Is there any real difference?
good question, was wondering that too.
I know there are some certain/specific classes you can take at Wharton if you are not in Wharton, but that’s all i know of.
In terms of classes, at Wharton, 40% classes are taken out of Wharton. In CAS, not sure how many classes are allowed out of the school.
Class is not the only thing, student culture, activities, recruitment etc…
Yes! There is a big difference you can read about it on Penn’s website in several places. on Wharton’s website there is a section devoted to the difference between BS vs Ba in economics
BS versus BA
What’s the difference between a BS in Economics at Wharton and BA in Economics in a liberal arts program?
We get this question all the time, and the answer comes down to curriculum and teaching and learning methods.
Curriculum
At Wharton you will learn how to apply business methods and economic theory to real-world problems, while a BA program will focus mostly on theoretical issues without the real-world component.
Wharton’s curriculum allows you to concentrate on specific areas of business such as finance, marketing, or management. With a Wharton degree, you become a specialist in a business area – a BA in economics does not allow this customization.
Teaching & Learning Methods
Wharton classes focus on hands-on problem solving, using teaching methods such as case studies, negotiations, group work, and simulations in addition to traditional lectures. Students learn by starting with a problem or concrete example. After fully understanding the problem, they look for solutions and then begin to examine theories to see how they might apply.
In a liberal arts setting, students often learn by starting with a theory or abstract idea. After fully understanding the theory, they then look for problems to understand how the theory applies.
When you are deciding on where to go to college, you should ask yourself whether you want to focus on the theory of economics (BA) or the application of economics and business knowledge (BS).
also
The Wharton BS in Economics—It’s a Different Way of Learning
Wharton offers a bachelor of science in economics, but studying business at Wharton and studying economics in a liberal arts program are very different.
If you major in economics at a liberal arts school, you’ll take courses focused on theories, history, and modeling. You’ll start with a theory or abstract idea and then look for problems to understand how the theory applies.
At Wharton you’ll study a range of business subjects—from accounting to entrepreneurship
to policy. Classes focus on problem solving with real-world examples; you’ll look for solutions and then examine theories to see how they might apply.
Flexibility and Opportunity
Every semester you can take classes at Wharton and at least one other school at Penn, including eight of our graduate schools. In fact, 40% of your required courses will be taken outside of Wharton. Why? Because studying business within social, political, and historical contexts makes you a better agent
of change. It also means that you will have even more opportunities and paths to choose from when you graduate.
4 undergraduate schools and
8 graduate schools to explore your interests
4,200+ courses
“ What I have gotten out of my two years of Wharton thus far is the opportunity to try anything and everything, to meet new and diverse people who have varied interests, and to sample vastly different elds of study.”
Red Rocks Desert Leadership Trek
Hi there-- great question. Both the College and Wharton have good answers to this question:
From Wharton:
http://undergrad.wharton.upenn.edu/academics/bs-versus-ba/
From the College:
"This is somewhat confusing, even for people already within the Penn community. The economics department at Penn is housed in the School of Arts and Sciences. It is ranked among the Top 10 economics departments in country, and confers the University’s Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in economics concentrating on the theoretical and mathematical. Students in the Wharton School study some economic theory, but the Wharton degree (Bachelor of Science in Economics) is a degree in applied business knowledge and is not designed to signify an economics concentration. Economics in the College uses theory, history and modeling to study the science that explains the choices made by individuals and organizations, and the Wharton BS should be viewed as more applied in nature.
At the end of the day, any student considering either program should love math and statistics in order to be successful!"
https://www.college.upenn.edu/prospective/frequently-asked-questions-2
Both are really outstanding programs. Both place well among the most coveted jobs after graduation. It depends on what you want to be the focus of your academic study while at Penn. And, as you mentioned, students in the College and Wharton can cross enroll in the other schools’ classes to supplement their educations with course offerings that are not available in their home school. In fact, 40% of the classes Wharton students will take will actually be from other schools within Penn and students in the College are also free to take as many classes outside of their homeschool as they desire assuming it does not distract from earning the credits they will need to graduate.
Hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions 
I think the other folks here got the main idea across, but just want to address a couple things. The curriculum for the econ degree in the college is similar to the curriculum you’d find at most schools (micro, macro, stat course, econometrics, higher level focus area, etc.). See https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/undergraduate-program/economics-major/course-requirements for more details.
The Wharton degree is really an Econ degree in name only. The focus is much more on taking courses in specific business disciplines (e.g. accounting, finance, stat, management, marketing, etc.). Below are the classes in Wharton that are similar to the econ courses in the college and which ones they correspond to (i.e. you are not allowed to take both BEPP 250 and ECON 101 or FNCE 101/ECON 102 or STAT 430/ECON 103 b/c of the amount of overlap of the two courses).
Econ 10 ~ Econ 1 and Econ 2
BEPP 250 ~ Econ 101
FNCE 101 ~ Econ 102
STAT 430 ~ Econ 103
That said, while there is overlap in these courses, they are not identical. The econ ones are likely to be slightly more theoretical, whereas the Wharton courses will be a bit more applied.
Note that in Wharton you are required to take Econ 10 (unless you have 5’s on both AP Micro and Macro), BEPP 250, and FNCE 101, but are not required to take econometrics or higher level economics courses like you are in the college. Instead, you’ll be completing concentrations in Wharton in specific business disciplines such as accounting, finance, stat, etc. Of course, you can complete an Econ minor in the college while completing your Wharton degree (or do a dual-degree B.S. in Econ and B.A. in Econ which sounds odd but people do it).
