So I’ve been accepted to both Penn SEAS and UMich LSA for Computer science. I currently see myself in Silicon valley after graduation. I’d love to go to Penn , but I’m scared that Wharton overshadows everything else and I’ll get swept into the Wall Street bandwagon and go into Investment Banking or Something.(Not that IBanking is bad or anything… I just don’t know enough about it to make a clear-cut choice. ) Do Penn SEAS grads regularly go to Silicon Valley and are they well recruited? Please tell me all the pros and cons of Penn SEAS.
@CollegeCrazy While Wharton definitely has a strOng presence it also definitely does not overshadow everything. SEAS students are very successful in landing Silicon Valley jobs both as engineers and in the business sections of top tech companies. In fact there are also quite a few Wharton kids nowadays who choose to go into tech finance, product management in silicon valley rather than the traditional ibanking wall street route. A look at Penn SEAS career statistics here will convince you. Also Penn SEAS students are very successful in getting ibanking jobs. http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/reports.php
In general I think the strength of Penn SEAS is that you get a very rigorous engineering education but at the same time a very well-rounded one because the curriculum is designed that way so you can take quite a few courses outside of SEAS too, and also Penn is strong across the board in many fields. In my opinion it is important that ones undergraduate expeerience is not one-sided/limited.
A cool thing that Penn SEAS organizes twice a year is the Penn Apps which is arguably the biggest college hackathon in the country and many major tech firms sponsor it and it is an great way to make connectiions, get experience etc. Prices are first round interviews with the likes of Facebook, Apple etc and many SEAS students are actively involved in organizing it as well as participating. Also Penn has amazing robotics, nanotech departments where computer science people can really apply their skills on top of many CS-oriented research position available at Wharton and the Med School amongst many others.
That was an amazing and thoughtful reply. Thank you! So, if you look at the financial situation, Penn will be about 40-50K more expensive over the 3 years. Do you think I should still choose Penn?? Is Michigan going to put me at a slight, but noticeable disadvantage, or they roughly the same?
@CollegeCrazy97 It all depends on whether you can easily afford the extra 40-50K or not. If paying the extra money will make no big difference in your own/your family’s budget/finances then I say Penn is worth it. I think you will get a better all around u undergraduate experience. However if you/your family will really struggle to pay for extra cost and will have to take out loans etc then neither Penn nor any other school is worth that, especially given that the alternative (UMich) is a very strong school with a very strong engineering program.
Penn95, you really do know a lot about Penn! Thank you. Although I will be taking about 30k loans over the 4 years if I go to Penn, I’m okay with that amount of debt. I just want to ensure that I don’t lose wanting in the long run because of my decision. I completely understand and personally love the wellroundedness of Penn’s engineering program, but some of my cousins who are in silicon valley, keep telling me that Penn’s engineering program isn’t very research focused and many people don’t go to graduate school. Also, they said that they’ve never seen a Penn grad in tech in their careers, but they’ve seen amazing umich grads. Are these opinions valid? I’d love to go to Penn, especially because of the larger class sizes at UMich, but these questions are the only thing holding me back from committing. 
@CollegeCrazy97 “my cousins who are in silicon valley, keep telling me that Penn’s engineering program isn’t very research focused and many people don’t go to graduate school. Also, they said that they’ve never seen a Penn grad in tech in their careers, but they’ve seen amazing umich grads. Are these opinions valid? I’d love to go to Penn, especially because of the larger class sizes at UMich, but these questions are the only thing holding me back from committing.”
DD is just completed her sophomore year. While in other posts I usually say that she is a CS major for simplicity, for your question I will specify that she began as a CS major, but subsequently switched to NETS (http://www.nets.upenn.edu). The two are closely related.
Michigan has about 30,000 undergraduates compared to 10,000 at Penn. Furthermore, Penn SEAS students can and do many things in addition to traditional engineering, so it is entirely possible that they have not run into Penn grads, just as they may not have run into Harvard grads. It is also possible that they just don’t know the Penn grads.
