University of Pennsylvania

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there's a lotta Penn hate here. I'm a non-Wharton Penn grad from back when it wasn't nearly as competitive as it is today (I'm about to hit my 25th reunion.) So take my comments with a grain of salt. But Penn was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It wasn't my first choice (No, wasn't a HYP aspirant; actually wanted Gtown!) and I had a tough adjustment my freshman year. It's a big school, and back then there were serious safety issues to boot.

But I found my niche, and loved it. It was a great academic experience, a great social experience, and overall my entire life since then is thanks to the doors Penn opened for me. It's definitely a pre-professional kind of place, but I think they are all nowadays. Like a lot of schools with one really renowned program, Wharton has the snob factor going for it, but it only gets to you if you let it - I never once stepped inside a Wharton building except to use a bathroom! (And gawk at the wall of shame honoring imprisoned investment bankers etc.)

I'd love it if my kids could go to Penn, but I'm sure they won't stand a chance. I wouldn't send a kid there who's easily overwhelmed - it's a big place (although way smaller than Michigan or Texas or anything like that) and it's filled with kids who know what they want.

I agree with this completely. Graduated from Penn in 2000 as a history major. I work at a non profit now and didn't feel at all out of place at Penn, despite no affiliation with Wharton. My Penn friends are now scientists, tv producers, doctors, consultants, psychotherapists, professors, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there's a lotta Penn hate here. I'm a non-Wharton Penn grad from back when it wasn't nearly as competitive as it is today (I'm about to hit my 25th reunion.) So take my comments with a grain of salt. But Penn was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It wasn't my first choice (No, wasn't a HYP aspirant; actually wanted Gtown!) and I had a tough adjustment my freshman year. It's a big school, and back then there were serious safety issues to boot.

But I found my niche, and loved it. It was a great academic experience, a great social experience, and overall my entire life since then is thanks to the doors Penn opened for me. It's definitely a pre-professional kind of place, but I think they are all nowadays. Like a lot of schools with one really renowned program, Wharton has the snob factor going for it, but it only gets to you if you let it - I never once stepped inside a Wharton building except to use a bathroom! (And gawk at the wall of shame honoring imprisoned investment bankers etc.)

I'd love it if my kids could go to Penn, but I'm sure they won't stand a chance. I wouldn't send a kid there who's easily overwhelmed - it's a big place (although way smaller than Michigan or Texas or anything like that) and it's filled with kids who know what they want.

I agree with this completely. Graduated from Penn in 2000 as a history major. I work at a non profit now and didn't feel at all out of place at Penn, despite no affiliation with Wharton. My Penn friends are now scientists, tv producers, doctors, consultants, psychotherapists, professors, etc.

I think it just depends on who you are and who you hang out with. People who are clear that they want to do something else -- history; pre-med; non profit work; English whatever -- do just fine. It's a fun place. It's not all that big (2500). It affords you every opportunity under the sun.

The ones who "struggle" a bit are the ones who don't know what they want and aren't committed to a passion or two. They are the ones who arrive, get caught up in the "competition," and then find themselves elbowing someone aside for an internship at Booz Allen or SAC that in their heart of hearts don't really even want but it's "easier" than figuring out your own path.

[Anonymous]

I went to grad school at Penn and think that the Wharton dominates talk is overblown. A good number of my friends had gone to undergrad at Penn and only one was at Wharton. There are plenty of premeds and liberal arts folks, plus Penn has the Annenberg school for communications and an architecture school. The student body is huge compared to the other ivies so I think that allows for more, not less, diversity among the undergrads. There is a heavy NY-NY-PA contingent and perhaps it is harder for other students to assimilate. It is social, has top rate academics and a mid-size city to explore, should one so desire. I'd be happy to send my kids there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to grad school at Penn and think that the Wharton dominates talk is overblown. A good number of my friends had gone to undergrad at Penn and only one was at Wharton. There are plenty of premeds and liberal arts folks, plus Penn has the Annenberg school for communications and an architecture school. The student body is huge compared to the other ivies so I think that allows for more, not less, diversity among the undergrads. There is a heavy NY-NY-PA contingent and perhaps it is harder for other students to assimilate. It is social, has top rate academics and a mid-size city to explore, should one so desire. I'd be happy to send my kids there.

But doesn't this confirm what everyone else is saying? Even the UPenn grads who weren't in the Wharton school ended up in that world, in this case at Wharton.

They do have other strong departments but the folks DD met who were in those departments were unhappy. So if you are looking at Penn from the perspective of someone who is interested in liberal arts and the humanities, be careful adn talk to current students with similar interests.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the great and candid comments. We will follow-up with the information session here in town next week and then a car ride to UPenn in November.

A lot of food for thought in these posts.....

