Wharton Announces 2023-2024 MBA Application Deadlines
The Wharton School’s Huntsman Hall. Courtesy photo
Another M7 business school has announced its MBA application deadlines for the 2023-2024 cycle. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Poets&Quants‘ No. 1-ranked business school, on Monday (June 12) released dates for four rounds of applications.
The Round 1 deadline to apply to join Wharton’s MBA Class of 2026 is Wednesday, September 6 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. The school announced two other regular application rounds, as well as a deferred admission round, stretching into late April.
Wharton also announced interview and decision dates; for first-round applicants, interview invitations will be extended by October 24 and decisions will be announced by December 14. See below for all dates.
Round | Application Deadline | Interview Invitations | Decisions |
Round 1 | September 6, 2023 | October 24, 2023 | December 14, 2023 |
Round 2 | January 4, 2024 | February 16, 2024 | March 26, 2024 |
Round 3 | April 2, 2024 | April 19, 2024 | May 13, 2024 |
Deferred Admissions Round | April 24, 2024 | May 28, 2024 | June 27, 2024 |
WHARTON’S ACCEPTANCE RATE JUMPED MORE THAN 10 POINTS IN 2022
In the 2021-2022 cycle, the most recent for which data has been publicly released, Wharton had a 22.8% acceptance rate, a jump of more than 10 percentage points from the previous cycle but still low enough to keep it among the most selective of all U.S. B-schools: Only 11 B-schools in the top 50 as ranked by P&Q had lower rates. Wharton’s 22.8% was just a hair higher than the overall average for the top 10, 22.2%, but it was still lower than the Philadelphia school’s rate of 25% in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Wharton received 6,319 applications in 2022-2023 and admitted 1,442 applicants, of which 894 enrolled, giving Wharton a yield of 62%, down from 67% for the previous MBA class. Like every other top-10 B-school, Wharton’s application volume was down significantly as the U.S. economy hummed along; the school lost more than 1,000 apps, nearly 14%, from the previous cycle’s total of 7,338. Class size was basically unchanged from the intake of 2021 (897), but down from the pandemic-inflated class that enrolled in fall 2020 (916).
Wharton’s Round 1 deadline of Sept. 6 is the same as fellow Ivy Harvard Business School’s but earlier than Columbia Business School (Sept. 12 for fall intake, Sept. 13 for J-Term) and Chicago Booth School of Business (Sept. 21). Wharton strongly encourages first-time applicants to apply in Round 1 or 2 as space in the class becomes more limited for Round 3 applicants; for the same reason, re-applicants are urged to apply during Round 1 or 2, as well.
TOTAL COST TO ATTEND WHARTON JUMPS 5.5%
In 2022, Wharton had the highest tuition among the top 25 U.S. B-schools, at $84,874, up nearly 12% from the previous year. Wharton was in the middle of the pack in terms of estimated living expenses, at $22,887 per year, but fifth in overall cost for year one at $118,568 and sixth in overall cost for two years combined, at $234,032 — one of 15 schools whose two-year price tag eclipsed $200K.
This year, Wharton has increased tuition by about 3% to $87,370 for incoming members of the Class of 2025; tuition drops to $85,370 in the class’s second year. The school estimates room and board will be $26,028 in both 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, an increase of 13.7%; and it estimates total cost, including fees, to be $124,476 for year one (up $5,908, about 5%) and $246,952 for both years. The latter figure represents a nearly $13K increase from the two-year estimate for Class of 2024 Wharton MBAs, a 5.5% increase.
NO CHANGE THIS YEAR TO WHARTON’S ESSAY PROMPTS
Wharton’s two required essays are unchanged from last year; so is the word limit for each. They are:
Essay 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)
Essay 2: Essay 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)
Additionally, re-applicants to the program are required to complete a third essay of 250 words, with the prompt:
Please use this space to share with the Admissions Committee how you have reflected and grown since your previous application and discuss any relevant updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, and extracurricular/volunteer engagements).
Wharton also gives applicants a chance to expand on their worthiness with an optional, 500-word essay, with the prompt:
Please use this space to share any additional information about yourself that cannot be found elsewhere in your application and that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee. This space can also be used to address any extenuating circumstances (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, areas of weakness, etc.) that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider.
Click here to go to Wharton’s Application Homepage. And see this article by Fortuna’s Michel Belden for advice on applying to Wharton’s MBA program.
DON’T MISS: MBA APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR THE 2023-2024 ADMISSIONS CYCLE or ACCEPTANCE RATES, YIELD & MORE AT THE TOP 50 U.S. MBA PROGRAMS
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