Wharton: Admissions Q&A

Wharton's new admissions director dispels some myths about the elite institution, where you don't need to be a financial genius to apply

J.J. Cutler
Wharton School

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As the financial services industry collapses, the University of Pennsylvania's formidable Wharton School, has found itself in the eye of an economic firestorm. Last year more than half of graduating MBAs took finance or accounting-related jobs—positions that will be much harder to come by in the post-meltdown job market.

But that doesn't mean Wharton's stock will take a dive. Consistently placed at or near the top of national rankings, Wharton grads can be counted on to adapt to changing industries and fickle economic climates, says J.J. Cutler, the school's new director of admissions.

And he should know. Cutler graduated from the University of Pennsylvania twice, once with a BA and later with an MBA. He took over as director of Wharton's MBA admissions and financial aid in January, inheriting the job from a former classmate. Here, Cutler speaks with BusinessWeek's Anne VanderMey about what it takes to get in, and why the Wharton MBA means more than finance. An edited portion of their conversation follows.

Since you came to Wharton in January have you changed the admissions process at all, or do you have plans to make any changes?

When I got here we were right in the middle of our second round so really there was no ability to change anything or interest in changing anything. I mean, it would not have made sense to do that in the middle of the process for this year. Now that we're coming to the end of this application season we are in the process of evaluating most aspects of our process to see if there are improvements that can be made. I think it's possible that we'll have some things we may change in terms of process and in terms of the application. We're kind of just starting that journey now.

Are there any predictions for what changes candidates can expect, or is it too early to say?

Yeah, too early to tell.

How would you say the financial crisis has affected the applicant pool, if at all?

I think we're largely in the same situation as most of the other schools with whom we compete. It actually hasn't changed the quality of the pool. The quality is still as high as it's ever been. We're slightly up in terms of total applications. I think many people thought that we might be up dramatically, and that didn't happen. So that makes us think that for people who are applying to a place like Wharton, it's a pretty well thought through decision that has been planned for quite some time. I think that while the financial crisis has maybe tweaked a few things around the edges for some, by and large people have been planning this for a while and have stuck to their plans. In some countries, as with other top-tier business schools, we are seeing a decline in applications. In the U.S. our applications are up double digits, and in some countries overseas we have seen some decreases. Again, overall, we're up in the low single digits, so I think the financial crisis hasn't really impacted that so much.

At the end of the day, I do think that on the financial aid side everyone is evaluating the timing and the decision to get an MBA much more carefully, much more surgically and precisely, than they have in the past. I think people are looking at the opportunity cost. I think they're looking at the jobs that they have now and the expectations for jobs coming out. They're trying to figure out what the cost of borrowing money's going to be, and trying to assess whether or not this is the right time and what the short-term and long-term returns on the investment are for them. It is causing lots of people to think long and hard about the timing and the decision. At Wharton, it has probably caused us to think a lot more thoughtfully about our value proposition and about our curriculum to make sure that we're as relevant for today's students as we are in any other period of change.

You mentioned a slump in applications from other countries. Wharton just announced a loan program for international students.

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