<p>I’ve been meaning to make this thread for a while, but the one about the guy applying to the nursing school catalyzed it. I personally plan to apply to the College, and ultimately do a dual-degree with Wharton. This is because I know I probably can’t get into Wharton directly, but also because ultimately I would do a dual-degree anyway, even if the other way around; I want a balanced education.</p>
<p>But I’m worried that admissions will look upon this badly (especially because I plan to apply to Huntsman [spare me, I know I won’t get in, because of math], with the College as my second choice).</p>
<p>Is admissions on alert for people they suspect of trying to get into Wharton through “the backdoor,” if that’s what they see it as?</p>
<p>It's no backdoor. Getting into the college still requires a lot of effort and many of the college students could have gone to Wharton. The dual degree program requires that you maintain at least a 3.5 GPA at the end of your freshman year and you take a bunch of math and econ. Good luck.</p>
<p>i'm sure they're aware of this trend, but as long as you take care to justify your application for College and desire for a dual degree in your essay you should be alright.
that being said, your application to huntsman might be a bit of a headache...
personally i think of the huntsman vs college/wharton decision as a gamble, in which you have a fixed number of chips (ie the strength of your record and how u pitch your application), and 2 options which are differ in terms of risk and reward. Huntsman as u've noticed is far more competitive and but promises a higher yield (so to speak), whereas College/Wharton is the safer choice but isn't as prestigious.
it'd be best to think about what you really want, and how achievable those dreams are. if u're dead sure on Huntsman and know why you wanna be there then go for it. But if u want a dual degree, a bit of flexibility in your academic plans, and are pretty sure u won't get huntsman, wouldn't it make more sense to apply to College/Wharton direct and make a stronger pitch for that in your application, rather than spending most of your essay talking about why you wanna be in Huntsman and leave little room to pitch for a dual degree (which'll prob be where u end up anyway)?</p>
<p>Huntsman is joint-degree, and they don't take transfers.</p>
<p>While I agree that admissions to the College is tough (around 21% admit rate), it is important to keep in mind that the admit rate to Wharton was 13.6% this year.</p>
<p>Anyway, in your example, I don't see anything wrong. Make it clear that you are more interested in International Relations than business, and would have used business as something to make you stronger.</p>
<p>Penn doesn't get a whole lot of backdoor applications through nursing. The nursing school looks for very specific qualities that not everyone has.</p>
<p>Yea, the more recent post is correct. The admission rate for the college is only a few percentage points higher than Wharton's. The SEAS and the nursing school both have significantly higher admit rates, but by far and large, most undergrads at the university attend the college. So all things considered, if you are a legitimate candidate for admission to the college, chances are, you'll also have an equally decent shot of getting into Wharton.</p>
<p>For '09, Penn admitted 3,912 students out of around 18,800 for a 20.8 acceptance rate.</p>
<p>If you subtract Engineering applicants (around 2657) and Nursing applicants (around 295), you'll have a total of 15,848 applicants (or just about). </p>
<p>Now subtract the 850 admitted to Engineering, and 123 admitted to Nursing for an admitted number of 2939. Admission rate declines to 18.5% when only including College and Wharton. </p>
<p>Also excluding Wharton's around 3559 applicants, for a total applicant number of 12,289. Wharton admitted 484 students, so removing those, Penn College has a 20% acceptance rate.</p>