Penn has many of its graduates working in the tech industry from CAS, Wharton and SEAS. One particularly notable example they might know would be Elon Musk.
DD is leaving in a week for her San Francisco internship at one of the largest tech companies, and rejected multiple offers for this summer. I think that is very good for a sophomore, and almost all of her friends have similar opportunities. Freshman summer she worked as a research assistant and took a math class on campus.
It is true that many Penn students don’t go to graduate school right away. The reason is that in an economic environment where about 50% of college grads can’t find a job using their degree, the average SEAS grad has two offers, and they are very good ones. I saw that the average new graduate salary for NETS graduates last year was over $100k, and CS is close behind. Many of these Penn students will decide to continue on the graduate school eventually, they just often have great opportunities to get some great work experience first.
Also, some Penn students pursue graduate school concurrently with their BSE. DD is considering sub-matriculating into the MS in CS. It appears that she can probably even complete it concurrently within the 4 years if she decides to do make it a priority.
I hope some of that information is helpful.
Much2learn, that was a very informative post which helped a lot! Congratulations to your daughter for her amazing internship! I’m happy to know that Penn won’t hold me back. In fact, Elon Musk was the first example I gave my cousin, who works at Amazon, but he said, although Elon is one big name, you still don’t see too many Penn grads in tech as they all flock to Finance. I personally did my research and Penn Engineers are doing well for themselves even in tech, and there’s even this program called Penn Tech Trek, where participants go and meet 5 prominent personalities in the Valley! I think Penn will be my choice!
BTW, how is your daughter finding her classes? Does she get to know her professors and how are research opportunities for undergrads?? Does she have time to take classes outside her major, and how do get a second major, perhaps in Wharton?? Sorry for all the questions!! I’m just so excited!
Some do get pulled into finance, but they have the option. That is not a bad thing. Say you are a strong Penn student and have a $100,000 offer from a tech company as graduation nears, and have every intention of working in tech. Then some Wall Street firm interviews you and wants to know how much more money it would take to convince you to come and work for them, that is not a negative in my mind. That is a very high class problem to have.
Not that I have any opinion about SEAS vs Michigan, Penn engineering grads can end up in Silicon Valley or the PNW. Silicon Valley recruiting probably works hardest on the west coast but it’s not that hard to find a job someplace worth working if you’re articulate and quantitative. While IB is definitely over-represented, alumni magazines are making it pretty clear that people are moving into tech at a good clip as well. If I had to choose, my salient points would be cost, location (urban vs college town) or size (medium-sized vs large). Finally, there are great tech jobs everywhere beyond Silicon Valley. I already mentioned the PNW but Denver/Boulder, Austin, NC, and Boston have numerous companies as well. SV is more relevant if you want the startup scene but it’s widely perceived that startups are in the midst of a correction as no one’s going public and acquirers are getting smarter with their money (why do an acquisition when you can out wait the VC and do a zombie acquihire for a fraction of the cost?). Finally, I’m amused that you mention Amazon as one of my classmates is a director in AWS.
Oh. Lol. Guess it’s a small world, huh! 
Good to know there are Penn grads in the tech scene as well. BTW, fragbot, what do/did you study at Penn?? Yes, Much2learn, I do realize that this is an extremely good problem to have. 
Thanks for all the input. Cheers!
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/reports.php
This will help you.
Don’t forget NYC is the new Silicon Valley too.
Both my kids (Penn SEAS graduate and MIT graduate) work there.
http://nypost.com/2014/08/16/will-new-york-city-become-the-new-silicon-valley/
@coolweather, I’ve already chosen Penn, but just out of curiosity what did your 2 kids major in?? How did your Penn SEAS kid find his/her experience?? It would be wonderful if you could share it!!
coolweather…Also, what sort of work do you kids do in NYC??
My kids work in software development in NYC.
My D majored in CS at Penn. She switched from CAS to SEAS during her sophomore. She enjoyed her time at Penn.
My son double majored in CS/Math.