It’s the debate that never dies: Is pursuing an MBA degree is a waste of time if you plan to start your own business? As someone who has started more than one successful enterprise, I say no, and can personally attest to having leveraged a lot of my MBA classes and resources into my business ventures.

In “The Rise of the MBA Entrepreneur,” published last week by Reuters,  several top-tier MBA programs note that classes and centers devoted to entrepreneurship are on the rise, with roughly 5% of full-time 2011 business school students  founding their own companies right after graduation and notable jumps at places like the Wharton School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and MIT Sloan School of Management.

Despite the increased institutional support, many representatives from the career services office are more circumspect in their approach, Reuters reveals, as they advise students to get a high-paying job after graduation and postpone the entrepreneurial dream until the loans are paid off.

Even at Babson College, which has a top-ranked MBA program focused on entrepreneurship, prudence is prized. “Quite frankly, we do encourage students in general to learn on someone else’s nickel before taking the plunge,” says Janet Strimaitis, managing director of Babon’s Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship.

But does that cautious attitude run counter to the entrepreneurial spirit? Chika Ekeji, an entrepreneur who dropped out of the full-time MBA program at MIT Sloan as soon as he got the right idea and team together, believes that advice is traditional and probably pragmatic. “But I actually believe that if the only thing keeping you from starting a company is paying off your student loans, then you should start your company,” Ekeji says.

The article also points out two interesting factors contributing to the recent uptick in entrepreneurship interest: economic trends and a generational shift. With the 2000 dot-com bubble, everyone wanted to be an entrepreneur, says Joaquin Villarreal, manager of the Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Tuck School of Business. When that burst, he notes that suddenly everyone wanted to be a banker.

Meanwhile, the millennial generation has suddenly become old enough to pursue an MBA, and this group is “known for an overblown sense of self-worth and propensity to dream big”–says Maria Halpern, Director of Student Engagement for Wharton’s career management services, making entrepreneurship a perfect career fit.

Whether you fall into the camp of nature or nurture as it relates to entrepreneurship, I think most people would agree that an entrepreneur needs to know the same basic skills as someone running a more established company. After all, every company began as a startup, launched by an entrepreneur.

If anything, you need to know all of the basics as opposed to specializing in one area. My advice to current and prospective MBA students interested in entrepreneurship is to pay close attention in all of your classes—even in the areas you plan to outsource as soon as you have the budget.

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This time of year we hear from many applicants who have ended up on a wait list for their top choice programs. For our comprehensive clients, wait list strategy is part of the all inclusive consulting package. We’re also available to help new clients on an hourly basis – go ahead and contact us to hear more.

Our comprehensive client Abhishek had selected Wharton as one of his “reach schools” out of a list that included Duke, North Carolina, and UT-Austin. He had a stellar academic record in his engineering program, and an interesting work trajectory. Abhishek started his career at a large multi-national IT consulting firm, and then took a position as the third employee at a start-up providing services to small businesses. The company grew and as their client base expanded Abhishek was able to increase his responsibilities rapidly into project management and client facing services.

Abhishek’s work experience helped him stand out from similar applicants, and his MBA plans were in line with his future goal to be a C-level executive at the company. However, Abhishek had a hard time with the GMAT and had only a 680. The quant and verbal sections were also a bit uneven, and despite taking the test several times Abhishek had been unable to crack the 80th percentile barrier that schools like Wharton prefer to see.

Though Abhishek’s GMAT was lower than the mean for Wharton and many of his other target schools, we thought his excellent GPA and interesting work experience would be enough to get him a close read from the admissions committee. As results came in, Abhishek was admitted to UT-Austin, Duke, and wait listed at Wharton. Because Wharton was his top choice, and the reach school, Abhishek decided to remain on the wait list and see if it would come through.

Wharton specifically discourages additional information from wait listed candidates. Therefore we did not put together a wait list letter or seek additional recommendations to bolster Abhishek’s case. It was clear that Abhishek’s lower than average GMAT was likely causing question on his candidacy and making it difficult to choose him over similar candidates with stronger scores. Since this was such a clear weakness in his application, we encouraged Abhishek to take the test again after changing his study approach (he used a tutor who designed a personalized plan to address his specific issues). Though Wharton wouldn’t accept additional materials, they would see his improved GMAT score when it was officially submitted at the test site.

Abhishek successfully increased his score to 710 by focusing on some of his test anxiety. Later in the summer he was offered a spot in the Wharton incoming class and he decided to take it.

