Bob Alig

Introduce Yourself
The single most important thing a student can do upon arrival is meet fellow students from every possible background, perspective, and culture. Students at Wharton are not just simply learning about accounting or statistics or micro-economics, they're learning about the backgrounds and perspectives of all their classmates. That's where the real education takes place.

Tailor Your Education
The first year at Wharton is what we call the core curriculum. Every course during the entire first year is waivable, except for the leadership course -- Foundations of Leadership and Teamwork. So if you have background in marketing, or if you took statistics as an undergrad, you can waive that course in the core curriculum and then take another upper-level elective in its place. The hallmark here is that you tailor this program and this experience to meet your own needs, and you don't duplicate something that you've all ready had. We have a menu of over 200 electives, and the typical student chooses about 10 of them.

Get Outside the Box
The teaching method here is variable. Faculty members are given the latitude to teach in the method or manor they deem most appropriate. In general, about 55 percent of the instruction is classroom discussion and lecture-based, and maybe another 25 percent is case-based. The remaining 20 percent is what we call experiential learning, where students are living and breathing a real-world situation. They're out consulting as a group to a small company or a company is coming to campus and presenting a situation for the students to evaluate. Wharton's a little bit more practical and hands-on than perhaps some of our peer institutions and our students love the opportunity to get out and actually participate in a real world situation.

We also have what's called the Field Application Project, which is the capstone course to the first year and the core curriculum. The idea is for students to apply what they've learned throughout the core curriculum in a setting of their choice. Students decide on a project with their learning team members, and it might be helping Procter & Gamble with the roll-out of a new product in Tokyo. Students sometimes travel and do a lot of field work. Other projects are less field-intensive. But it's completely up to the students.

Relish the Community
Students sometimes think this is just going to be a two-year opportunity, but actually you're getting a lifetime of resources from this community. What I valued about being here were the people I went school with, and that's what drives me in my current job. This fall I'm traveling with the rest of the staff to 38 countries to host receptions, conduct interviews, and communicate what this place is all about.

I get to learn about these applicants' backgrounds and experiences and gauge how they could make Wharton stronger by being here. And I don't mean just by being students here, but I think more importantly by being teachers here. That's what keeps me going.

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