If you are looking for a more traditional econ degree, apply to the college. Don’t get confused by the Wharton Econ degree. Think of it as if it were called a B.S. B.A. (Bachelor of Science in Business Administration), which is what some other schools call their degree programs that are similar to Wharton’s. Frankly, that title provides a more accurate depiction of the program than B.S. in Economics.
Lastly, I feel the need to address this, the whole average Wharton student takes 40% of courses outside of Wharton is just frankly not true. That’s really only the case if you are a dual-degree student or taking classes outside of Wharton for every credit beyond what fills up your Wharton requirements. Most students will take a mix of Wharton and non-Wharton classes beyond their requirements. Personally, I’ve only taken around 20% of my classes outside of Wharton and that includes completing a minor in the college. If you want to take 40% outside of Wharton, go for it, but I wouldn’t call that the norm.
Actually, it is true that 40% of your classes will be taken outside of Wharton though it might not always be obvious that the school hosting some of your classes are non-wharton schools. For example, certain classes are cross listed between Wharton and Engineering, Wharton and the College, Wharton and the Fels Institute of Government yet they will be housed (institutionally supported and staffed) by exclusively the College, Fels, or Engineering. For more info on the way the curriculum is divided, be sure to take a look at the Wharton Undergraduate Curriculum info page (https://undergrad-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/curriculum/): “With 60 percent of classes taken at Wharton and 40 percent taken elsewhere within the University of Pennsylvania, students are given the flexibility to pursue varied academic interests and are expected to achieve a firm grasp of both business and liberal arts.”
Speaking from personal experience as a student, the CAS economics program is a lot more mathematics and theory focused. You will spend a lot of time learning economic models and doing lots of calculus based theoretical questions. Classes here include things in the microeconomics/macroeconomics space that focus on those directly.
The Wharton program has almost 0 economics besides the intro (ECON 10) and basic micro (BEPP 250) and macro class (FNCE 101). Apart from these, you choose whatever you want to do. If you want to do management, you are then put into classes that talk about how to manage people. If you choose finance or accounting, you spend your time looking at financial statements and the markets. Overall, Wharton has a more practical curriculum but I see people from both places doing very similar jobs after graduation.
@PennCAS2014 Not really worth getting into an argument here, but no, the 40% statement is not true for most students. I’m a current Wharton student. I understand that the statement is on the website, and my point was to tell prospective students who see that, that it’s not the case for all students (but can be if they want it to be). That’s only true if you have no AP credits, which is not the case for the majority of students, or are in a dual-degree program or just want to take many classes outside of Wharton. If you can place out of the language requirement, math 104, econ 10, and have some other AP credits to count towards Gen Ed requirements, you can graduate taking as few 5 classes outside of Wharton (4 to fill up Gen Ed requirements, 2 of which count as double-counting globals, and writing seminar…it can actually be 3 classes instead of 5 if you use placement exams in math or chem to fill up 2 additional s&T gen ed credits). So no, it does not need to be 40% of your classes. As I said, I’m graduating with a minor in the college and will be taking less than 20% of my classes outside of Wharton.
Yes, you can most certainly place out of certain courses with AP credits and a prior knowledge of a language. That is not common, however. Or advisable. But of course the possibility exists. The average Wharton student, however, still takes 40% of their courses outside of Wharton. Very few students enter Penn (or any top university for that matter) with enough credits to place out of all of the requirements. In fact, only about 60% of high schools participate in the AP program at all and most of those schools only offer a small number of AP courses (like 1-2 courses in total). But on average, kids come to Wharton and take 40% of their classes across Penn’s many schools.
How much more competitive is it to get into Wharton than the economics major at sas? And is there any unique things about UPenn’s Economics (BA) that I won’t find at any other school? I’m trying to write my essay there is not a lot of information on the economics department, but a lot on Wharton.
Also, is there a lot of international economics learning at SAS Econ? I’m particularly interested in international economic. @runswimyoga
@Pandabear101 Penn doesn’t release statistics for the individual colleges, but generally speaking it is known that it is harder to be accepted into Wharton and SEAS, than it is for CAS or Nursing… the acceptance rate at Penn is 9% and I’ve heard for Wharton its maybe around 7%, but you won’t find those official statistics anywhere. But don’t let statistics dictate your passions or where you apply. Try to find a fit, would be my advice.
My son was accepted into Wharton ED this year, so my knowledge is only from the tours, info sessions, website, and extensive talks w current students. I don’t know the answer to your question about international economics. It sounds like your real interests are in the Huntsman Programs and if so apply! Go big (for your dreams) or go home as my son would say- take a chance on what you really want, don’t let self doubt about which is easier to get in impede you.
My son knew he only wanted a business degree, but has so many other interests that Penn really appealed to him for the flexibility to also take liberal arts courses in his interests. He doesn’t know what he wants to concentrate in- but he has done a lot of work w nonprofits and definitely wants to be a part of the Turner Social Impact Society Initiative using business models to solve social problems and create social change in the world, so his Why Penn essay mainly focused on that. Also, my son is gay, and Penn has the Wharton Alliance which specifically focuses on LGBT opportunities in the business world. (Other Ivies are just now scrambling to develop clubs modeled after Penn’s) This was a huge draw factor for my son! These two things are unique to Penn so my son didn’t want to go to business school anywhere else. I think because of these things he is a great fit for his niche at Wharton. See if you can find your niche either in CAS or Wharton.
I think for your Why Penn essay if you can find programs, courses, ideologies, clubs that are a good fit for what you bring to Penn and integrate them into your essay you will be golden!