Hi, I’m an Asian American (Chinese) female looking to go into business. I was just wondering if there are any UPenn alums that could tell me about their experiences? I’ve read some online stories about how cutthroat the competition is and the lack of community there, but I’ve also heard that the complete opposite is true. So what are you guys’ thoughts? Also is it worth the tuition? Because I know that I’m probably going to get none or a very small amount of financial aid, and while my parents can afford it, it’d essentially be asking one of them to give up their income for me to go to school at UPenn. Sorry this was so long, thanks!
I went to Wharton a while back and had an amazing experience. Did not find it cutthroat at all. Got a great job after graduation and still keep in touch with a number of friends/classmates. As to whether Penn or any school is worth the money, that is for your family to decide.
@coldsnowflake I had an amazing time at Penn. Penn people are competitive first and foremost with themselves, not against each other. Yes Penn is a fast-paced and intense environment but it is also collaborative. I think cutthroat is an exaggeration. For most of my classes there was a lot of collaboration. I would meet with people and do the homework together and also review for exams. People help each other for interview prep and job recruiting, especially many upperclassmen who have gone through it already are willing to help. Of course people are very motivated to succeed and to work extra hard to achieve their goals, so you will face competition by virtue of being surrounded by many seriously motivated people.
There is no lack of community, Pen has a very vibrant community. However you have to take initiative and action to find your place on campus. Penn is a rather big school by Ivy,Stanford,MIT standards, located in a major city. It is not a small place where everyone knows each other whether they want to or not (think of Princeton for example). There is a lot going on. If you do not actively try to find your place on campus through involvement in clubs, organizations, groups, and through classes, you can very well end up without a campus community. But if you put yourself out there, you will find your place on campus. This is part of the reason why extracurriculars are such a huge part of Penn.
Also the social life is great there. The campus is great and has a lot of offerings but you are also within walking distance of the center of the city so you can explore the city offerings too.
As for the tuition yes, since you will not have to go into debt and your family budget will not be strained greatly, it is definitely worth it. Penn of course offers a top notch education, you will meet amazing, smart people and also its salary and career outcomes are some of the highest amongst top schools.
Which business concentration?
For Accounting - U Texas ranks higher,
For International Business - U South Carolina ranks higher,
For Marketing - U Michigan
etc.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business
Nobody should choose a college by a USNWR ranking. But if anyone is inclined to do so, Wharton is #1 overall and is in the top 7 for each category listed above.
Good luck finding a person who will choose these schools over Penn because they are higher ranked in a specific discipline. No one takes USNews college rankings that literally. If they did, Princeton would be chosen in droves over Harvard or Stanford for example. USNews is good for reaffirming the school tiers (top 10, top 20 etc) within these tiers the individual positions are all over the place and the differences of not much significance. .
For undergrad decisions both overall quality of the college/university and specific departmental quality matter. Penn is one of the very top colleges and Wharton specifically is the best undergraduate business school in the country. Many people choose Penn undergrad (and other elite schools) over these schools even for disciplines where these schools actually have a reputation for being stronger (example: engineering for UMich vs engineering for Penn, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia etc). So given that Wharton is actually the top business school, it is a no brainer, provided financial aid is not a factor.
The rankings could be useful to OP in deciding if it is worth it. If OP is majoring in International Business and is deciding whether to put financial strain on her family, it is good to know that a school that gives full rides to kids with ivy level stats is considered better by this measure that some people respect.
Nothing against Penn. My own dc is applying, but for us Penn will be affordable.
OP could save Penn for grad school.
^^^^If the OP wants International Business it would be time to ignore the rankings and recognize that Wharton is revered in Europe, Asia etc. IMO the international reputation of Wharton would be much more important that the number of mentions by faculty/deans that the school had in a survey. But that’s just how I would view it.
There are people that would choose those schools over Penn for affordability and the rankings might provide them with some comfort that they would still get a great education.
The professors at Wharton are Gods.
Of course there are reasons not to attend Wharton, affordability being one. Of course there are many fine schools out there. But making a decision based on ranking alone doesn’t make sense.
@happy1 the point that @nw2this was trying to make is that if the student cannot afford UPenn, then they can still go to schools that have a great business education and are far cheaper for someone who would be likely to get scholarships at those schools, as represented by those rankings. Obviously if money is a non-factor then you go to UPenn Wharton above any of those schools
@EKolin I understand perfectly.
- I just think that rankings alone should not be the sole reason to choose a college.
- Yes, ranking can be looked at to get a sense of what tier a school fall on, but the notion of f putting University of South Carolina over Wharton for international business solely because of a USNWR sub-ranking (as suggested in post #3) is not the way to go IMO.
- When affordability is an issue (in this case the OP stated that Wharton is affordable) then financial aid should take precedence over rankings as well. There are many fine b-schools that offer merit aid and that does not factor into the rankings.
I think we are in basic agreement.
@nw2this absolutely agreed on the affordability point. no school is worth going into debt for. But since Penn seems to be affordable for OP in this case, then other considerations come into play.
It will cost at least 320K for four years (including living expenses). The weight is not the same for every families. So only your family can decide whether it is worth it or not…
The social nature of Penn keeps it from getting cutthroat. That type of behavoir would be dealt with via the social network and extinguished.