The Wharton community makes the difference

Experience during the program

To be honest, most of MBA curriculum can be learned almost anywhere. What's made the difference to me at Wharton is the community. Wharton has an amazing cluster and cohort system that encourages students to get to know each other. It's Philadelphia location and the fact that most students live in Rittenhouse helps foster a sense of community. I can't walk down the street without running into someone I know, which builds the strong relationships I wanted in my MBA experience. I think that's why the alumni network is also so strong. The network is really bi-coastal and international and I've had a lot of help/networking success with alums.

Other highlights at Wharton include the amazing speakers that come to the school, the opportunitues to build up strategy/innovation experience through the field application project program and the collaborative innovation project program, and the Semester in SF program. I've loved my classes with Profs. Adam Grant, David Bell, Luke Taylor, and Bari Harlam.

The professors in general can be a hit or miss. They're generally okay and some of the long term ones seem like they couldn't give a care about teaching. We do have some superstars (see above) and they're very much worth taking a class with.

Also, I'm convinced Philadelphia is one of the most underrated cities in the US. I loved in SF and DC before school (and spent a lot of time in NYC) and absolutely love Philly. It's inexpensive to live in, the food scene is amazing, and it's architecturally beautiful. The weather is typical East Coast weather so winter isn't the best, but can't complain about much else. It's gotten a lot safer in the last few years and I feel safer here than SF.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Student body, diversity
Alumni Network
Location
Brand/Ranking
Culture & Student Support
Facilities
Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)
Healthcare, finance, real estate

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Marketing
Investment Banking
Tech
Entrepreneurship
Management

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors