2024-2025 Wharton MBA Essay Tips + An Example

Originally published on July 13, 2023. Updated on July 3, 2024.

The Wharton MBA essay prompts are confirmed for 2024-2025 and they remain unchanged from last year. The questions are direct. They allow enough word count. Paint a robust picture of who you are. Explain why Wharton is right for you. As such, this application can be a good one to tackle early in the process. The deadlines are also early in each round, which lends additional credence to this approach.

To help you get started, we’re sharing a Wharton MBA essay example as well as some tips to use while crafting your own. 

Wharton MBA Essay Questions

1. How do you plan to use the Wharton MBA program to help you achieve your future professional goals? You might consider your past experience, short and long-term goals, and resources available at Wharton. (500 words)
2. Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (400 words)

Wharton MBA Essay Advice

The Wharton essay questions seem straightforward. Don’t let them fool you. They can lead you down the path of writing bland essays.  Run of the mill essays do nothing to help you stand out from the sea of applications Wharton receives. Additionally, despite the generous word count, you will absolutely need to be strategic about what you include – and don’t.

Your Career Goals Are the ‘Anchor’ For Essay One

For the first essay, keep one critical thing in mind. Anchor all content to your career goals. Consider both short– and long-term career goals. If you haven’t given robust thought to these and done your due diligence to ensure they are sound, now is the time to do so.

Once you have defined and refined your career goals, you need to think backwards and forwards.

Think backwards about your experiences. Consider what led you to post-MBA goals. We’re encouraging this approach. Perhaps you worked as a consultant. You joined a healthcare project. It opened your eyes. The healthcare industry is complex yet exciting. This sparked your interest. You want to shift to a strategy role. You’ll work within a healthcare company. You’ll make a lasting impact on the industry. Tell the story of that case. Focus on why it was eye-opening. Help the adcom feel your passion. Show the authenticity behind your goals.

Think forwards about your target career. Identify specific skills you need to build. We’re recommending this approach. Then research  Wharton’s program. Describe its unique elements. Explain how they will help you build these skills. Other business schools may offer similar examples. If so, they’re not specific enough. You must craft a compelling argument. Explain why Wharton best positions you for success. Getting this part right takes work and that is exactly why it matters.

Focus Essay Two on Being a ‘Giver’ Not a ‘Taker’

For the second essay, take a cue from Adam Grant. He’s a Wharton professor extraordinaire. Consider his concept of ‘givers and takers’. The first essay covers what you’ll ‘take’. This essay focuses on how you’ll ‘give’. You’ll be a ‘giver’ at Wharton. You’ll continue giving after graduation. A giver ‘…[looks] to help others by making an introduction, giving advice, providing mentoring, or sharing knowledge, without any strings attached.’

To be in a position to ‘give’, you need to have a unique knowledge base, personality trait, or past experience from which others will gain from your unique contributions. This is the crux of the essay. It’s the place to share what distinguishes you. Show how you’re different from other applicants. It’s the place to share what distinguishes you. Show how you’re different from other applicants. The first essay is career focused. Therefore, we urge clients to get personal here. Write about something meaningful.

For example, a past client discussed how she would use the determination that had helped her overcome personal challenges to motivate her peers in Wharton Women in Business. She went on to describe a specific area of programming she would bring to the club that tied in with some of the personal challenges she had conquered.  The essay was strategic, specific, and thoughtful (and it was successful in earning her an acceptance with full scholarship).

 

 

 

 

Wharton MBA Essay Example

Because it’s often hard to put theory into practice, below is a Wharton MBA essay example from one of our clients who was accepted (with scholarship!).

Wharton MBA Essay Example – Essay 1

My experience advising consumer products companies at [company x] sparked a fascination with strategy. I also drove go-to-market decisions at [company y]. The intersection of consumer and technology excites me. I plan to leverage these experiences. A Wharton MBA will help. So will a post-MBA role at a consumer technology startup. One day, I’ll lead strategy for a disruptive company. I’ll understand and change consumer behavior. Think Airbnb or StitchFix.

