UPenn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Decades ago, Penn was a bottom feeder Ivy in a post apocalyptic part of Philly. Things have changed. A spruced up area and much better rankings.

Huh, decades ago, I seriously considered turning down Harvard for Wharton (and, at the time, my Dad was solidly pro-Wharton, judging from people he knew professionally from both schools). Flash forward to today and my kid dismisses Penn as a party school, based on which kids go there from DC's HS. What's up with that? Is it just Wharton vs. Penn? (In my case, Harvard won because I wasn't sure I'd end up in business.) Or is it that the spruced-up area makes it a more appealing party school for upper middle class private school kids? Or just people making half-assed judgments based on limited information?

Personally, I think of Penn as a very good school -- but that's based on faculty in my humanities field, which has no relevance to what DC would be studying (sciences, most likely bio). College counselor didn't urge DC to look at Penn, but did suggest Columbia.

[Anonymous]

Wharton has always been superb. The social sciences, to take one example, have generally been viewed as second rate.

[Anonymous]

Kinda counter-intuitive from the Harvard perspective, where the B-school is often seen as the weakest link.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe my experience is dated, but I am very surprised at how little credit people give to "brand name" schools, especially if you are studying something not specifically job oriented. I was a liberal arts major at Brown in the 80's, and went to Yale Law in the early 90's, and those names alone have opened many doors for me.

Obviously it does you no good if you go to Penn undergrad, spend all that money, and then jerk around for four years. But if you do well, you are way ahead of the game.

Honestly I think these days people don't want to admit it -- because it is so hard to get in and to pay for it, so you get a lot more "oh it doesn't matter where you go to school; no one asks after a yr or two anyway -- it's all about work experience." I frankly have heard this from adults who separately when talking about their own careers have said how having Wharton or MIT or wherever has gotten them an interview or an offer they otherwise wouldn't have had -- and I don't mean a first offer, I mean one when they're 40 or 50 and switching gears on their career. I think it's just about not building up expectations for parents or kids -- and not wanting to feel "obligated" to spend 60k+/yr when there's a much cheaper in state option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe my experience is dated, but I am very surprised at how little credit people give to "brand name" schools, especially if you are studying something not specifically job oriented. I was a liberal arts major at Brown in the 80's, and went to Yale Law in the early 90's, and those names alone have opened many doors for me.

Obviously it does you no good if you go to Penn undergrad, spend all that money, and then jerk around for four years. But if you do well, you are way ahead of the game.

ok. i'm not one of those ostrich types - I fully tell people how it is about names opening doors but you fucking have YLS on your resume.

you could've gone to Podunk for UG but YLS is gold, especially in this town. not sure how many doors brown opened for you because I know a number of underemployed brown alums.

YLS will always open doors. Brown - eh maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kinda counter-intuitive from the Harvard perspective, where the B-school is often seen as the weakest link.

Harvard doesn't have an undergrad business school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know. (That's why I applied to Wharton.) Harvard doesn't have an undergraduate law school either, yet undergrads I knew perceived the law school as intellectually rigorous and the B-school as kind of BS. I did take at least one course taught by faculty from each and law students were TAs in some undergrad courses. Don't remember if I had any B-school TAs -- probably not. Campus is more distant, program is shorter and seems more immersive.

[Anonymous]

Wharton looms very large at UPenn, larger than it did back in my day (I applied but went elsewhere). I think thats the most important thing to know. If you are interested in business, or any kind of professional school, then it might be a good fit. But if thats the kind of thing that turns you off -- as it did my DD -- look elsewhere. The preprofessional vibe is real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe my experience is dated, but I am very surprised at how little credit people give to "brand name" schools, especially if you are studying something not specifically job oriented. I was a liberal arts major at Brown in the 80's, and went to Yale Law in the early 90's, and those names alone have opened many doors for me.

Obviously it does you no good if you go to Penn undergrad, spend all that money, and then jerk around for four years. But if you do well, you are way ahead of the game.

ok. i'm not one of those ostrich types - I fully tell people how it is about names opening doors but you fucking have YLS on your resume.

you could've gone to Podunk for UG but YLS is gold, especially in this town. not sure how many doors brown opened for you because I know a number of underemployed brown alums.

YLS will always open doors. Brown - eh maybe.

You may be right that at this stage YLS is what carries the weight. But being a straight A student at Brown was one of the major things that got me into YLS in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never met anyone from Penn who wasn't either a jerk, an HYP reject, or both.

Well very few Penn grads end up working the deep fryer....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never met anyone from Penn who wasn't either a jerk, an HYP reject, or both.

Well very few Penn grads end up working the deep fryer....

Not sure they would know how.

[Anonymous]

Wow bitter you are....is it fun going thru life basing everything on your narrowmindedness? Or do you simply not notice?

[Anonymous]

She/he, the basher, is also a jerk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy to spend 60k for undergrad work.

The Ivies have HUGE endowments, so for most students, Penn would be cheaper than a state school.

[Anonymous]

True. We pay $15k a year for tuition and room/board.