Hello, I was fortunately able to be admitted to Penn, Columbia and Stanford for undergraduate economics.(The penn economics is not under wharton unfortunately). All 3 financial aids are pretty similar and I was wondering which program is the best. As well, how easy or difficult are the 3 programs as I am extremely scared I’ll have trouble catching up with my HS course load being much easier than other students.
Stanford is best overall, and in Economics. However, it will not make a difference at the undergraduate level. What are your short term goals? Which of those three appeals most to you personally? I would recommend Stanford, but it really depends on your personal preference.
Politics and weather are important considerations aside from academics, too. Stanford is more conservative than hard-left Columbia, and Penn is somewhere in between. You can’t beat the weather in Palo Alto, though.
If you say that your HS course load was easy, are you referring to your mathematics preparation? If you haven’t taken AP-level calculus, Penn will require Math 103 (Differential Calculus), Math 104 (Integral Calculus), and Math 114 (Multivariable Calculus). Columbia will require Math UN1101 (Differential Calculus) and Math UN1201 (Multivariable Calculus), but will allow you to skip Integral Calculus. Stanford will require Math 19 (Differential Calculus), Math 20 (Integral Calculus), Math 21 (Limits and Series), and Math 51 (Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra).
So, Columbia will require the least mathematics for its economics major, while Stanford will require the most.
Stanford