Penn (Wharton) or Duke?!

Hi everyone,

I need a little bit of help! Recently I received my acceptance to both these amazing schools and now I am extremely undecided on where to go. I would love a little bit of advice if there are any parents/alums/current students who know a little bit about these schools and could give a balanced perspective.

I know for most people, Wharton is the obvious choice but please hear me out! x

To give a little bit of background:

I am well aware that Wharton is an excellent school that has unparalleled opportunities, amazing professors and is more advantageous in terms of getting your foot in the door to interview for future jobs. However, at the same time, I have heard that it is extremely competitive and the workload is IMMENSE. I just worry that as someone who is statistically lower on the Penn scale (yes, I did relatively well on my standardised tests and achieved some good grades in HS but I definitely was not the #1 person in a student body that has less than 800 people), I will be struggling at Penn to keep my GPA up and will be extremely unhappy under the work load and with the pressure of competition. These are things I can deal with but I know that I do not enjoy and thrive under such conditions. I also, did not love the Penn campus when I went to visit. In fact, if it wasn’t for Wharton, I would not have applied there at all - I should mention that I think I would like to go into Marketing/Brand development in the future. I’m sure Penn has some great aspects though. Am I thinking too much about this?

On the other hand, Duke falls short in giving me the same opportunities Wharton does - and I would be doing an Economics degree with a certificate (a little better than a minor) in Markets + Management/Innovation + Entrepreneurship as opposed to a business degree. However, I love (and I mean love) the sense of community that they have. As someone who grew up in an extremely competitive school, I have been looking forward to the college experience of going to games and being a part of traditions and campus life all my life. I know that at Duke this is something that I will be able to experience and I feel like I will have much more time to get involved on campus. I love the fact that it is in a suburban area and really has that campus feel and I feel like I would enjoy the environment there much more. But will it be a significant hinderance in my career goals?

(I’m not into Greek life either which I know both schools have a great standing in but it’s just not for me. I don’t mind though but just incase anyone was going to point that out.)

So yeah, if you have sat through my entire dilemma, thank you so much. Please let me know if you have any thoughts! I know other students who are struggling with the same thing (some with Penn CAS and some with Wharton) so please feel free to leave your thoughts on that!

You do understand that the actual undergrad degree Wharton awards is a BS in Economics, correct?

The Wharton undergraduate degree is called a BS Econ. but it is not an economics major. Your actual majors are the business “concentrations” (finance, accounting, marketing, etc). that you choose to do.

Apologies, I was being rather general with my writing - I tend to get more colloquial when on forums. I am well aware of what I would be awarded. Apologies for any confusion.

I never stated that it was an economics major, but that undergrad degree WILL clearly say “Bachelor of Science in Economics”.

“Wharton’s undergraduate degree program offers you business and more — an innovative program that combines business and liberal arts on one Ivy League campus. Students choose specialized areas of study with more than 20 concentrations offered across the 10 different departments. Graduates earn a BS in Economics from the Wharton School.”
http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/academics/

Duke is a great schools but for business I’d go to Wharton for sure (admittedly I’m an alum). You’d be getting a liberal arts degree at Duke and a business degree at Wharton and there is a big difference between the two in terms of classes etc. The opportunities at Wharton/Penn are tremendous and the credential is a lifetime one. Penn is great for marketing.

One of my kids was a bit nervous about attending their “reach” school and the guidance counselor said that “admissions departments are excellent and would never accept a candidate they didn’t feel very confident could do the work” With that boost of confidence he attended and he did exceedingly well. Wharton has a ton of candidates, if you got in I’d have no doubt that you can do the work. Penn is also a fun school to attend and you can certainly find the right work/play balance.

And don’t give a thought to the name of the degree – I’ve always just put BS Accounting (which was my concentration) on my resume.

Hi Stephanie

Wharton will offer you more opportunities and has more recognition for what you really want to study, it seems like you’re leaning Duke and, while it may be easier to get into the field you want from Wharton, you should be able to get where you want from Duke (my Duke alumni interviewer happened to run a marketing firm). I don’t know what you heard but you should do fine at Wharton - it’s curve is actually better than in CAS (avg. is B/B+ vs B/B- in the college). My friend who is in one of the dual degree programs is doing well (he’s not a genius by any stretch) and always says it would be significantly easier if he was only working for a wharton degree.

@majorconfused: First and most important, CONGRATULATIONS on these two exceptional acceptances.

Fundamentally, I don’t agree that “On the other hand, Duke falls short in giving me the same opportunities Wharton does.” Without question, Wharton’s curriculum is great – there is, however, a LOT more to undergraduate school than that – but the fact that Duke does not have an undergraduate business school does NOT mean the desired course work is unavailable though a variety of Trinity (and Pratt/Sanford) departments.

I respectfully suggest an experiment. List the principal courses you’d probably take during four years at Wharton and then see how many (it will be the clear majority) essentially are available for Duke undergraduates. One does not require an undergraduate business degree (and, I’d point out, that just a few months ago, USA Today ranked Duke #1 in undergraduate economics departments) to obtain an outstanding Bachelor’s/entry-level business/finance/commerce/entrepreneurial position (for example, MANY Pratt BSEs annual depart Duke for top iBanking/Wall Street jobs, and they’ve majored in one of the engineering disciplines). The simple – but critical – fact is, the best firms in this arena basically seek bright, hard working, disciplined individuals, with excellent quantitative abilities.

Wharton is superb, but you may be able to attain both of your goals at Duke: (1) “something that I will be able to experience” AND (2) the coursework you seeks.