<p>I want to apply ED to one of these schools, and I definitely leaning towards Wharton. I really want to go to Wharton, but I know it's a lot harder to get accepted to Wharton than into the college. If I apply to Wharton and don't get in, then I will never get a chance at applying to the college. If I apply to the college and get in, oh well. If I apply to the college and get in, then I will never get to try applying to Wharton. I am concerned that I won't get into Wharton, so I kind of want to apply to the college just because I have a much higher chance of acceptance there. (Statistically speaking)</p>
<p>I will major in Economics either way, and I know Penn has a great economics department, but how does it compare to Wharton? Should I apply to Wharton and not worry? How much weight does a degree from Penn college in economics carry as opposed to a Wharton degree?</p>
<p>First of all, it doesn’t sound like you understand what “economics” means in college and what “economics” means in Wharton. Wharton is a business school, not an economics school; you learn about balance sheets, derivative markets, supply chain management and legal processes in Wharton. You learn about interest rates, econometrics and developmental economics in the college. VERY DIFFERENT</p>
<p>Once you decide on whether you want a liberal arts degree (college) or a preprofessional degree (wharton), you can decide where to apply.</p>
<p>And there are econ majors taking IBanking jobs so job placement shouldn’t really factor into your decision process.</p>
<p>Okay, here’s a question: What do most Wharton grads pursue as far as graduate level degrees? It seems like just a Wharton undergraduate degree is the whole package.</p>
<p>^^in the words of a guest speaker (and alumnus), a Wharton undergraduate degree is the world’s cheapest MBA ;)</p>
<p>But some alumni do go ahead and get an MBA. Rarely for career progression (company constitution requires it), usually for career change (finance concentration but want accounting job).
Sources:
UBS recruiter
MBAs at a reception party</p>
<p>Also, it’s a nice break from the work force. MBA = drunken sex orgies. I’m not kidding - I can see them from my dorm window XD</p>
<p>the econ majors who do well in job placement are the ones who double major in math, science, or engineering.
my friends and i (who have done that) have landed jobs at top investment banks (GS, MS, JPM). </p>
<p>econ is a top notch major if you focus on econometrics and other quant classes, but employers know that you COULD turn it into an easy ride by taking certain classes. so, you need to persuade them that you are very quantitative / analytical with your course work.</p>
<p>If your goal is to work on Wall Street you should apply to Wharton. End of story. There’s no similarity in curriculum at all between a math-econ double major and a finance concentration. The econ major has essentially no classes that would be useful in a finance context. They look at the subject from a public policy, empirical study, theoretical angle. You’ll end up taking a bunch of Wharton classes anyways if you want to go to Wall Street.</p>
<p>The Math-Econ double major is not bad in terms of workload. Most of the econ classes are relatively easy. Math classes can be challenging. Definitely don’t skip one of the freshman math seminars if you are planning a math major. I did and regretted it.</p>
<p>The STAT430 and 431 sequence is also pretty key as it will count within the math major and towards econ major. They’re also really interesting classes.</p>
<p>Mate I know someone who went to Penn’s engineering school then tranfered to Wharton later. I’d love to go to Wharton too but I applied to the college to play it safe, Wharton is just overly competitive and I might as well be stupid and apply to Harvard and Yale if I applied Wharton.</p>