Wharton Team-Based Discussion (TBD): How to Prepare
Wharton’s Team-Based Discussion (TBD) gives you an opportunity to show what you bring to a team. Your ideas matter, of course. But so does your ability to listen, build on someone else’s thinking and help a group arrive at a solution together.
Introduced in 2012, the TBD reflects the collaborative culture at the heart of the Wharton MBA. As Maryellen Lamb, then Deputy Vice Dean for Admissions, Financial Aid and Career Management, described it, Wharton wanted applicants to experience a culture that cultivates “persuasive rather than positional leadership.”
That distinction matters. How do you influence a group when nobody has appointed you the leader?
The TBD can be wonderfully revealing. You’re working with people you’ve just met, with a task to complete and a clock ticking. Your habits in a group become much more visible under that kind of pressure. That’s the beauty of the format.
What to expect
Wharton currently describes the TBD as a 35-minute virtual group exercise. Groups are assigned randomly, and you work together on a shared prompt to produce a tangible outcome. Afterwards, you have a 10-minute individual conversation with a member of the admissions team.
You’ll receive the prompt and instructions before your interview. Read them carefully and use the instructions for your round as your guide. Prepare your opening idea pitch to the allotted time, typically one minute. A brief mention of relevant experience can give your idea context, but the pitch needs to answer the prompt. It’s very easy to use up precious seconds introducing yourself and leave too little time for the proposal itself.
And remember that the TBD is one part of your application. You don’t need to squeeze your entire candidacy into those 35 minutes.
Start noticing how you show up in a group
Self-awareness is one of the best places to start preparing. When you join a meeting at work, sit down to a family dinner or have coffee with friends, pay attention to your influence on the conversation. Where do you help it along? Where might you get in the way?
Draw out the ideas of others. Ask a question that helps someone flesh out their thinking.
Build on those ideas. Help the group see how a suggestion could work in practice.
Let go of attachment to your own solution when someone offers a strong way forward. Encourage it and help develop it.
Notice who has contributed and who hasn’t had much space. Open the conversation to them without putting them on the spot.
Practise graciousness. Someone’s nerves may get the better of them, they may interrupt you, or they may not have read this article and be just plain bolshy. How you respond matters, too.
Wharton looks at your communication, engagement, leadership and decision-making. You need to express your own views clearly and confidently, and be willing to develop the ideas of others. Leadership here includes bringing out the brilliance of your teammates and helping turn the discussion into something the group can deliver.
Read the room and help the team move forward
On the day, start with a little human connection when there’s an opportunity to meet your teammates. A warm hello can help people settle. You don’t need to turn those first moments into a performance.
Once the discussion begins, pay attention to what the group needs. Is everyone offering more ideas when you really need to choose a direction? Has the conversation drifted into an interesting tangent? Is someone trying to get a word in? Reading the room means noticing those things and making a useful contribution.
If the conversation wanders, bring it back gently: “That’s an interesting possibility. How would it help us meet the outcome the prompt asks for?” Or: “We’ve got two strong options. Could we compare them against the brief and decide which one to develop?”
Collaboration includes thoughtful disagreement. If an idea has a practical weakness, you can name it respectfully and offer a way to address it. Agreeing with everything won’t necessarily help the team produce a good solution.
Keep the task itself in view. Check that the proposal answers all parts of the prompt and that the group has allowed time to pull the final response together. A lively conversation still needs to arrive somewhere.
People often ask whether they should volunteer to be the timekeeper or notetaker. Wharton says there is no specific role expected of you. If one of those jobs plays to your strengths and helps the group, go for it. But stay involved in the substance of the discussion. A role title on its own tells the observers very little about how you work with others.
And don’t worry if your idea isn’t the one the group selects. You still have plenty to contribute to the solution on the table.
Work with your personality
Everyone has a different style. There’s the slow burner who listens thoughtfully before speaking, and whose contribution has real substance when it comes. Then there’s the gregarious teammate who brings energy and momentum. Both can be valuable.
If you’re an extrovert, do you give other people space to shine? If you’re more reserved, do you speak up soon enough for your thinking to help the group? You don’t need to become someone else, but you do need to understand how your style affects other people.
You’re probably razor sharp if you’ve been invited to the TBD. Can you also be curious, thoughtful and gracious when the pressure is on? If your future study team were watching, would they want you in their group? Would you want you in your group?
Prepare to reflect afterwards
For the individual conversation, be ready to reflect honestly on the discussion: what you contributed, how the group worked together and what you might do differently. You can acknowledge a moment you could have handled better without dismantling your whole performance. Keep the focus on your own learning rather than critiquing your teammates.
Also be ready to explain your interest in Wharton and how the MBA fits your goals. Keep your answers clear and concise; ten minutes goes quickly.
A mock TBD can help you understand your habits under pressure and practise adapting to unfamiliar teammates. Use that experience to become more comfortable and responsive. You’ll need to listen to the people in your actual group, whatever happens in rehearsal.
Join an EduVentura mock TBD
I’ve prepared scores of candidates for the Wharton TBD. EduVentura students have gone on to Wharton, including students who have received scholarships and fellowships, with a six-figure award among them.
If you’d like to join an EduVentura mock TBD, you’ll receive feedback and actionable guidance, plus a 25-minute private consultation to refine your opening pitch and prepare for the individual conversation that follows. The aim is to help you go into your TBD prepared, confident and ready to contribute.