<p>I love Penn, but given the opportunity and assuming the same cost, there are two schools that I would have picked over it had I had even the slightest chance of getting into either of them. One of them is Stanford. There are a lot of reasons, some of which have been brought up already. I agree though that the ‘fit’ of the college should play a significant role in your decision because Stanford and Penn are too similar academically.</p>
<p>“Wharton>Stanford>CAS” </p>
<p>With this, I ask you, what’s better? To me, again, the only appealing thing about Stanford was the grade inflation, California, and the financial aid. </p>
<p>But still, Penn is this universe of opportunities. If you’re fluent in a romance language, you can get your masters as an undergrad.</p>
<p>I don’t see any opportunities at Stanford.</p>
<p>What’s in a name? Well, name means nothing to me. I have a stronger sense of self than that.</p>
<p>I’m just wondering if Stanford’s requirements really do strink. That always turns me away. I turned down Princeton because they have so many useless and difficult requirements which grade deflation makes even harder but I could deal with easy requirements and grade INFLATION. If Stanford’s requirements aren’t that bad…</p>
<p>Although, I would be leaving all of Penn’s wonderful opportunies behind, and for what? My B.A.?</p>
<p>The kid from NJ: You live on the east coast, but you would go to Ca? I live in Westchester, NY so I’m dying for a city, but wouldn’t mind Ca. Still it would cost a lot to get all of my stuff there…</p>
<p>nj<em>azn</em>premed - your stats are easily within range for being accepted to Stanford. Don’t sell yourself short. Stanford (and HYP) is only perceived as so selective because its admissions has become effectively random. This is basically of all Ivies and comparable schools, if to a lesser degree.</p>
<p>SusieBra: Yes I’d go to CA and the reason is not just because of some superficial factor like the better weather, but because of the proximity to Silicon Valley (I’m interested in computer science + business). The opportunities out of Stanford for my particular career plan easily exceed those offered by Penn. Still, I’m not about to complain about attending Penn…far from it in fact. I’ll probably try for a Stanford MS if I decide it’s worth it.</p>
<p>muerteapablo: I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m afraid I had no chance whatsoever simply because of my HS. My school has not sent anyone to Stanford in quite a long time, if ever. Last year, the #3 student applied to Stanford EA. People thought he was a shoo-in, the usual expectations (though I didn’t see them as unreasonably high), and he was flat out rejected. This year, not a single person bothered to apply, not even the valedictorian, who will instead be attending Harvard. The positive end of the tradeoff, I suppose, is the 2-3 people my HS consistently sends to Princeton.</p>
<p>Again, I am very happy to be going to Penn next year. I would not have applied ED were this not the case. I think, as do many other reasonable individuals, that the differences in rankings among the top 10 schools are trivial.</p>
<p>Well I’m interested in getting a masters in Romance languages while I’m still an undergraduate and I’m also interested in law. Should I stick with Penn?</p>
<p>Aston Martin, I generally agree with your point of view, e.g. the Yale science/engineering thread. But I would strongly disagree with the blanket statement: Wharton > CAS</p>
<p>The Econometric Society awards Fellowship to the world’s top economists- business faculty (profs in management, finance, etc.) are certainly considered</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to the website of The Econometric Society An International Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics](<a href=“http://www.econometricsociety.org/fellows.asp]Welcome”>http://www.econometricsociety.org/fellows.asp)</p>
<p>UPenn Econonmics (CAS):
JERE R. BEHRMAN
KENNETH BURDETT
FRANCIS X. DIEBOLD
WILFRED J. ETHIER
LAWRENCE R. KLEIN
GEORGE MAILATH
STEVEN MATTHEWS
ANDREW W. POSTLEWAITE
RAFAEL ROB (murdered his wife)
RANDALL WRIGHT</p>
<p>Wharton:
ANDREW B. ABEL
RICHARD KIHLSTROM
SIDNEY G. WINTER</p>
<p>CAS 10 > Wharton 3</p>
<p>SAS Economics faculty: 34
Wharton standing faculty: 250</p>
<p>also, Fellows are typically senior faculty- Frank Schorfheide, a 1998 PhD, is probably top 5 in the world in econometrics research.</p>
<p>I loved Wilfred Ethier’s lectures :)</p>
<p>I don’t care if Stanford is more prestigious than Penn CAS, I still preferred Penn CAS. One University policy FTW!</p>
<p>SusieBra, while there are certainly more opportunities that Stanford has than just “good FA and grade inflation” (which if you try hard enough will be matched by Penn) it seems like you really don’t want to go to Stanford and you’re looking for someone to convince you otherwise. To be honest, if you absolutely deplore useless requirements (i.e. IHUM) I’ll be the first to tell you don’t come here. However, I think if you look at Stanford more closely you’ll realize that pretty much all the opportunities Penn offers are either offered here or are replaced by something else (i.e. Philly for SF). That being said, it’s clear that name doesn’t do it for you (you’d have chosen Princeton) so good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>To the OP, Stanford’s econ is pretty math-oriented. I can’t imagine you missing out on anything here academically. (I’m sure Penn can say the same). To be honest both schools will do it for you, but you haven’t posted enough about yourself for us to help you.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post. I don’t think that Penn would match my Stanford FA and I think if they did, they might get me back the following year…That’s why I’m afraid to even try.</p>
