APRIL 16, 2001

 HALLS OF IVY

The Few, the Proud, the MBAs  

By Eric Dash

It's B-School meets boot camp. About 80 students from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School will head to the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., on Apr. 19 for two days of intense basic training. The goal: use hardcore Marine discipline to whip business students into quick-thinking leaders.

Marine officers say they won't go easy on the suit-and-tie crowd; they'll be evaluating students' ability to assess new situations and develop action plans under time pressure. The students will get the same drill as grunts at Officer Candidates School: water hazards, 8-foot walls, barked orders--though they only have to endure one night of barracks and meals-ready-to-eat. "Our whole philosophy is to see how someone functions in a chaotic and unfamiliar environment[and instill] a philosophy of winning while incorporating risk," says Quantico's operations director Maj. Patrick Kelleher.

The base has tested similar groups before, including the Notre Dame women's soccer team and even a few corporations. The Wharton crew is the first from a business school. Given the market uncertainty, boot camp may be just the thing for tomorrow's Wall Street warriors.