First a little background on me. I am currently attending a very good, top 25 US News school, and I am planning on applying for transfer to Penn. I applied ED to Wharton in my senior year, but I was rejected. This year I plan on getting close to a 4.0 (I know, I’m getting ahead of myself, but I’m just going to assume that for now otherwise I have no chance) and I also hope to become very involved at my current school’s campus.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that it is nearly impossible to transfer to Penn, would I have a better chance applying to Wharton or to CAS? I want to major in economics/business, which is why I am aiming for Wharton, but I have also heard that you can major in something business-related in CAS. I don’t know if Wharton is significantly harder to get into than CAS, as I’ve heard anywhere from 1-10% for Wharton’s acceptance rate.
Penn is a school I would really like to go to, so which school would give me the best chance at attending the university while also keeping intact my career and major goals?
I would guess that Wharton’s admit rate is around 7%. I would guess that CAS is around 11%. Wharton is definitely lower, but they are not very far apart.
Remember that Economics is in CAS. However, as a Wharton student you can take Economics in CAS or as a CAS Economics student, you can take business classes in Wharton.
Thanks for the information. I think I’m better off applying to CAS, as I want to give myself the best possible chance of attending Penn. As long as my major stays intact, I’m fine with being in the CAS.
It is especially difficult for transfer applicants who have been previously rejected to Penn to get accepted as transfer students. It’s a great deal of work to prepare a transfer application, to get recommendations, to focus on grades etc. Starting off at a new university, and a top 25 one at that, with transfer in mind is likely to make your transition to university life very difficult.
Do you have any sources to back up your claim that it is more difficult for a student who was previously rejected to transfer to Penn? From what I’ve heard, previous rejections don’t count against you, especially if you have developed since then. Not saying you’re wrong, but I’m just looking for something definitive to back up your claim.
As for your second point, I’m not going to change my mind about transferring, and I am aware of what I need to do in order to transfer. Though I actually like my current university a lot, I would prefer to be closer to home, so I am going to try and transfer.
I just transferred into Penn, you could PM me if you have any questions! There are 11 kids that transferred into Wharton, so if you REALLY want to go to Penn then apply to CAS. Btw, on campus recruiting is for all of Penn, not just Whartonites.
And many people in CAS end up going into business anyway. For example, many IR majors end up going into consulting as long as they take some Wharton classes