[Anonymous]

Writing from the perspective of a professor: one of my colleagues recently commented on some difficulties she ran into with a Penn course she was invited to teach (she's a full prof at a nearby university). In a nutshell, she was surprised at the push back from administrators with regard to assessments. The issue had to do with the fact that some students' performance merited below-A grades, but administrators resisted her efforts to make those assessments. Not sure what the outcome was, but she found the back-and-forth unsettling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to grad school at Penn and think that the Wharton dominates talk is overblown. A good number of my friends had gone to undergrad at Penn and only one was at Wharton. There are plenty of premeds and liberal arts folks, plus Penn has the Annenberg school for communications and an architecture school. The student body is huge compared to the other ivies so I think that allows for more, not less, diversity among the undergrads. There is a heavy NY-NY-PA contingent and perhaps it is harder for other students to assimilate. It is social, has top rate academics and a mid-size city to explore, should one so desire. I'd be happy to send my kids there.

But doesn't this confirm what everyone else is saying? Even the UPenn grads who weren't in the Wharton school ended up in that world, in this case at Wharton.

They do have other strong departments but the folks DD met who were in those departments were unhappy. So if you are looking at Penn from the perspective of someone who is interested in liberal arts and the humanities, be careful adn talk to current students with similar interests.

What are you talking about? Pp said she went to grad school at Penn, not at Wharton. There are tons of happy liberal arts people there - I was one if them as were most of my friends. The ones in Wharton were less happy because of the cutthroat nature.

[Anonymous]

10:01 again. Not everybody at Wharton is gunning for Booz Allen, BTW. There is a contingent of people who want to manage not-for-profits or who do public policy. I was in one of these other groups and I found my friends among these other groups. But we were a minority....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:01 again. Not everybody at Wharton is gunning for Booz Allen, BTW. There is a contingent of people who want to manage not-for-profits or who do public policy. I was in one of these other groups and I found my friends among these other groups. But we were a minority....

does booz allen even recruit much at wharton?

Most wharton kids would look at Booz Allen as a fall-back option.

GS, JPM, Citi, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Fidelity, Wellington, various hedge funds, PE, and VC funds, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Jane Street (and other prop trading firms) are what most wharton students salivate over. Stuff like Edelman, Ogilvy, WPP if you are marketing concentrator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to grad school at Penn and think that the Wharton dominates talk is overblown. A good number of my friends had gone to undergrad at Penn and only one was at Wharton. There are plenty of premeds and liberal arts folks, plus Penn has the Annenberg school for communications and an architecture school. The student body is huge compared to the other ivies so I think that allows for more, not less, diversity among the undergrads. There is a heavy NY-NY-PA contingent and perhaps it is harder for other students to assimilate. It is social, has top rate academics and a mid-size city to explore, should one so desire. I'd be happy to send my kids there.

But doesn't this confirm what everyone else is saying? Even the UPenn grads who weren't in the Wharton school ended up in that world, in this case at Wharton.

They do have other strong departments but the folks DD met who were in those departments were unhappy. So if you are looking at Penn from the perspective of someone who is interested in liberal arts and the humanities, be careful adn talk to current students with similar interests.

What are you talking about? Pp said she went to grad school at Penn, not at Wharton. There are tons of happy liberal arts people there - I was one if them as were most of my friends. The ones in Wharton were less happy because of the cutthroat nature.

PP here. I went to law school there, and had friends doing graduate work in public policy plus undergrad friends

[Anonymous]

Went as an undergrad about 10 years ago. Loved the pretty much unlimited opportunities (research projects to join in on, ability to take classes in the different graduate schools, tons of undergrad classes with multiple professors to choose from) and I'm sure it didn't hurt that I met my future husband there. Philly was a fun city, too. Fwiw, I was at Wharton, but most of my friends were liberal arts and and seemed happy. If I had a kid who didn't need a lot of hand holding, and was okay with a bigger school, I would encourage them to look at it.

Also surprised at a lot of the pp's posts re Wharton dominating the school. I wonder if things have changed a lot in the past decade.

[Anonymous]

^^ 17:19 here. Should add that I do not work in finance/hedge fund/typical Wharton job.

[Anonymous]

LOL. Booz is definitely not on the radar for most Wharton grads.

[Anonymous]

I went to HS near there and MANY of my classmates went to Penn - maybe even more there than Penn State. Almost all were pre-med though and went on to medical school. Although one person did do a Wharton MBA and an MD. But this was almost 20 years ago so maybe the atmosphere has changed.

Also know a few people who did undergrad elsewhere and attended Wharton MBA. Mix of entrepreneurs and consultants. The finance types I know went to Sloan or Columbia for their MBA.

[Anonymous]

Multiple Penn family connections. I'd let my kid go to Wharton undergrad but for absolutely nothing else.