<p>If I enrolled as an Economic major at Arts and Sciences, can I take classes at Wharton as well? What exactly is the relationship between the two schools? Are they entirely separate (as in, do the two economic majors never take classes together, or sometimes)?</p>
<p>I'm just trying to get a sense of which is a better fit for me. I intend to major in Economics, but I'm a little skeptical about the supposedly cut-throat nature of Wharton.</p>
<p>Any insight is appreciated.</p>
<p>attending Wharton, you don’t get an “economics” education. It’s “economics” only in name - it’s a bachelor of business administration. Wharton kids take finance, accounting, risk management, marketing, management, operations and information management, etc. College econ majors take industrial organization, econometrics, labor economics, game theory, etc. Yes, you can take Wharton classes (intro accounting and finance would be good to know if you’re going into Ibanking or other analyst position). As a general rule, though, the schools are entirely different. Even the intro economics background is different (you’ll take Econ 001, Econ 002 whereas wharton kids get it condensed into 1 semester into Econ 010)</p>
<p>Thanks, that was very helpful. </p>
<p>If one were to start in Wharton, but decided business wasn’t for him, is transferring into Arts & Sciences possible? Is it a substantial process (competing with transfers from all over), or is it doable?</p>
<p>Penn in general discourages transfers between schools but the fact is it can be done if one is persistent.</p>
<p>Transferring out of Wharton is a lot easier than transferring into Wharton, though your schedule will be packed trying to fulfill all of the school’s requirements.</p>
<p>i think if u r in the college of arts and sciences u can only take 4-5 classes in teh wharton building over ur 4 years at penn</p>
<p>i may be wrong, but i’ve done a lot of research on this myself because i am goign to be an economics major at penn. someone correct me if im wrong</p>
<p>You can take as many courses as you want in Wharton provided you meet the course requirements.</p>
<p>I really don’t know about majoring in economics at PENN rather than going to Wharton. </p>
<p>Reputation is very important and Wharton is known as the business school. The economics department is really good, but in terms of national and international reputation Wharton is the school for business.</p>
<p>That said, I have always considered Wharton Graduate School to be “Wharton”. I read alot about how good and/or competitive the undergraduate school is. Still, I really don’t know that it makes a tremendous difference in future employment or salary as compared to a Master level degree such as the MBA.</p>
<p>Wharton is a top undergraduate business school, which (unlike for liberal arts studies) has a relatively substantial impact on your starting salary. HOWEVER, whether you do the more theoretical approach with Economics or the practical approach with Business, your job prospects will be pretty similar, and your salary will be comparable.</p>
<p>Wharton’s average starting salary is $61,000 compared to the College’s $46,000, but that is a deceiving number. Many College students do Teach for America or get research or paralegal jobs en route to graduate or professional school, whereas most Wharton students aim to begin their careers right out of college. Realistically, if you want to go into finance, you really don’t need to be a finance major; you just need to show that you have the tools necessary to make it in the industry, and there are Physics majors, Economics majors, even Philosophy majors who have gotten jobs at Goldman out of Penn.</p>
<p>My point is that if you want a practical, hands-on business education, do Wharton; if you want a theoretical economics education, do CAS. Your job prospects will be essentially the same.</p>
<p>Related question: If I enjoy and want to pursue Economics would it be a faulty assumption to assume I’d want to pursue business in Wharton? It seems business and economics are much less related than I thought.</p>
<p>The college produces a lot of doctors, lawyers, Vets, and dentists. These individuals essentially msake no income. These individuals have a considerable lifetime earning potential. </p>
<p>I really don’t know how the college salary figure is determined but it doesn’t matter. If one includes those that go directly to graduate schools in the denominator then the average is artificially low. If you exclude these individuals from the calculations altogether than you essentially removing some of the highest earners in the CAS.</p>
<p>The real question to address is the difference in salary between wharton undergrad and wharton Graduate school or any other MBA program graduate.</p>
<p>When I say salary, I mean average starting salary, as in what do people make in the year following graduation. Salary averages are only calculated for people who have full time jobs, so people doing graduate/professional school aren’t factored in. If you look at the five-year out surveys, you’ll get a good indication of average salary for everybody (maybe the doctors not quite yet, but yeah); granted, most people haven’t reached their potential by age 27, but five-year-out surveys are pretty solid.</p>
<p>To put Economics vs. Business into perspective… economics in the College will give you the theory behind business. You will understand very well how the markets work; you will be able to model macro economic trends and look at them in relation to micro economics. Your understanding will be essentially “how do people behave in a given situation?” Business in Wharton will give you the practical dimension of business. You will have an understanding of how the markets work, which will be more or less in depth depending on your concentration. Your focus will not, however, be on theory; one of your first semester classes will be MGMT100, which immediately throws you into the business world; you have the goal of improving an assigned business, and not in theory (as in, you will ACTUALLY be able to improve a local business). Throughout your four years, you will learn to address, “how do I fit into the business world?”</p>
<p>Another way of looking at the difference is this. Suppose a business major with a finance concentration becomes an investment banker (über common). (S)he will make decisions that affect his/her business from the ground up. Now, suppose an economics major becomes a consultant, he/she could have an investment bank as a client, and his job will be to evaluate the company and make recommendations for changes which will affect the bank from the top down. With that said, it is extremely common for Wharton students to become consultants and, conversely, for College students to become investment bankers. But in terms of the education, that is basically the deal.</p>