brown and upenn decision

Transfer Students
1

<p>I have been preoccupied about my decision for the past three weeks, as this upenn-brown decision is truly a dilemma! I have chosen brown, but i feel like i made the wrong choice and am considering withdrawing my spot at brown. Please give me your feedback, guys. That would be awesome.</p>

<p>I did not apply to wharton. I applied to the college as an anthropology major but will change that to a cognitive science at upenn. (At UCLA I was doing psychobiology and the accounting minor). I am also interested in business, which is what draws me to upenn. However, i don't think you can receive a degree at Wharton as a transfer, which was one of the reasons i did not pick penn. i believe you would only be able to take classes at wharton and/or get an interschool minor, which is what I would be doing. This is what I’ve been told, so if you have heard otherwise, let me know. Furthermore, as a junior transfer, i doubt I would have the time to take a significant amount of wharton classes, given that I have only two years to complete my cognitive science major plus whatever GE’s I am missing.</p>

<p>I never got the chance to visit both schools this quarter, as i was completely bombarded with school, finals, etc. So location was never an issue for me. However, my friends at penn have told me that the student body there is more rigorous and harsh, which i felt was not conducive for a transfer. I was mainly scared that i wouldn’t be able to fit in, and brown just seems more accommodating in that respect.</p>

<p>My main issue with brown is its lack of national and international prestige, as well as it being the ivy with the least endowment, which says something I suppose? My parents are extremely asian, so they would rather spend the 40k on upenn, which they believe has a stronger prestige presence. Furthermore, brown's unorthodox curriculum, i feel, might be looked down upon by employers especially in business or other professions as a diploma that wouldn’t carry significant weight to it. Ideally, I would like a job at a consulting firm and recruiters are always at penn. On the flip side, though, it seems like I could be put at a disadvantage given the immense numbers of Wharton people competing for the same jobs.</p>

<p>i really liked brown for its open curriculum, and i would be able to double major in a shorter period of time- cog neuroscience and the commerce, organizations, and entrepreneurship program. </p>

<p>again, i am still very conflicted and do have occasional thoughts of withdrawing from brown and attending penn instead. Could this be cold feet? Maybe. Prestige/image of the school is a huge factor. so is social life. id be happy at upenn, but imagine id be even happier at brown. but the happiness difference is minimal, so I can see why penn would give me a good combination of prestige and happiness. Please tell me your concerns about both schools as well as your take on my situation. I’d love to hear them.</p>

2

<p>you obviously prefer Brown to Penn who cares what your parents or future employers will think?(as if a consulting firm is really going to hire you because you went to Upenn and NOT Brown)</p>

<p>Do you realize how marginal the prestige between the two schools are and how it makes you appear to others that you seem to be having a personal crisis because you are afraid later in life people will chastise you for going to Brown (ivy with the least endowment? is that really a huge factor for you lol)</p>

<p>Why can't you decide what school you want to go to based on how you feel about it and stop basing everyone else's opinion of your decisions on your personal satisfaction?</p>

3

<p>jwlstn, first off, you need to just calm the f down. i wrote this post to ask people of their comments and the last thing i need is your patronizing tone. i care about the prestige of my school because employers are the ones that will be hiring me when i graduate. employers aggressively come to Penn to recruit students for internships and full-time jobs. Citigroup only recruits on-campus at 6 schools across the United States. Penn, not brown is one of these 6 schools. If you don't go to one of the 6 schools, you go through the main selection pool online, which makes it very difficult to land an interview. Furthermore, going to Penn would carry a lot more weight and open up more opportunities than Brown, since the school is larger and it has Wharton as one of the schools so the employers put Penn on their radar.</p>

<p>I am personally satisfied with both schools, which is why i said penn seems to have a good combination of prestige and happiness. maybe you need to learn to read before answering to posts.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
and it has Wharton as one of the schools so the employers put Penn on their radar.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I think the prestige of Wharton is more from MBA Wharton than from undergrad Wharton.</p>

5

<p>Don't underestimate "Happiness Factor" and Prestige is some what overrated. I personally don't thing the prestige will make up for over happiness.</p>

6

<p>Personally, I'd make a Pros and Cons list for each, sort of like you did with this post and then look at them side by side.. Do you have anyone in the business world you could consult about a Brown degree vs. a Penn Degree?</p>

7

<p>Browncal: no need to get so defensive. You just made this thread so that you could get validation for your decision, that is pretty obvious. I'm sorry that I'm not just going to stroke your ego there big boy.</p>

<p>Choosing your school based on which firms will interview there, especially when it is between Brown and Penn, is probably the worst reason that I can think of but hey, you're not alone; pre-professionalism is rampant at top schools and it's one of the biggest reasons I decided against business and a career in consulting or Ibanking.</p>

