Culver student spends 3 weeks studying business at Penn’s Wharton School

 

Culver Military Academy first classman Andrew Chen spent part of his summer at a business program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School auditing a company’s financial statements and digging through hundreds of pages of regulatory filings looking for trends.

While most people might find that tedious or mind-numbing, Chen found it invigorating.

As one of about 100 students selected for Wharton’s Leadership in the Business World program, Chen spent three-and-a-half weeks studying business strategy, leadership and corporate decision-making.

“When you’re sitting there digging through a bunch of numbers and something just jumps out at you, and all of a sudden you make a connection about a business you never saw before, that’s what I find really rewarding,” Chen said.

Chen, who is from Valparaiso, Indiana, said that even though the program ran while a World Cup soccer match as going on only a few miles away from campus, many students didn’t watch.

“Instead of watching the World Cup or whatever else was going on every night, we would often work on our projects,” he said. “It was actually more difficult to find a study room than a spot in the recreation lounge.”

Chen, who is taking the honors class in The Ron Rubin School for the Entrepreneur, said he signed up for the program because he wasn’t sure where he wanted to go to college or what type of career he wanted to pursue.

"Prior to completing the program, I was kind of deciding between a bunch of colleges and I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do," Chen said. "I went to Wharton and I spent 3½ weeks there, and they were the best 3½ weeks ever."

Chen said he enjoyed the program so much that he now knows what he wants his next four years to look like.

Chen said his interest in the program grew directly from his experiences at Culver, an elite leadership-oriented boarding school in northern Indiana.

 

"I decided to apply for the program because I spent so much time in the Rubin School at Culver," Chen said. "I really love business and I think that kind of shaped what I want to do in the future."

Chen said he initially enrolled in the Rubin School because it promised to strengthen his communication skills. He found he loved classes.

“I loved it so much I kept taking them,” he said.

That decision eventually led him to apply to the program at Wharton, widely regarded as one of the nation's premier business schools.

The program is billed as an introduction to a top-notch undergraduate business education and the opportunity for students to hone their leadership, teamwork and communication skills. 

The program followed an intensive academic schedule. Students attended morning lectures covering topics such as economics, marketing and accounting before breaking into project teams for collaborative work.

Chen’s team primary project focused on Hims & Hers, a telehealth company.

Chen’s team analyzed the company's strategic decisions, market environment, reviewed financial filings and developed recommendations surrounding a recent decision the company made.  

Students also debated major corporate decisions involving companies such as Pfizer, Capital One and Discover.

"I enjoyed being the challenger," Chen said. "It was really fun to try to poke holes in the decisions such a big company made."

At the same time, he appreciated the challenge of defending controversial decisions.

"I also like being a defender," Chen said. “It’s so easy to criticize a corporation’s decision, especially after post-decision data shows short-term losses. However, it takes a unique kind of consideration to think beyond the present numbers and predict whether a short-term ‘poor’ decision will actually help a company in the long term.”

Chen said his Rubin School experiences gave him a perspective that helped him succeed at the Wharton program.

“I noticed that as someone who went to the Rubin School, I was more programmed to identify pain points in everyday life,” he said.

Chen was surprised by how many business leaders were willing to engage with high school students. His team communicated with leaders at Hims & Hers by email.

 

 

"Something that Wharton taught me is that you should never be afraid of reaching out," Chen said. "We got so many more responses than I thought we would."

Chen said he was impressed by the students he worked with.

“The people I saw were some of the most skilled and accomplished people I’ve ever met before,” Chen said.

Chen said he remains in contact with many of the students he met in the program, texting some daily.

Chen said the program also helped him narrow his possible career paths. He is now considering working in management consulting, investment banking or private equity.

“I already know I enjoy helping people make the best decisions they can and move forward from past choices, and I realized that extends to companies too,” Chen said.

Chen credits the Rubin School for providing a foundation that helped him succeed in the program.

"The Rubin School taught me how to think like an entrepreneur, which is one of the most significant traits that helps me in my everyday life and also helped me succeed in the Wharton program," he said.

He sees clear parallels between the business analysis work he completed at Wharton and projects he completed at Culver, including competing in the Rubin School’s Impact Competition last year, where his team recommended that the Children's Museum of South Bend boost its digital presence through targeted Google Ads, create a virtual exhibit tours, and a structured social media content strategy.

“What really struck me is how similar the Impact Competition is to what we were doing at Wharton,” Chen said. “The Rubin School helped me immensely to get where I am.”

Chen said he would recommend the Wharton program to anyone considering it.

“It will help you decide what you want to do,” he said. “Not only did it contribute significantly to my final year in the Rubin School’s Honors in Entrepreneurship, but it also added to who I am as a person: my actions to fix a problem, my reaction to challenges and my approach to everyday life.”