For Midwestern students/parents of Wharton students only:

<p>Why did you choose Penn over your state schools (specifically Michigan, Indiana, UIUC). We know Penn is ranked #1, but those 3 state schools in particular are heavily recruited, have excellent prep, overseas classrooms, internships and shadows as well. What specifically did you find at Penn that you didn't find anywhere else?</p>

<p>Sure, those schools do get recruited at by (some) top firms, but it’s nowhere near the same number that get recruited at Penn. It’s all just a numbers game. If you want to get into the top firms, do you feel more confident in being one of the very top students at schools like Michigan and Indiana, or would you rather play it safe and bet on being an average student at Penn? </p>

<p>Sorry for being unclear. I was asking about the coursework, as the recruitment is apples and oranges. UIUC students get recruited to the Big 4 accounting firms while Penn students are looking to the NYC financial firms. As my daughter is undecided as to concentration, I am more interested in hearing about differences in the classroom and general approach. For example: is it more collaborative, or competitive, etc.</p>

<p>Illini528114 - We were in the same position a year ago. My son is currently a freshman at Wharton. We also live in Illinois and DS was admitted to Michigan and UIUC. As a point of disclosure, we are full pay so financial aid is not an issue. UIUC wouild have been far less expensive, but we gave DS the option to go where he wanted. Here are the factors that swayed him:</p>

<p>prestige - Wharton is the number one undergraduate business program and will afford him the opportunity to go wherever he wants geographically or professionally. The other schools, while good, would not have given him the same opportunites,or access to the professional network that Wharton provides. </p>

<p>carreer opportunities - DS is interested in finance and therefore Wharton is the best choice. Michigan is good for finance and was his second choice. Illinois is not in the same class. Illinos would only be a good choice if accounting is the chosen field of study.Furthermore Penn will offer him more opportunites as to where he can work. He does not know yet if he wants to go to New York, come back to Chicago or go to San Fracisco/Bay Area. Penn affords him a better opportunity to pursue any of those locations. </p>

<p>location - Penn is not in the midwest. DS did not want to go to Illinois where 60 of his high scholl classmates would be going.</p>

<p>urban location - DS preferred going to a school in a big city rather than a college town like Ann Arbor or Champaign.</p>

<p>Campus - DS liked the campuses of Penn and Michigan but not UIUC.</p>

<p>Facilities - DS loved the Huntsman building/facilites where he would be taking most of his Wharton Classes. He also liked the building/facilities at Ross/Michigan. The Illinois campus did not impress him.</p>

<p>Ivy league reputation - DS liked the thought of going to an Ivy league school and going to the social ivy. He could have gotten a good social scene at Michigan or Illinois, but he did not think he would get the same mix of intelligence and social atmosphere. In fact one of his first comments after orientation this year was “everyone here is so intelligent”.</p>

<p>curriculum - he liked the flexibility at Penn. He likes the commitment to get a liberal arts education as well as a business education. He wants to pursue two concentrations through Wharton as well as a minor through the College. Penn made this easy to accomplish.</p>

<p>Overall he felt most comfortable at Penn. My wife and I always stressed that our kids should pick a school that they thougth was a fit after a well thought out process. I think he made the right choice for him. Michigan and Illinois are both good schools and if one of them is right for your child that is where he/she should go. </p>

<p>Thank you for your opinions. It is difficult to get a feel for the school without visiting. Anyone else with further insight, feel free to chime in.</p>

<p>The recruiting is really not apples and oranges. Plenty of Wharton students go to Big 4 Accounting firms. Check out this page to see the specific firms that Wharton grads have gotten jobs at: <a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/reports.php”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/reports.php&lt;/a&gt;. Looking at the page, I think the actual data speaks for itself. Regardless of what area of business your daughter is looking to enter, I think Wharton provides a clear advantage at least in terms of career prospects after graduation.</p>

<p>Thanks for the link. I think it does prove that the career paths differ considerably. The biggest employers for Illinois are Deloitte at 44, KPMG at 31, Ernst & Young at 25 and Pricewaterhouse at 23. At Wharton the biggest employer is Goldman at 24, followed by Morgan Stanley at 18 and so on. Eight to Deloitte. 50% of Wharton grads work in NY. Illinois reports 4% in the Northeast and Ross reports 40.4%. 87% of Illinois grads stay in the 12 Midwestern states, while the remaining Wharton and Ross grads not working in the northeast are considerably more scattered about with a large group in California. Anyway, it’s all pretty interesting. I hadn’t realized that Michigan looks east as much as it apparently does.</p>

<p>Very interesting!</p>