8

<p>i would pick penn..FOR SURE.. without a doubt..</p>

9

<p>and honestly, as for happiness, you'll be happy at whatever school because you seem to have a optimistic attitude, so now you got to look at the programs...</p>

10

<p>You've made like 3 of these threads, man. Just pick a school that feels right and run with it. Things have a way of playing out well. College is what you make of it. Sure there are small differences between each school- maybe one a little bit higher ranked than the other, maybe one is more "laidback" as a whole, maybe one is more dominated by Greek life, etc. but in the end it's going to be your own actions that will define your college experience. Both those schools are large enough that if you are proactive, you WILL find your niche. If you think you'll be more happy at Brown, then just go there and stop second guessing yourself. If you work hard and apply yourself things will turn out alright wherever you go.</p>

11

<p>Also, for what it is worth Penn is 9 slots higher on US News but Brown is by all accounts a bit more selective (acceptance rate, SAT scores, etc.), I believe. </p>

<p>And Penn has almost 20,000 total students (half undergrad, half postgrad) and an endowment of almost 7 billion.</p>

<p>Brown in total has about 8,000 students (6000 undergrads, 2000 post grads) and an endowment of 2.8 billion. So the ratio between endowment/students is not that far off and you shouldn't be worried about that as a deciding factor.</p>

12

<p>lol @ you picking Brown over Penn for business/finance. Oh well, you live with the decisions you make.</p>

13

<p>^^ This guy is really important and better than everyone else</p>

14

<p>jwlstn, id actually have equal chances at both schools so im not looking for any type of validation. im just trying to make the most informed judgment.</p>

<p>aworldapart, you are such an ass. btw, i asked for advice, not your wisecrack comments that don't mean much.</p>

15

<p>What do you want me to say, browncal? That you're an idiot for picking Brown over Penn if you want to go into finance? I hate to break it to you, bud, but that's called "making a mistake."</p>

<p>But let's look at this in greater detail.</p>

<p>Your name is "BROWNcal." Judging from what you wrote up there, you seem like the perfect fit for Brown. You seem like you would be truly, genuinely happy in Providence. And you're second-guessing your decision because you're worried about career prospects? That's absurd. Think about why you're transferring in the first place, think about what you wrote in your transfer essays. This should have very little to do with recruiting opportunities - it should have EVERYTHING to do with whether or not you'll be happy at Brown. And, to me, the answer is an unequivocal "YES!" All those nights at your former school, when you wished you could disappear and go to another school, you were wishing for a school like Brown. If you know deep down that you're going to be happier at Brown than Penn, why are you even thinking about Penn?</p>

<p>My point stands. If the only criteria at play is post-graduation finance opportunities, you're an idiot for picking Brown over Penn. No one will argue that Penn will afford you more opportunities than Brown (note: this is not saying that Brown will give you significantly less opportunities -- just less than Penn). But job recruiting ISN'T the only thing that matters here. Think about everything in context and do what's right for you -- not just what's right for your wallet twenty years down the line.</p>

16

<p>You know, I usually don't like to "take sides" in discussions like this, but what aworldapart says is 100% accurate. (and jwlstn, you might want to notice that you and aworldapart are agreeing on most topics).</p>

<p>browncal, why did you apply to Brown and why was it your first choice? I'm presuming it's because of what you've already mentioned here--open curriculum, beautiful campus, opportunity to focus on multiple areas (neuroscience and either commerce or entrepreneurship)--good location.</p>

<p>Now you are second-guessing your choice because of your parents wishes--even though they apparently aren't even aware that you won't be getting a business degree from the Wharton school at Penn if you go there (since you can't transfer to Wharton from another department once you transferred to a different department at the school).</p>

<p>Look--it's true that a Wharton degree from Penn carries a lot of "weight". But you won't be getting that--you'll be getting a different Penn degree--and Brown and Penn are equal once you get past Wharton (in fact, most would argue that it is Brown that is the better school).</p>

<p>I'm a bit biased I'll admit (I applied to only one Ivy school--Brown--and was admitted--but couldn't attend for financial reasons--and I got my MBA from UCLA--so I know quite a bit about where you are coming from also). </p>

<p>You've got to make the decision for yourself--not let your parents make it for you--especially when the costs will be equivalent. They are going to be thrilled if you go to Penn so they can "brag" about it to their friends. If that's what's most important to you, then do that. But if in 20 or 30 years you wonder why you are unhappy with not having gone to Brown, and maybe even be blaming your parents for your decision (this happens), then you might want to consider your choice carefully today--which it appears you are doing.</p>

<p>P.S. You do know that Brown places a higher percentage of graduates into masters programs than any other school in the country besides Harvard and Yale? (This was true 5 years ago--don't know if it's still valid today).</p>

17

<p>aworldapart why can't you tone down the arrogance and make such concise and insightful posts all the time?</p>