities presented to him/her and whether the applicant would make a good fit at Wharton. Keep in mind that often times admissions counselors did not actually attend the school for which they are counseling. One of the major admissions officers at MIT, for example, went to Oberlin, which is not at all an engineering school. Also, I doubt that people who are trained in business would go onto working in an admissions office, since they generally go to business school with the intention of pursuing a career in business. So it makes sense that the Wharton admissions counselors do not know every little business term and abbreviation that people might stick on their apps.</p>
<p>Also, I'm not saying this is true at Wharton, but at another business school I visited they commented that they actually prefer kids who didn't do all these business things (i.e. DECA, internships, tons of business classes, etc.) for two reasons. A) It shows that they tried several options to compare to business rather than trying to fill up their application with things that might impress a business school. It gives the message that they were trying to find something they truly liked rather than being a college whore. B) The kids with experience in DECA, internships, etc. think they know everything and that's not what the business schools want. They want to train you their way, and it's much harder with kids who've already "done it all"</p>
<p>HFs and PEs are rather well known financial institutions particularly at a place like Wharton where their graduates will give their left arm to get a position at such a place. Now if you were talking about some highly detailed analysis of market microstructure I would very well agree that the adcoms would not know much information in that subject area.</p>
<p>Also we aren't talking about just any business internships. Only handful of kids actually have internships in those firms so I doubt its a widespread phenomenon. DECA or business classes really don't compare to say a solid internship at an ibank/HF/PE/LBO/trading firm etc.</p>
<p>Perhaps the Wharton grads and professors know very well what those are, but someone who was, for example, an English major, might not have a clue.</p>
<p>Wharton is the epitome of a pre-professional school. The gatekeepers of such a school would most likely know what these institutions are as the goal of Wharton is to feed those industries with its graduates.</p>
<p>Its akin to saying the admissions officers at Julliard do not know who Bach or Mozart is.</p>
<p>MIT is an incredible engineering school. Liberal arts grads keeping their gates? WHAT??!?!?!?!</p>
<p>They most likely know enough about the engineering/science field to act as the gatekeeper. They probably know all the major competitions (Intel, STS) and the major science based camps (RSI). Heck they absolutely know about those. Just because someone has a majored in some other area doesn't mean they can't learn about it. Learning doesn't stop after you graduate from college.</p>
<p>Oh yea not just graduates from Wharton get into banking etc. Psychology and English majors from Penn get into those fields as well. In your eyes thats probably blasphemy right ;).</p>
<p>Yes, they know basics. And I'm sure they recognize major competitions and programs. But, if someone were to assert, for example, that they discovered a new compound using element X and Y that would minimize resistance in wires, I would not really expect them to understand that. I think there's a certain point where admissions officers have better things to do than memorizing all these things. It's not like they see the terms HFs and PEs and say "well I don't know what that is, I'll just assume this kid wastes his time." They see it and know that this applicant saw an opportunity and seized it.</p>
<p>Why would I think that blasphemy? It's not like the business world is exclusive to business grads. My dad graduated in architecture and is now a surgeon. But those English and Psych majors that go into business probably took some business classes or took the time to learn some of the fun details.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My dad graduated in architecture and is now a surgeon. But those English and Psych majors that go into business probably took some business classes or took the time to learn some of the fun details.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Exactly the same senario with admissions counselors. </p>
<p>They of course don't understand the exact intricate details of it but they probably know how difficult it is to get an internship at a place like HFs and PEs considering their own students have to cross hell to get those positions. That makes that part of the resume all the more polished. </p>
<p>Most people don't have strong business experience when they are applying for undergrad. The farthest they have gone is probably DECA/FBLA or a bunch of business classes at the local community college. I am talking about the ones that went beyond the rest who snagged internships reserved for the top applicants from elite colleges, created their own businesses bottom up generating high five-six figures in profits/annum etc. I highly doubt folks like that will be discriminated against just because finance is a pretty common concentration at Wharton.</p>
<p>If someone discovered a compound, btw, they would probably accepted in a heartbeat :).</p>