Though we can never know if his improved GMAT score was the reason Abhishek made it off the wait list he was glad to have taken concrete steps to improve his chances.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School recently announced the official grand opening of its new West Coast home, Wharton | San Francisco, in the Hills Plaza building on San Francisco’s Embarcadero.  The new, larger campus opened February 9th and will accommodate the school’s growing west coast MBA for Executives program and a range of additional school activities.

Wharton | San Francisco initially opened its doors in 2001. In response to rising interest in its west coast offerings, Wharton decided to increase its commitment to the region with a new, expanded campus. This facility, complete with views of the San Francisco Bay, touts 30% more space than the school’s previous home, and is equipped with state-of-the-art HD, amphitheater classrooms and a host of group study rooms.

The new campus will serve as a hub for the school’s international activities, new offerings from Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs (WEP), alumni events and more.

“As business and entrepreneurial activities proliferate in San Francisco and across the West coast, companies are increasingly demanding skilled, mature leaders. The education provided at Wharton | San Francisco is a key factor in the development of capable leaders to helm the businesses at the forefront of the regional – and global – economy,” says Doug Collom, vice dean of Wharton | San Francisco.

Whether it is a multi-billion dollar empire, or a small business, for businesses to survive in today’s highly competitive markets, constant and instant upgrading is necessary to keep up. Enter the need for trial and error, and most importantly, the ability to learn from error. Many entrepreneurs say they owe their success to their previous experiences and mistakes.

In his new book, Brilliant Mistakes: Finding Success on the Far Side of Failure (Wharton Digital Press), Paul Schoemaker , PhD, research director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and founder of Decision Strategies International, Inc. reasons that mistakes can be the impetus for noteworthy achievement.  Through years of research and close inspection of many blunders, Schoemaker defines mistakes as “portals of discovery” to the unique needs and demands of an organization and its leadership.

In conjunction with the book’s release, Wharton Digital Press is launching a Brilliant Mistakes contest that challenges participants to recognize a “brilliant mistake” that jumpstarted success.  Entries to the contest will be evaluated based on the degree of innovation resulting from the mistake and significance of the resulting changes.  Prizes include a week of Wharton Executive Education coursework, round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines, and lunch with the author.

Additional information can be found at http://wdp.wharton.upenn.edu/brilliant-mistakes-contest/.

In an update posted yesterday to the admissions blog at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, admissions director Ankur Kumar provided round one candidates with some insight into the next steps of the application process.

Kumar says invitations to interview will start going out Thursday, October 27, and will continue until Friday, November 11. Applicants will receive an email with information regarding their status with Wharton, she says. Those invited to interview will receive instructions on how to set up their interview. No invitation to interview means your process with Wharton is closed for this application cycle, the director explains.

“Please don’t stress if you don’t receive your invite until the last day; it indicates nothing about your candidacy.” 

The Wharton School will host interviews on campus from November 2–December 2, 2011. International applicants should note that the school will also host interviews in hub locations around the world between November 7-30, 2011.

While on-campus interviews provide a unique opportunity to experience the school and its culture first-hand, Kumar assures that both on-campus and hub location interviews are conducted and considered equally. However, space is limited in international locations so be sure to schedule as soon as possible.

The director points candidates to this link with interview tips specific to Wharton. For applicants preparing for the R2 deadline on January 4, 2012, check out our essay tips here.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has announced the creation of a new fund to promote the design of creative technologies or services that can make a substantial impact on business and society.

The Wharton Innovation Fund, described by fund founder Alberto Vitale as “a catalyst to stimulate innovation at the School and to surface the brainpower of its students,” provides resources for students, faculty and staff to take projects that may begin in the classroom into the world at large.

While the Fund gives preference to student-led projects, proposals that may involve faculty, students and staff will be considered as well, particularly those that leverage the School’s inventions and thought leadership in various fields of business.

Approximately $125,000 in grants is available each year.  Inventions or ventures that emerge from student-led projects remain the intellectual property of the student-inventors.  In instances of inventions or ventures that leverage the University’s intellectual property, any economic value will be shared among the inventors, the School and the University.

“Innovation is one of the pillars of the Wharton School. The Wharton Innovation Fund reflects the School’s dedication to nurturing the best ideas and providing them a structure in which to grow,” says Wharton Dean Thomas S. Robertson.

“I am delighted that Alberto Vitale is supporting the School through the Wharton Innovation Fund,” says professor Karl Ulrich, who heads the Innovation initiative and is also Wharton’s Vice Dean of Innovation. “This fund will enable our work to have an even greater impact in so many arenas.”

The application process for the Wharton Innovation Fund and criteria for selection are described on the website http://beacon.wharton.upenn.edu/innovation.