Interview with Barbara Craft & Diane Sharp, Wharton Executive MBA Admissions Directors [Show Summary]

In today’s podcast we talk with Barbara Craft and Diane Sharp, Directors of Admission at Wharton’s Executive MBA programs in Philadelphia and San Francisco. They share information on the intricacies of the programs, how they relate to each other and to the full time MBA program, and how to stand out in the admissions process. Listen in!

Wharton’s Executive MBA, Where East and West Meet and Mix [Show Notes]

So what are Wharton’s Executive MBA options? Who is Wharton’s EMBA program for? And how do you as an applicant show the program is right for you? Today we speak with Barbara Craft and Diane Sharp, both Directors of Admissions at Wharton’s Executive MBA programs located in Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Can you share a bit about the history of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives with our audience? [1:44]

University of Pennsylvania has been around a very long time. It was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin. Wharton is the oldest collegiate business school, founded in 1881. I mention this because we were also one of the first to have a format for working professionals - we’ve had it for 45 years - and now almost 20 years in San Francisco. We are the only Ivy League offering a [non-distance learning] MBA for executives on the west coast.

We are especially proud of the fact that our EMBA program is the same as our full-time MBA program. It’s the same number of credits, and same level of academic rigor. It is not MBA-lite by any means.

Who should choose an executive program vs. a full time program? [3:58]

There are a lot of good reasons for choosing either, but we find that professionals further along in their career choose the EMBA program. They are typically at the cusp of higher level management and prefer not to jump off their career track and lose trajectory. Sometimes it is a life-style issue as well, as they have families and moving for a couple years is not feasible. You also have to have the buy-in from your company.

Full-time students tend to be more junior and often are looking to make a career switch, so having the internship makes it easier to have a change.

The average age of matriculants in the EMBA program is 35-36, with 12-13 years of experience. We like to see at least eight years of work experience, and also some management experience.

What are the distinctive elements of Wharton’s Executive MBA program (as opposed to other EMBA programs)? [6:31]

We are one program, two locations, so we span the country. Either cohort starts the program together in Philly as one big group, then everyone goes back to their respective coast for the first year of core classes. Later on in the first year the east coast cohort comes west for a week-long marketing simulation class. We also offer four different locations for global business residency, so there is another opportunity for merging of east and west. Second year students can take electives on the east or west coast. We have the largest selection of electives of any business school in the world, so in no way are our students limited, they can absolutely specialize if they like. We draw from students that are all over the country, and we attract from other countries as well – on the west coast...