Decoding Wharton’s Interview Process | Team-Based Discussion

The Wharton Team-Based Discussion (TBD) is essentially a 35-minute exercise that provides an opportunity for you to interact with 4 to 5 fellow MBA applicants in a lively team setting, which is assigned randomly. After the TBD, you will participate in a 10-minute one-on-one interview with a member of the admissions team regarding your interest in Wharton. Due to covid, the TBD is now conducted virtually and all participants connect on a remote conference from various places.

What is the Task?

Wharton has something called Alternate Reality Courses or ARC courses. ARCs combine aspects of simulations and games with class-based instruction and create engaging learning experiences based on interactive stories while providing personalized guidance as learners progress. In an ARC, learners make decisions just as they would in real life, through simulated emails, conference calls, data analysis, presentations, and more. The ARC reacts to their choices, allowing learners to practice and build skills in a place where failure isn’t critical — so that they can transfer successes from the course to the real world.

Wharton typically requires you to come up with a new or potential ARC course, which you think should be incorporated into one of their ARC courses. The information PDF is shared with you in advance so that you have an elaborate ARC course planned.

How to Present?

You along with your teams mates are required to discuss the ARC courses each one has come up with and decide on one single course as your final ARC course. It may either be the course you think is the best or an amalgamation of all or a few of the courses being discussed.

You have to be adaptable in group situations. If you get too attached to an idea, especially your own, you could seem unreasonably stubborn or uncompromising. Be willing and eager to change your opinion as new ideas and information is introduced. The evolution of opinions must be part of any group brainstorming process, otherwise, you’re just wasting time.

Try to constantly help the group make progress by keeping track of time, taking notes, and offering to recap your team’s discussion if necessary for everyone to stay focused. If you see that your team is stuck at a dead-end, remind everyone that this is a team effort and try suggesting a different approach. You have to decide what role you want to or have to play in that group setting. This role also may need to be switched as per the ongoing discussions and requirements.

The exercise isn’t about which team members come up with which ideas, it’s about which team members best advance the group discussion. So if you’re struggling to brainstorm ideas that add depth to the conversation, don’t panic. As long as you’re building on the rest of the group’s ideas, asking intelligent questions, and respecting the other members in the group, you’re doing your part.

A few tips on how to conduct yourself :

• Keep an open mind.
• Remember to be a part of the team and not monopolize the conversation.
• Actively listen to other participants.
• Don’t hesitate to take a different approach.
• Be polite and accommodating.
• Do not interrupt your fellow teammates.
• Be open to criticism / feedback
• Relax and be yourself!

We at Crackadmission have guided multiple candidates successfully prepare for the TBD through our exhaustive mock interview service. Feel free to reach out to us in case you have received /expecting a Wharton interview