Wharton School

By
Jason Fernando
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Jason Fernando is a professional investor and writer who enjoys tackling and communicating complex business and financial problems.
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Updated January 12, 2023
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Colleen Ramos
Colleen Ramos
Reviewed by Colleen Ramos
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Dr. Ramos works with leadership teams to hire talent that aligns with business strategies, creating alignment between selection and hiring. She helps unlock unique insights that facilitate high-performing teams that meet the organization's strategic goals. She holds a doctoral degree in Human Resource Development, a master's in Counseling Psychology, and certifications as a Gallup Strengths Coach, in Emotional Intelligence and holds her SHRM-CP.
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What Is the Wharton School?

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania—often referred to simply as “Wharton”—is one of the most prestigious business schools in the world. For 2023, Wharton's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program tied for first place with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in a global survey of the best business schools by U.S. News & World Report.

The school is best known for its rigorous finance program and is a top choice for those seeking careers in investment banking, private equity (PE), investment management, or venture capital (VC).

Key Takeaways

  • The Wharton School of Business, part of the University of Pennsylvania, is one of the world’s foremost business schools.
  • Its finance program has long been considered the gold standard internationally, producing a series of founders and senior executives in the financial sector.
  • The school has made new investments in its technology sector educational offerings while also establishing new partnerships in the Greater China region.

Overview of the Wharton School

As is understandable given its high Ivy League brand value, the admissions process at Wharton is highly competitive. Its MBA Class of 2023, for example, received over 7,300 applications, of which about 900 were accepted, or around a 12% acceptance rate.

On average, the accepted applicants boasted an average GMAT score of 733 and an average undergraduate GPA of 3.6 based on a 4.0 scale. Although these applicants hailed from a wide variety of industries, the most common fields were management consulting, financial services, PE, and VC, which collectively represented about 51% of the total.

In addition to its well-known MBA program, Wharton also offers a variety of undergraduate business degrees, along with a PhD program. Examples of specific specializations that the school offers include accounting, finance, marketing, real estate, statistics, and entrepreneurship.

Wharton’s main campus is located at the heart of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1975, Wharton launched an Executive MBA (EMBA) program, which students can pursue out of their Philadelphia campus or in their San Francisco campus, which is strategically placed near the hub of California’s technology sector. In a similar move, Wharton also established the Penn Wharton China Center in 2015, a new campus based in Beijing, which is supported by over 20 additional partnerships with Chinese organizations.

The Wharton School's Reputation and Standing

Wharton boasts the largest alumni network of any business school in the United States, with a total membership of approximately 100,000 strong. Among the notable figures who have attended Wharton include Donald Trump; Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B); Sundar Pichai, CEO of both Alphabet (GOOG) and Google; and Elon Musk, founder of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX and co-founder of PayPal (PYPL).

Historically, Wharton’s reputation has been especially strong with regard to finance, with the school producing a steady stream of top candidates for Wall Street firms and other finance-related positions. However, with the recent growth of the American technology sector, Wharton has been making greater efforts to bolster its programs outside of its core strength of finance, in order to better prepare its students for the workforce of the future.

The school’s recent investments in China are also oriented in a similar direction, with the Penn Wharton China Center already producing over 15,000 alumni in the Greater China region.

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  1. U.S. News & World Report. "Best Business Schools."

  2. U.S. News & World Report. "University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)."

  3. Wharton University of Pennsylvania. "Wharton MBA Class Profile."

  4. Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. "Academic Programs."

  5. Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. "Wharton Alumni Magazine Features EMBA Program’s 40th Anniversary."

  6. Wharton University of Pennsylvania. "History of Wharton."

  7. Wharton Magazine. "Penn Wharton China Center Launched."

  8. Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. "Penn Wharton China Center."

  9. Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. "Alumni and Network."