<p>Does anyone like useless requirements? At least they don’t make you take labs (princeton’s policy of the 2 lab requirement really turned me away) but I can maybe do tough requirements with grade inflation.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to figure out what people take when they’re not math/science people. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Opportunities: No, unfortunately Stanford can’t match Penn’s opportunities, which is so frustrating because it would have made my decision easier. Stanford, unlike Penn, doesn’t open it’s doors to its graduate programs. At Penn, I would graduate with a masters degree as well…</p>
<p>I’m also worried about the campus: even though penn has a lot of undergrad buildings, grad schools, a med school and a law school, you can walk to one end of the campus to the other within ten minutes. (I actually learned that from cc). Stanford seems to have a few kids and a lot of space; hence: the need for the bike… Is that true?</p>
<p>I know that Stanford is known for it’s bikes on campus (among many other things)</p>
<p>But it’s a larger campus, right? I mean, you can’t walk from one end to the other in 10 minutes?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s a good point, and if you just want to study economic theory (which is not at all what Wharton is about) and are not very career-focused, then CAS may be a better fit.</p>
<p>SusieBra, if personal fit (of campus, atmosphere, location, “feel,” etc.) hasn’t decided it for you, one advantage that Penn has over Stanford (and just about any other school) is its vaunted “One University” policy. Possibly interested in law school some day but not quite sure if it’s for you? Take some classes at the law school as an undergrad! Suddenly decide in your sophomore year that you’re curious about what goes on in another professional field? Take some classes at the Annenberg School for Communication, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Design, the School of Social Policy and Practice, Wharton, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, or Nursing. And of course, you’ve already expressed great interest in submatriculating in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.</p>
<p>No other school–including Stanford–opens up its graduate and professional schools to undergrads to the extent that Penn does. And no other school has all of its grad and professional schools in such close physical proximity to its undergrads as does Penn. Penn figured this out a long time ago, and has aggressively leveraged this strength to offer a potential undergrad experience of unparalleled breadth and depth.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Penn’s “One University” policy facilitates all sorts of interdisciplinary study options for undergrads that, again, are unparalleled.</p>
<p>Although I never visited myself, family members have. So just to answer your question, you practically NEED a bike because it would take a while to get around campus without one. I believe it is also one of the largest campuses in general (but I may be wrong).</p>
<p>45 Percenter, the One University Policy is misleading, because you can only take 4 classes that count toward your degree. If you take extras, maybe like 2-4 more, that’s not a lot to explore.</p>
<p>Just because they can’t count towards your major doesn’t mean you can’t take them.</p>
<p>^ Also, doesn’t it depend on your school, major, particular outside classes you want to take, etc.? Unless I’m mistaken, there’s not a hard-and-fast rule for all situations that only 4 classes outside of your “home” school can count toward your degree (or even your major, depending on the major/classes involved).</p>
<p>Excepted, you may want to explore that a bit further. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the posts. I have a feeling that Stanford is large too but no one from there has confirmed it yet.</p>
<p>45 Percenter: That is the main reason that I’m leaning towards Penn. Stanford has both law and graduate schools, but like all other universities, you can’t take classes at the other institutions. My only concern: would they let you take classes at the graduate school and at the law school? I’m fluent in Spanish, so I know that I could walk out of Penn with a masters as well…my only concern: then would they not allow me to take law courses?</p>
<p>^You are not limited to the number of graduate and professional school courses you can take. You’ll take your 8-10 for your MA and still can take a few law school courses if time permits.</p>
<p>
I’m graduating with probably 5+ courses outside of the college. I get all the stat courses to count towards my major, but the SEAS and Wharton courses end up just being extra courses that count towards nothing. The thing is, I’ll have the 32 cu.s i need to graduate by the end of my junior year. After that, everything not towards my major ends up being a useless free elective, whether in Wharton, SEAS, or SAS. Most people I know in SAS graduate with way more than the minimum credit requirements (unless they are in sciences) so don’t fret if you have too many free electives, you’ll still have more than enough credits to graduate with your degree.</p>
<p>SusieBra, if you haven’t already, you should take a look at this page from Penn Law:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> Law: Law Classes are not just for Law Students](<a href=“http://www.law.upenn.edu/registrar/lawcourses.html]Penn”>Penn Students & Staff • Registrar • Penn Carey Law)</p>
<p>They really are quite serious about encouraging non-law students–including undergrads–to take courses in the Law School.</p>
<p>I haven’t checked, but I doubt that Stanford Law School takes a similar approach with Stanford undergrads. Few–if any–other top law schools do.</p>