Something at Wharton doesn't add up.
沃顿商学院有什么地方不对头。
Applications to the University of Pennsylvania's business school have declined 12% in the past four years, with the M.B.A. program receiving just 6, 036 submissions for the class that started this fall. That was fewer than Stanford Graduate School of Business, with a class half Wharton's size.
沃顿商学院隶属于宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)，过去四年该学院收到的入学申请数量减少了12%，其中工商管理硕士(MBA)项目今秋已开课的班仅收到了6,036份申请。这个申请数量甚至少于斯坦福大学商学院(Stanford Graduate School of Business)，而该校的MBA班规模仅为沃顿商学院的一半。
Wharton says the decline, combined with a stronger applicant pool and a higher percentage of accepted applicants who enroll, proves that the school is doing a better job targeting candidates.
沃顿商学院说，申请数量下降，申请者自身条件更好，录取比例也有所提高，这些可证明该校在瞄准申请者方面做得更为出色。
But business-school experts and b-school applicants say Wharton has lost its luster as students' interests shift from finance to technology and entrepreneurship.
但商学院专家和申请者却说，学生的兴趣从金融转移到了科技和创业领域，沃顿商学院魅力不再。
'We're hearing applicants say Stanford, Harvard or nothing. It used to be Stanford, Harvard or Wharton, ' says Jeremy Shinewald, the founder of mbaMission, an admissions advisory firm.
入学咨询机构mbaMission的创始人施恩瓦尔德(Jeremy Shinewald)说：我们听申请者谈论的是斯坦福、哈佛(Harvard)，要么就不上，以前他们说的是斯坦福、哈佛或沃顿。
Wharton over the past century built its reputation as a training ground for Wall Street titans, but the financial crisis closed off many paths to such careers. The school in the mid-2000s regularly sent more than a quarter of its students to jobs at investment banks and brokerage firms. That figure has slid into the teens.
过去一个世纪，沃顿商学院为自己打造了华尔街大亨培训基地的美誉，但金融危机封堵了毕业生去华尔街打拼的众多道路。在2005年左右这段时间，沃顿商学院有超过25%的学生毕业后去投行和经纪公司工作。如今，这个比例降到了百分之十几。
Top institutions -- and the Philadelphia-based school is still in that class -- responded to the downturn by restructuring their courses and seeking students from less-traditional business backgrounds. Many schools also strengthened their ties to hot technology companies, like Amazon Inc. and Google Inc., and found opportunities for finance jobs at Fortune 500 companies.
面对申请者人数下滑，顶级商学院（位于费城的沃顿商学院仍属这个行列）的应对策略是调整课程设置，招收商业背景不那么强的学生。此外，很多商学院还加强了与亚马逊(Amazon Inc.)和谷歌(Google Inc.)等热门科技公司的联系，并为毕业生在那些《财富》500强企业(Fortune 500)中寻找金融相关工作机会。
The efforts paid off at several schools. Harvard Business School reported a 3.9% increase in applications this year, and Stanford posted a 5.8% gain. But Wharton's applications dropped 5.8%.Columbia Business School reported a 6.6% increase, recovering from a 19% decline last year. And Duke University's Fuqua School of Business stabilized after an 8.4% drop last year.
有几所学校的努力收到了成效。哈佛商学院称，今年的申请人数增加了3.9%，斯坦福商学院增加了5.8%。但沃顿商学院的申请人数却下滑了5.8%。哥伦比亚商学院(Columbia Business School)的申请人数增加了6.6%，走出了去年骤减19%的阴影。杜克大学(Duke University)福库商学院(Fuqua School of Business)去年申请人数下滑8.4%，现已企稳。
Some admissions advisers and Wharton professors say the school didn't react aggressively enough when the spigot of finance jobs was turned off and that recent moves, such as a rebranding campaign begun in the spring of last year, did little to clarify the school's profile.
一些入学咨询机构和沃顿商学院的教授说，从事金融工作的大门关上了，而近来采取的措施（如去年春天开始了一场重塑学校形象的运动）也未能使沃顿商学院的形象鲜明起来，在这种情况下，沃顿商学院没有进行足够积极的应对。
Ankur Kumar, Wharton's director of M.B.A. admissions and financial aid, says quantity doesn't equal quality. The average score for Wharton applicants on the standardized b-school entrance exam, the GMAT, rose seven points this year, to a record 725 out of 750.
