Wharton
A quick glance at Wharton:Wharton currently ranks in third place as one of the best business schools,according to U.S. News & World Report (March2012). For entrepreneurship, U.S. News ranks Wharton as fifth.
The class of 2013has an average of four years of work experience and a median GMAT score of720.
29% haveundergraduate degrees in business.
Wharton AcademicsRelated to Entrepreneurship
Wharton has anew, updated curriculum as of 2012 that features a core curriculum withseveral fixed and flexible courses. The core focuses on analytical skills suchas accounting, finance, marketing, management, operations, statistics, andmicroeconomics, as well as on “soft skills” like ethics, communication, andleadership skills. Students then specialize in an area of study by choosingcourses that satisfy major and elective requirements. Students can major in oneor two concentrations.
Studentsinterested in starting their own businesses may major in Entrepreneurship.Students with this concentration often couple it with a major in Finance,Strategic Management, or Marketing as well. (See the full list of majors here.)
In addition tocompletion of the Core, there is one required course counted towards theEntrepreneurial Management major:
o MGMT 801: Entrepreneurship
The majorrequires students to complete 3.5 credit units by choosing from the classesbelow, which are .5 or 1 unit classes:
o FNCE 750 Venture Capital and the Financeof Innovation
o HCMG 866 eHealth: Business Models andImpact
o HCMG 867 Health Care Entrepreneurship
o LGST 813 Legal Aspects ofEntrepreneurship
o MGMT 731 Technology Strategy
o MGMT 802 Change, Innovation andEntrepreneurship
o MGMT 804 Venture Capital andEntrepreneurial Management
o MGMT 806 Formation andImplementation of Entrepreneurial Ventures
o MGMT 809 Private Equity in EmergingMarkets
o MGMT 810 Societal Wealth Venturing
o MGMT 811 Entrepreneurship throughAcquisition
o MGMT816 Building Human Assets inEntrepreneurial Ventures
o MGMT 833 Strategies and Practices ofFamily-Controlled Companies
o MGMT 893 Advanced Study Project inEntrepreneurial Management
o MGMT 899 Independent Study inEntrepreneurial Management
o MKTG 781 Entrepreneurial Marketing
o MKTG 890 Global Consulting Practicum
o OPIM 614 Managing the Productive Core ofthe Firm: Innovation (new in 2012-2013)
o OPIM 651 Innovation, Problem Solving, andDesign
o OPIM 654 Product Design and Development
o OPIM 662 Enabling Technologies
o REAL 891 Real Estate Entrepreneurship
o FNCE 751 Finance of Buyouts andAcquisitions
o MGMT 691/OPIM 691/LGST806 Negotiations
o MGMT 721 Corporate Development: Mergers& Acquisitions
o MGMT 773 Managing Organizational Change
o MGMT 890 Advanced Study Project inManagement
o MGMT 891 Advanced Study Project inStrategic Management
o MGMT 892 Advanced Study Project in HumanResource and Organizational Management Goergen Entrepreneurial ManagementProgram
o MGMT 894 Advanced Study Project inMultinational Management
o MKTG 753 New Product Management
o MKTG 755 Advertising Management
o MKTG 756 Marketing Research
o MKTG 777 Marketing Strategy
Entrepreneurswork closely with The Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center.
During winter andspring breaks, students may participate in one of Wharton’s Global Modular Courses (GMC), courses that expose students tothe “challenges and opportunities in regions undergoing rapid change.” Somepast modular courses of interest to entrepreneurship students include Necessityand Experimentation: Lessons from Israeli Innovation (in Herzliya, Israel),Building Future Markets (in Cape Town), and Marketing in Emerging Economies:Understanding and Marketing to the Indian Consumer (in Mumbai).
Entrepreneurship-RelatedClubs and Extracurricular Activities at Wharton
o Entrepreneurship Club – Aclub that helps entrepreneur students locate and use all the resources theyneed to start their own business.
o Dealmakers (Wharton Sales Club) – Thisclub provides its members with the tools they need to “persuasively ‘sell’their ideas and become excellent networkers.” Good for entrepreneurs, managers,and anyone else who has something to sell.
o Wharton Entrepreneurial Intern Fellowship – Thisopportunity is open to Wharton undergraduates and first year MBA students whowant to intern in an entrepreneurial setting over the summer. Students mustapply to the program.
o Penn Founder’s Club – A club whereentrepreneurs can share ideas, get constructive feedback, draft business plans,and network.
o Private Equity & Venture CapitalClub – This club runs events and activitiesthat focus on career development, skill development, and networking forstudents interested in venture capital, growth capital and buyouts.
o Wharton Business Plan Competition – Createa business plan with a team and get feedback from successful entrepreneurs andventure capitalists. Prizes for this year-long competition include grants andventure funding. (See list of BPC winners below.)
o Wharton Venture Initiation Program – Thisprogram provides student entrepreneurs with office space, mentorship, and otherresources to help them launch their businesses.
o Entrepreneur-in-Residence – This programmatches experienced entrepreneurs with Wharton students interested in startingtheir own businesses for one-on-one meetings.
o Wharton Small Business Development Center – Thiscenter is part of the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center. The centerruns workshops for entrepreneurs aswell as a consulting program forstudents.
Top CompaniesStarted by Wharton Entrepreneurs
61 out of 853class of 2011 graduates did not seek employment with “Self-Employed/Starting Own Business”given as their reason. 20 out of 823 class of 2012 students categorizedthemselves as such regarding summer internships.
Wharton alumnihave founded the following companies:
o Reliance Group
o CEO Connection
o H-E-B
o Comcast Interactive Capital
o Blyth
o Huntsman Corporation
o Universal Health Services
o QVC
o Franklin Mint
o Liberty Franklin Pharmaceuticals
o Trinity Nutriceuticals
o Doctors Wellness Solutions
Wharton BusinessPlan Competition winning companies include:
o Cortical Concepts
o NIR Diagnostics
o Solixia
o NP Solutions
o MuscleMorph
o FibrinX
o Infrascan
o PAWS Pet Insurance
o Envisia
o ProtoCell
