Wharton MBA Acceptance Rate, Deconstructed

Wharton MBA acceptance rate

With its robust class size hovering at just under 900 students, Wharton is consistently ranked in the handful of top MBA programs worldwide. The Wharton MBA acceptance rate has been in the 22-23% range for the last few years, even during the pandemic.

The strength of the Wharton MBA has traditionally been finance. But these days, Wharton students come from a broad range of professional backgrounds. Consulting is the largest single group, followed by tech and non-profit/government. Investment banking, a traditional Wharton stronghold, dropped from 14% to 8%—again reflecting an interest in a more diversified MBA class. 

Whatever industry an applicant comes from, Wharton is looking for proven work experience, strong quantitative proficiency, and increasing career trajectory, because a strong work history predicts successful recruitment post-MBA. Meghan, a former Wharton Admissions Officer and consultant on our team, says:

Wharton is looking for people from a broad variety of industries and demographics, but who have certain qualities in common: demonstrated strong career performance, fast promotions, and a prominent profile on their team or organization: in other words, superstars. At the same time, we are seeking multidimensional students who will be active and engaged on campus.

To help demystify Wharton MBA acceptance rate drivers, we evaluated SBC client data from the 2021—2022 season. Our findings show that although Wharton’s admission patterns, like all top schools, make high demands on quantifiables such as GMAT/GRE, GPA, and years of work experience, they have become increasingly reliant on other factors. Things like demographic and experiential diversity and extracurricular commitment are qualities that make Wharton such an inspiring community to be a part of.  

Recent SBC Clients Admitted to Wharton

To preserve anonymity for our client pool, we’ve deconstructed each of our client profiles across these criteria:

  • Nationality
  • Industry
  • Employer
  • College
  • GPA
  • Test scores
  • Other distinguishing factors

Our consultants have shared client attributes for each of these criteria, and we’ve aggregated the outcomes for Wharton admits according to personal, extracurricular, and professional domains. 

These visuals showcase the kaleidoscope of qualities found in Wharton admits across a sampling of recent SBC clients.

Admitted!

Here is a recent SBC client admit announcement:

Dreaming of just one admission to an M7 school. I applied to 6 of them and received acceptances to 4! I am so grateful to SBC and excited to say that I will be matriculating at The Wharton School this fall!

And another one:

With the SBC team’s support, I was accepted to two M7 schools, Wharton and Sloan with significant scholarship offerings from both schools. I would strongly recommend the SBC team for anyone with the goal of being admitted to a top business school!

Check out our Wharton versus Columbia school comparison and other school faceoffs here. For details on MBA program application deadlines, check out our chart here.

For insight on your candidacy for Wharton’s MBA program, contact Stacy Blackman Consulting to learn how we can help.

SBC’s star-studded consultant team is unparalleled. Our clients benefit from current intelligence that we receive from the former MBA Admissions Officers from Harvard HBS, Wharton and every elite business program in the US and Europe.  These MBA Admissions Officers have chosen to work exclusively with SBC.

Just two of the many superstars on the SBC team:
Meet Anthony, who served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise.

Meet Andrea, who served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions Marketing at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years.

Tap into this inside knowledge for your MBA applications by requesting a consultation.

Contact

(323) 934-3936
info@StacyBlackman.com

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