Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 17:55     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wharton really dominates Penn. It's one reason why my kid declined to apply. But if you visit, you really sense that there are two tiers at Penn - there's Wharton, and then there's the rest of the school. It's like Wharton is the varsity team, and the rest of Penn muddles along on the JV team. It's not for everyone.


This isn't really true...nobody in the Penn Engineering school thinks for a second that Wharton is the Varsity school considering anyone accepted into Engineering could have been accepted into Wharton...Penn Engineering has like a 2% acceptance rate, by far the hardest admit at UPenn (and the engineering kids are highly recruited by Wall Street/fintech/quant funds, etc.).


This is correct, coming from having a current Engineer as well as a recent CAS grad. Engineering is understood to be the Brains, Wharton are the pricks with easy classes. The Wharton average GPA is close to a 3.9 it is understood to be the easiest by far, though still not "easy" as all the students put work in. SEAS has the lowest average GPA of 3.5 overall.
The not so secret "joke" is Engineering is Ravenclaw, CAS is Gryffindor, Nursing is Hufflepuff and Wharton of course is Slytherin. There are t shirts and many other memes about it. Only slytherins themselves think slytherin is best. DCUM not surprisingly is filled with slytherin-mindset parents.
Highest mean salary is SEAS not Wharton and has been for a couple of years now. That being said, CAS has lots of premeds and prelaw and they do very well in placement.


Actually nursing has highest salary out of graduation.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 17:53     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wharton really dominates Penn. It's one reason why my kid declined to apply. But if you visit, you really sense that there are two tiers at Penn - there's Wharton, and then there's the rest of the school. It's like Wharton is the varsity team, and the rest of Penn muddles along on the JV team. It's not for everyone.


This isn't really true...nobody in the Penn Engineering school thinks for a second that Wharton is the Varsity school considering anyone accepted into Engineering could have been accepted into Wharton...Penn Engineering has like a 2% acceptance rate, by far the hardest admit at UPenn (and the engineering kids are highly recruited by Wall Street/fintech/quant funds, etc.).


This is correct, coming from having a current Engineer as well as a recent CAS grad. Engineering is understood to be the Brains, Wharton are the pricks with easy classes. The Wharton average GPA is close to a 3.9 it is understood to be the easiest by far, though still not "easy" as all the students put work in. SEAS has the lowest average GPA of 3.5 overall.
The not so secret "joke" is Engineering is Ravenclaw, CAS is Gryffindor, Nursing is Hufflepuff and Wharton of course is Slytherin. There are t shirts and many other memes about it. Only slytherins themselves think slytherin is best. DCUM not surprisingly is filled with slytherin-mindset parents.
Highest mean salary is SEAS not Wharton and has been for a couple of years now. That being said, CAS has lots of premeds and prelaw and they do very well in placement.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 15:12     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:Can't a CAS kid do a second major at Wharton or vice versa?


You can do what's called an Uncoordinated Dual Degree. In other words, instead of applying for say the Huntsman Dual Degree in CAS and Wharton, you can apply to fulfill the requirements of a CAS and Wharton degree independently.

You apply to try to do this after your Freshman year and you need to make sure you take a bunch of qualifying courses and maintain a certain GPA. Supposedly, it's still competitive to be granted the opportunity to do this...though my kid knows several who are doing this that are both in Engineering and CAS...so it's perhaps more common then they indicate.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 14:33     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Can't a CAS kid do a second major at Wharton or vice versa?
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 14:20     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
There is an easy way to figure this out.

Are Wharton kids a hell lot more easier to find attractive dates on campus? Is there a hierarchy when UPenn kids looking for dates?

Answer that question, OP's question will be answered immediately.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 13:10     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm being told that there is a pecking order at Penn that is felt by the kids and wider world. as in, "You went to Penn? Wharton?" "No, I was in the college of arts and sciences." "Oh never mind"

I'm older so that's def not my experience. Penn is Penn.

But is there a feeling currently on campus that kids in CAS are second tier citizens?


My son is a current sophomore at Penn Engineering. The engineering students think all of the Wharton students are "bricks." From their point of view the classes are too easy and they tend to poke fun. My son took a few classes at Wharton (law and another business related class) and liked it, but they weren't hard. I do think the vibe is that the Wharton kids think of themselves as top of the food chain so to speak. CAS seems to get no love at all.


Not going to disagree that engineering is likely harder, but classes like law within Wharton are the easiest ones, and are seen as a break from the more rigorous classes, particularly the finance classes. So your son didn't have the full Wharton experience.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 13:05     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm being told that there is a pecking order at Penn that is felt by the kids and wider world. as in, "You went to Penn? Wharton?" "No, I was in the college of arts and sciences." "Oh never mind"

I'm older so that's def not my experience. Penn is Penn.

But is there a feeling currently on campus that kids in CAS are second tier citizens?


My son is a current sophomore at Penn Engineering. The engineering students think all of the Wharton students are "bricks." From their point of view the classes are too easy and they tend to poke fun. My son took a few classes at Wharton (law and another business related class) and liked it, but they weren't hard. I do think the vibe is that the Wharton kids think of themselves as top of the food chain so to speak. CAS seems to get no love at all.


My son also agrees with this...but there needs to be some nuanced understanding. Because the classes aren't that hard, the curves in the classes can be insane. Like you may need a 97/100 to get an A. It doesn't matter that you can solve differential equations if you are being tested on just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division...with maybe some Algebra I thrown in.