沃顿商学院负责MBA招生和助学金事宜的库马尔(Ankur Kumar)说，数量不等于质量。沃顿商学院申请者GMAT的平均分数今年增加了七分，至破纪录的725分。GMAT是报考美国商学院的标准化入学考试。
'Our focus is on the quality of our applicant population, and that remains as high as ever, ' Ms. Kumar says. Only those who really want to attend Wharton are applying, she says. The school's yield, the portion of accepted applicants who enroll, rose several percentage points this year to a record, she says, though she declines to disclose the figure.
库马尔说，我们看重申请者的整体素质，他们的素质还像以往一样高。她说，只有那些真正想进入沃顿商学院的人才会递交申请。她说，今年入学率（登记入学的学生占录取学生总数的比例）上升了几个百分点，达到纪录高点，但她拒绝透露具体数字。
Some education consultants offer a different take.
一些教育顾问给出了不同角度的分析。
Wharton alumnus Eliot Ingram, the chief executive of admissions-counseling firm Clear Admit, says one client turned down a $70, 000 scholarship from Wharton this year to attend Harvard because he felt that school had a stronger global brand.
沃顿商学院毕业生、目前担任入学顾问公司Clear Admit首席执行长的英格拉姆(Eliot Ingram)说，一位客户今年放弃了沃顿商学院7万美元的奖学金，选择了哈佛大学，因为他感觉哈佛在全球的名气更大。
To appeal to new audiences, Ms. Kumar now holds admissions events for students considering entrepreneurship and who are interested in such industries as retail and real estate. The school this month also unveiled a business-and-management satellite-radio channel with Sirius XM Radio Inc.
为了吸引新生源，库马尔现在开始为那些考虑创业以及对零售和房地产等行业感兴趣的学生举办招生活动。该学院这个月还与Sirius XM Radio Inc共同推出了一个商业和管理卫星广播电台。
Fiona Fong says she was attracted to Wharton's strong marketing program and data-driven curriculum. She worked in marketing at cosmetics company Estee Lauder Cos. before school and is looking to return to the field.
沃顿商学院二年级学生Fiona Fong说，沃顿商学院强大的营销专业和数据导向课程吸引了她。她在入学前曾在化妆品公司雅诗兰黛公司(Estee Lauder Cos.)的营销部门工作，她打算毕业后重返这一领域。
'When you come out of Wharton, you get the reputation that you can handle numbers and analytics, ' says Ms. Fong, a second-year Wharton student.
Fong说，当你从沃顿毕业，你会获得擅长处理数据和分析的名声。
The year after Ms. Fong applied, Wharton introduced a group discussion to its selection process, requiring candidates to demonstrate leadership and teamwork abilities in front of admissions representatives.
Fong向沃顿商学院提交申请后第二年，该学院在录取过程中引入了一个小组讨论环节，要求申请者在一组招生代表前展现领导能力和团队合作能力。
'Our guess is that might have made some students reluctant to apply, ' says Wharton Vice Dean Howard Kaufold. He says he isn't concerned about the application decline and is pleased with the caliber of the school's students.
沃顿商学院副院长考夫特(Howard Kaufold)说，我们猜测这可能是一些学生不愿申请该学院的原因。他说，他对申请人数下降并不担忧，并且对该学院学生的整体素质感到满意。
Virgil Archer says he wanted 'a frothy tech scene.' Mr. Archer, who is in his first year at the University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management, says Wharton didn't have the same entrepreneurial atmosphere.
加州大学洛杉矶分校(University of California)安德森管理学院(Anderson School of Management)一年级学生阿切尔(Virgil Archer)说，他之前希望申请一所有轻松的科技环境的学院，但沃顿商学院没有这样的创业氛围。
Wharton also has lacked continuity. The school has had four admission directors in the past decade.
沃顿商学院在招生方面也缺少连贯性。该学院在过去10年中已经换了四任招生主管。
'If you put a baseball team on the field that's new every year, it's going to be tough to get chemistry and an overarching strategy, ' says former Wharton admissions officer Graham Richmond, the founder of higher-education consulting firm Southwark Consulting.
沃顿商学院前招生负责人里士满(Graham Richmond)说，如果你每年都让一个棒球队去适应新的场地，就很难形成团队凝聚力和一个总体战略。里士满是高等教育顾问公司Southwark Consulting的创始人。
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