DD is very smart and extroverted and loves the specialized undergrad Wharton curriculum. But I’m wondering whether Wharton students form a clique at the school and are somewhat isolated from the rest of the school. One reason I wonder is that so much of their work seems to take them out of the classroom and they seem to just be on a different schedule and even go to different study abroad programs. I would really appreciate hearing from both Whartonites and non - Whartonites so I can see it from both sides. Thank you.
Wharton students are fully integrated into the undergraduate life at Penn. They take lots of non-Wharton classes (up to 40% of their classes) where they meet and interact with non-Wharton students; they live in on- and off-campus housing with non-Wharton students; they’re members of fraternities, sororities, and other organizations with non-Wharton students; and they fully participate in extracurriculars (performing arts, sports, cultural and interest groups, etc.) with non-Wharton students. I know from my own (rather dated) experience as a Wharton undergrad, as well as my kid’s quite recent experience as an undergrad in the College, as well as the many Penn alums and undergrads I have known through the years, that Wharton students, in general, absolutely DO NOT form a clique or remain isolated from the rest of the school. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
To agree with 45 Percenter: If anything, some of my friends’ children / children’s friends in the College wish the Wharton kids would go off somewhere and form their own clique, as opposed to the current situation where it often seems like they dominate undergraduate social and extracurricular life. (Like the OP’s daughter, many Whartonites are smart and extroverted, and in addition many are soon-to-be-professional networkers.) It’s hard to get away from them, their disposable income from well-paid internships, and their competition for plum financial positions.
^wharton’s shadow was one of the reasons why my kids, one a STEM kid…the other an English major, were turned off. For the right kids, though, this campus alchemy won’t be a negative factor. In fact, it could be a positive. As always, do your due diligence and make sure the fit is right.
Agreed. It’s definitely a matter of personal preference, and Wharton’s presence does give Penn a real uniqueness among the Ivies and other top schools, including for students interested in the liberal arts and engineering. Fortunately, though, Penn has done a great job of establishing strong communities and physical spaces for undergrads who aren’t just interested in business (which includes a lot of Wharton students, by the way), such as Kelly Writers House, Platt Student Performing Arts House, and Civic House. Not to mention that there are 6300 undergrads in the College, 1700 in Engineering, and almost 600 in Nursing in addition to the 1800 in Wharton.
Were they ever Penn students?
I know tons of kids who went to Penn and were non Wharton students and they never even felt Whartonites’ presence because the campus is large and diverse.
I think that the idea that the campus is Wharton vs. the rest of Penn is really an outside perspective.
Wharton students are only about 20% of the class, and they are entirely mixed in with students from SEAS, Nursing and The College. Students friends are a real cross section of Penn and so are the fraternities and sororities. Students take classes across schools and socialize across schools.
Wharton students in my experience also do not act as if they think are superior to the other students, and that is a good thing because they aren’t. Also, Penn seems to be a place where you show how good you are through your actions, and not by telling people you are impressive. In a place with so many amazing students, needing to brag or trying to act superior would be seen as a sign of weakness.
Agree with other posts here. Wharton undergrads are fundamentally well-integrated with the rest of campus and I don’t remember any stratification by school with the possible exception of Nursing which, at one point, had a noticeably higher admit rate than the other schools.
^ Interesting observation about Nursing (and in my day, Penn also had the School of Allied Medical Professions–Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, etc.). My impression now, however, is that there is no “looking down” on Nursing students by students in other Penn schools. For example, for the Class of 2014, the acceptance rate for Nursing was down to only 20% (http://www.thedp.com/article/2010/02/nursing_school_admits_20_percent_for_2014), and I’m sure with the substantial increase in the overall number of applications since then, it’s even lower now. Also, based on anecdotal evidence here on CC, applicants accepted to the Nursing School appear to have SATs, GPAs, ECs, etc. in the same range as those of students accepted to Penn’s other schools. And finally, based on discussions with my own kid in the College at Penn, the Nursing students seem to have a reputation of being quite capable academically, disciplined, and very hard working (they apparently have rather grueling schedules with their practice requirements at the hospital, hard-core science classes, etc.).
My son is a sophomore at Wharton, and loves it. He has told me he has made friends for life. He is from the west coast so I was hoping he would adjust and he did. My biggest fear is that he may relocate there permanently since he like sit so much. I was glad to hear it he was having fun. The cool thing is that these friends are kids from several programs. Not all are Wharton students. So it seems that they intermingle with all schools.
I would say that the Whartonites presence is felt, but I think in a positive way. Many of them are very pre-professional, and often very up on things like setting up a linked in account, or getting started on thinking about summer internships, or things like that. If you are in another school, you may think, “Hey, I should probably do that too!”
Also, typical Whartonites tend to be relatively sociable, so the more sociable engineers may hang out with more students from Wharton and The College. The Nurses are integrated also, but their classes are usually more specialized and there just aren’t as many of them.
Thanks to everyone
During the “Penn Preview Days” a few years ago, we absolutely noticed a difference is SWAG that the Wharton kids got vs. what the CAS students got. It did raise a red flag wondering if that difference would continue throughout the school years, but it didn’t seem to be a problem going forward. I did wonder why the school would do that, as it could possibly alienate so many of the students attending.