The flip side, is if a Wharton kid took basically any engineering class they are more likely to score a 10 or lower on those tests where the mean is like a 58...and then promptly drop that class and never take another.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 12:49     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:30+ years when I applied to college I debated applying to Wharton vs. CAS. I thought I wanted business and as a kid who skewed heavy towards math, my odds were actually likely better at Wharton.

I didn't want to get to Penn and then regret not being in Wharton - much easier to transfer out of Wharton than in.

I got in but chose another peer school as an econ major. I had a happier college experience than I would have had in West Philly. Worked in finance then ended up at Wharton for MBA.

A much higher percentage of Wharton undergrads are obnoxious and egotistical than CAS. But definitely far from all of them.



The kids really do stick to West Philly which surprises me. Outside of the Quad freshman year, a lot of the dorms are sandwiched between Paneras, McDonalds, Acme style places and it's just kind of a drag.


This is a strange description. My kid goes to downtown Philly a ton, as do many Penn kids...though also takes advantage of lots to do on-campus and yes will utilize West Philly for essentials.

I would say 90%+ of student housing/dorms based on the number of kids in those dorms, don't fit your description above. The high-rise dorms of course are directly on campus, then you have the quad...then you have Lauder and Hill House (again, not wedged between any of the fast food/fast casual restaurants you mention)...then you have Guttman which is also directly on campus.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 12:46     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
What are the demographics of each of the UG schools? Is eng mostly Asian males and Nursing mostly white females? CAS and Wharton?
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 12:42     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:30+ years when I applied to college I debated applying to Wharton vs. CAS. I thought I wanted business and as a kid who skewed heavy towards math, my odds were actually likely better at Wharton.

I didn't want to get to Penn and then regret not being in Wharton - much easier to transfer out of Wharton than in.

I got in but chose another peer school as an econ major. I had a happier college experience than I would have had in West Philly. Worked in finance then ended up at Wharton for MBA.

A much higher percentage of Wharton undergrads are obnoxious and egotistical than CAS. But definitely far from all of them.



The kids really do stick to West Philly which surprises me. Outside of the Quad freshman year, a lot of the dorms are sandwiched between Paneras, McDonalds, Acme style places and it's just kind of a drag.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 12:40     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:That’s been a debate over years cas vs Wharton. It all depends on the student and his ability to get into the Wharton clubs. Penn engineering is great and if your goal is the quant clubs doable but it’s definitely easier the Wharton route. I am not sure if it’s still very very difficult. To transfer into Wharton from cas my guess it’s the same.


The Wharton Quant and similar Clubs are literally all run by Penn Engineering/Math kids.


This is true.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 12:40     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wharton really dominates Penn. It's one reason why my kid declined to apply. But if you visit, you really sense that there are two tiers at Penn - there's Wharton, and then there's the rest of the school. It's like Wharton is the varsity team, and the rest of Penn muddles along on the JV team. It's not for everyone.


This isn't really true...nobody in the Penn Engineering school thinks for a second that Wharton is the Varsity school considering anyone accepted into Engineering could have been accepted into Wharton...Penn Engineering has like a 2% acceptance rate, by far the hardest admit at UPenn (and the engineering kids are highly recruited by Wall Street/fintech/quant funds, etc.).


This is true from my perspective too. My son is at Penn Engineering. He was top in his class at his high school, merit finalist, perfect GPA, 1580 SAT, 5s on all 14 of his AP tests and was a self taught coder with insane internships and experience, and he said that he was SOLIDLY the middle of the pack intellectually when he got to Penn Engineering. Truly smart, hardworking kids
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 12:37     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:I'm being told that there is a pecking order at Penn that is felt by the kids and wider world. as in, "You went to Penn? Wharton?" "No, I was in the college of arts and sciences." "Oh never mind"

I'm older so that's def not my experience. Penn is Penn.

But is there a feeling currently on campus that kids in CAS are second tier citizens?


My son is a current sophomore at Penn Engineering. The engineering students think all of the Wharton students are "bricks." From their point of view the classes are too easy and they tend to poke fun. My son took a few classes at Wharton (law and another business related class) and liked it, but they weren't hard. I do think the vibe is that the Wharton kids think of themselves as top of the food chain so to speak. CAS seems to get no love at all.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 12:34     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
Anonymous wrote:That’s been a debate over years cas vs Wharton. It all depends on the student and his ability to get into the Wharton clubs. Penn engineering is great and if your goal is the quant clubs doable but it’s definitely easier the Wharton route. I am not sure if it’s still very very difficult. To transfer into Wharton from cas my guess it’s the same.


The Wharton Quant and similar Clubs are literally all run by Penn Engineering/Math kids.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2025 11:31     Subject: UPenn - vibe with CAS vs Wharton
30+ years when I applied to college I debated applying to Wharton vs. CAS. I thought I wanted business and as a kid who skewed heavy towards math, my odds were actually likely better at Wharton.

I didn't want to get to Penn and then regret not being in Wharton - much easier to transfer out of Wharton than in.

I got in but chose another peer school as an econ major. I had a happier college experience than I would have had in West Philly. Worked in finance then ended up at Wharton for MBA.

A much higher percentage of Wharton undergrads are obnoxious and egotistical than CAS. But definitely far from all of them.