Double Major in Engineering and Business?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

Hey guys,

I’m a high school senior currently interested in UPenn as an ED School. I’ve done extensive research on many of the school’s offered opportunities (Weiss Tech House!) and I am sure I really want to ED UPenn. :smiley:

But does anyone know whether it’s possible to get a double major in UPenn in Electrical Engineering and Business? If so, what will the work load be like? Do people actually do this sort of thing at Upenn? I have an interest in becoming a high-tech corporate patent lawyer in the future, so I hope to establish backgrounds in both engineering and business for undergrad and then go into law for grad.

Thanks!!! XD

2

It is, there is a program for it actually, but it is very hard to get in form what I’ve heard
Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology might be what you’re looking for, but as I said, it’s quite competitive

3

You can also apply for a dual major that is not M & T. It is a bit easier to get into, but still challenging.

4
  1. I believe that, if you are not accepted into the Jerome Fisher M&T program, and you still want to combine engineering and business, you would have to apply to one school (either Wharton or SEAS), and then once you were enrolled at Penn apply to the other school for a double-major. That presents a real tactical challenge, though. On the one hand, I'm not sure it's possible to complete an engineering major at SEAS within four years if you don't start the course progressions on Day 1, so that militates in favor of applying first to SEAS. On the other hand, internal "transfer" admission to Wharton is extremely competitive, much more so than going the other direction (starting at Wharton and applying to SEAS). All of which goes to show why Jerome Fisher is so competitive.
  2. That said, there is absolutely no reason why you need a dual degree to pursue the career you want. You do absolutely need an engineering degree (or something equivalent) to be admitted to the patent bar, but you don't need a business degree. As a student at SEAS, you could take a few Wharton classes and get the kind of background you want, without going so far as to get a degree. When you are in law school, too, you have lots of opportunities to learn relevant business topics like finance and accounting. (If you take every patent and intellectual property course offered at whatever law school you attend, it will not come close to filling up your curriculum.)
  3. In addition, you can do sophisticated intellectual property work without being accredited to the patent bar. Formal patent practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office represents only a fraction of intellectual property law practice. Patent accreditation is a plus, but lots of lawyers who have it don't actually do a lot of patent prosecution, and there are plenty of successful IP lawyers who do not have patent law accreditation.