In my work to date, I have seen both ends of the innovation spectrum, which has driven home the importance of responding to quickly evolving customer needs. At [company x], I interviewed company executives. The project was for a multinational food manufacturer. I was surprised by their focus. They were investing in legacy products. These products were historically lucrative. However, they wouldn’t position the company for future success. Consumer trends were changing. In contrast, [company y] makes every strategic play based on customer needs. When customers became increasingly segmented by industry, we reorganized the sales team into industry verticals. When COVID-19 struck, we released [product], a product that helps customers evaluate how to safely restart operations. Combining my [company x] and [company y] experiences, I see an opportunity to leverage a deep understanding of consumer trends, based in data and analytics, to disrupt a consumer market with technology.

To succeed in this journey, I need to build the core business principles that were not a part of my liberal arts undergraduate education and develop my personal leadership style. At Wharton, a double major in Business Analytics and Strategic Management will provide a deep understanding of business fundamentals while teaching me to be an innovative strategic leader. Classes like Managing the Emerging Enterprise with Exequiel Hernandez will provide hands-on experience analyzing high-growth organizations, teaching me the fundamental principles of managing a disruptive consumer technology firm, from early competitive positioning to organizational structure and the strategic and operational art of expansion.

Further, understanding and developing my personal leadership style will be paramount to my future career. By taking part in the McNulty Leadership Program’s Leadership Ventures, such as the Quantico Intensive, I will apply my existing teamwork skills to a fast-paced problem-solving exercise. As someone who has always found growth in situations outside my comfort zone, I am excited to explore my personal leadership traits in this intense, hands-on environment, which will prepare me for the dynamic pace of the consumer technology industry.

Lastly, a leadership position in the Technology Club will provide access to Wharton’s broad industry resources and alumni base, preparing me to hit the ground running in a post-MBA role at a consumer technology start-up. Joining an existing but early stage company will expose me to the ins and outs of my target industry and, as is the nature with start-ups, provide experience playing multiple roles in a dynamic format. This breadth of experience will provide a holistic perspective on a consumer technology company’s growth levers and industry dynamics, solidifying my preparation to serve as a strategic leader.

Wharton MBA Essay Example – Essay 2

My parents nicknamed me “the quiet giant” because I was always the underdog whose determination surprised those who underestimated me. I grew up smaller than my peers, so when my softball coach told me that my size would prevent me from being competitive, I was crushed by his quick judgment of my size. Rather than letting this criticism deter me, I became resolved to prove him wrong. I persistently practiced my pitching technique and, two years later, was the best pitcher in the league, going on to win the all-star championship. In this pivotal moment, I was overcome with pride and realized that success was possible if I kept my will to persevere and pushed past my ‘limits’.

Throughout my life, I have leveraged this determination to benefit the communities and teams of which I have been a part. At [company y], I led a team of ten to create an automated headcount dataset that saved the strategy organization hundreds of hours of manual work each quarter. While this project required strategic alignment and technical creativity, my biggest contribution was my ability to motivate the team. We hit many roadblocks, but I took on every challenge with an open mind, encouraging my team to think creatively and listening receptively to each person’s perspective. As a result, our solution transformed the way the organization reports on headcount growth.

These same motivating principles and teamwork skills will allow me to make valuable contributions to the Wharton community. I look forward to using my determination to help motivate my learning team when coursework is challenging or the demands of recruiting wear on us. Through core classes like Corporate Finance, the difficulty of which has been emphasized by current students, I will work closely with my learning team and encourage my peers to persevere.

As a leader of WWIB, I look forward to working alongside my female peers to build our confidence in business settings and otherwise. As a woman in the male-dominated field of consulting, I have unfortunately felt the impact of being overlooked. After joining [company y], I attended courses on public speaking for women and was encouraged to voice my opinions. As a result of my determination to grow in this way, my confidence and presentation skills improved, which enabled my promotion to Manager. I look forward to continuing to develop these skills within WWIB alongside my diverse and talented female peers.

---

We hope you found this Wharton MBA essay example helpful and can apply our essay writing tips to your own personal narrative. We’re here to help if you’re struggling. Schedule an initial consultation with our expert MBA admissions consultants today.