Hi Everyone! Suppose I was admitted to both Stanford’s MS&E program and UPenn’s M&T programs. I have taken and can take outside factors into account themselves, hence, my question is asked with regard to how the two programs compare at face value aside from outside factors. How math-focused are they? Does one have a better reputation than the other? What do graduates typically go on to do? How are networking opportunities at either of these schools in the business world? There’s a lot to unpack here so any opinions or input even for just one of the questions would truly be appreciated!
Wanted to bump this thread^
Dude, why are you wasting your time on unlikely theoretical scenarios that are sometime in the future? You have finished your fall semester as a Junior, and are almost a year away from even applying to one of these colleges.
Focus on doing your best in high school, and, maybe, on what you are looking for from a college. From the fact that you have been almost exclusively focusing on colleges based on their prestige tells me that you need to do a lot more research on what you want from a college.
At this point in your high school, your energy should be focused on doing your best at your studies and at your other activities.
Your college search activities should be at the stage of making lists of the things that you want and need from a college, making early selections of reaches, targets, and safeties. You should NOT be obsessing over “Will I Be Accepted To One Of These Specific Big Name Colleges That I Chose Because They Are Famous And Prestigious?”.
You are smart and hard working - use these in the most efficient manner to do your best in high school.
PS. All the information that you want on these programs can be found online.
@MWolf Thank you for your input
We are looking into these two programs and wonder if you had a chance to find out more about them and if you had a chance to get accepted to one of these programs. We appreciate any info you could share.
I actually have a best friend in UPenn’s M&T and am dating an MS&E student… from what I can tell, the two contrast in a couple of notable ways. The M&T workload is quite a bit higher as you are still dual-majoring, whereas MS&E allows you to pursue minors and possibly dual-majors of your choice. MS&E is fairly math heavy (as most majors are at Stanford) but also keeps your doors quite open for both west coast and east coast careers – though the fact is that most companies will fight over having a student join them from either program.
The thing to more broadly keep in mind is the differences in settings between Penn and Stanford – location (Silicon Valley vs. NYC/Philly) and campus culture are two major things sort of overlooked in both cases. Either way, both are incredible programs for some of the brightest young minds out there, so happy to answer any other questions you might have 
@davidkram Thank you so much for taking your time and sharing such valuable information. It is especially interesting info about the different levels of workload between the programs and MS&E allowing possibly another minor. I guess math would be one of the criteria that admission officers would look into for this program (or to be able to do well once getting in). Since you closely looked into these programs and have close contacts there, do you have any suggestions on how to prepare for applying to these programs (i.e summer camps, activities, or even college counselors who are familiar with these programs)?
Re: MS&E I also know a couple of people doing two minors… so the flexibility really is more open than M&T where students are struggling to keep up with the program itself.
Re: admissions, I got into MS&E REA on a 3.7 UW GPA but fairly unique ECs, and am waiting on M&T. I’m happy to elaborate on what I specifically did in PMs but will say a typical applicant to either program should have a very strong demonstrated interest in business and applied mathematics/CS. This could be anything from DECA, Hackathons, Nonprofit involvement, ranging to consulting, any type of internships etc. – the important thing is that there’s a common thread of purpose behind all of this so it doesn’t look like you’re just doing it to get in. They want their students to come to the University and continue contributing to the community as they have been.
Personally didn’t have a college counselor or summer camps, though I do know Gad Allon, the Director of the M&T program, personally recruits some of the smartest kids from the M&T Summer Program, so that might be worth applying to.
Congratulations on your acceptance to MS&E and best of luck with the news for M&T. Thank you so much for sharing such useful information. It is not easy to find specific information on specific programs.
My pleasure 
– let me know if you ever need anything else!
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