<p>I love Penn - it's my favorite school in the entire world. I didn't make it last year as a senior and now I'm reapplying, hoping to get in as a transfer.</p>
<p>As a business major at an average New York college, I really want to go to Wharton - but I've heard transferring in is just a complete crapshoot. So would it be wise to apply as an economics major to CAS instead?</p>
<p>Wharton’s transfer rate is ~5%. They accept about 20-25 students each year. Even a 4.0 gpa can’t guarantee your chances.</p>
<p>The College accepts ~16-18% depending on the year. So overall, applying to cas would be a much safer choice. Even so, you really need to aim for 3.8+ to solidify your chances. </p>
<p>In the end, I feel it really depends on whether or not you’ll be happy studying at Penn even if you’re not at Wharton…</p>
<p>As an internal transfer, I took the MGMT 100 course that all transfers take (both internal and external), and based on the people I met from that class that were external, I can tell you that they all transferred from top-ranked schools with 4.0 GPAs (e.g. 4.0 from NYU, 4.0 from UMich, etc). There just aren’t that many spots available and it largely depends on how many people transfer OUT of Wharton. </p>
<p>If you’re dead set on Wharton, then apply to Wharton. But if you would be happy as a CAS econ major, you’d have much better chances there.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks for the replies. I’d almost be happier at CAS to be honest, as I’m not chasing the name but chasing the education. I want to do venture capitalism eventually, so I’d need a liberal arts/technical background in addition to a business education so CAS would give me the best of both worlds. I’m not crazy about Wharton, but the name is very impressive.</p>
<p>I really want to take MGMT 100 though - could I do that as a CAS transfer? And also could I dual degree in Wharton if I really want to do that? (BS in Econ with concentration perhaps in entrepreneurship and innovation or finance)</p>
<p>You can take MGMT 100 as a CAS student, but not too many people do so because… why would you want to? It’s widely known as a pretty arbitrary, fluffy class that embodies the nature of BS.</p>
<p>And yeah, you can apply for a dual degree, but you still need to get into Wharton for that. Students can apply for either a transfer into Wharton or a dual degree with Wharton (both draw from the same pools) but you need to fulfill certain prereqs and have a sufficiently high GPA. When I transferred internally, the cutoff was 3.7 Penn GPA, but it’s only been rising since then (last I remember it was at 3.8+, wouldn’t be surprised if it were 3.9 now). </p>
<p>Most of the transfers occur between freshman and sophomore year, and there are very few transfers after that. Slapping on a dual degree starting junior year would be very tough. You’d have to be <em>extremely</em> diligent about taking all the classes you need and keeping up the grades so you don’t fall behind. Taking 6 classes/sem is not unusual for a dual degree student.</p>
<p><a href=“http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/ugrprogram/advising/internaltransfer_dualdegree/Internal_Transfer_&_Dual_Degree_Application_Information.pdf[/url]”>http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/ugrprogram/advising/internaltransfer_dualdegree/Internal_Transfer_&_Dual_Degree_Application_Information.pdf</a></p>
<p>“Students who transferred to Penn from another college or university (external transfers) are not eligible to apply for internal transfer. However, external transfers admitted as sophomores may apply for dual degrees with their home school and Wharton after two semesters at Penn.”</p>
<p>So you can apply as an external transfer but if you want Wharton, you’d have do to it up front. Getting into CAS and then adding Wharton dual-degree wouldn’t be an option if you’re an external transfer.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/transwharton.php[/url]”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/transwharton.php</a></p>
<p>Students who wish to transfer into the Wharton School must do so through initial admission to the University. Students enrolled as degree candidates in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies or applicants already holding undergraduate degrees will not be considered for transfer admission to Wharton. External transfers admitted to the Wharton School are not eligible to transfer again within the University.</p>
<p>For information on transfer admissions, please contact the Office of Admissions at <a href=“mailto:info@admissions.upenn.edu”>info@admissions.upenn.edu</a> or (215) 898-7507.</p>
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<p>I would call them and discuss things just to make sure.</p>
<p>It stated that external transfers entering as sophomores can pursue a dual degree with Wharton after two semesters at Penn - so if I were to apply to the College, I could apply for the dual degree program after one year right? (as a rising junior)</p>
<p>Yeah, I did a bit more poking around and that seems to be the case (I had misread the earlier quote, dualing is fine). You just can’t just transfer into CAS and then transfer again into Wharton, for instance. You’d have to transfer into CAS and then apply for a dual with Wharton. If you really want Wharton, though, it’s best to do it up-front.</p>
<p>At any rate, I’d call just to make sure. Such a transfer scenario is still really difficult and very rare (I don’t know of anyone who’s done it that way). Most of the transfers just hammer it all through right off the bat during their sophomore year transfer because transferring/changing degree programs junior year is so hard to pull off. There are more and more requirements to fulfill and none of it is a guarantee, so you risk wasting classes, time, emotional/mental effort, grade damage, etc.</p>
<p>You can always apply for an MBA later, too. Plenty of people in CAS take a few Wharton classes and list them on their resume and have no problem finding work in finance later. I don’t think it’s worth killing yourself over trying to get into Wharton undergrad if you’re not going to apply to it directly for the sake of trying to bypass its lower admission rate.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies - you’ve been very helpful. I understand what you’re saying, so I think I’m just going to go for the College and stay there. Wharton doesn’t seem worth it in terms of admissions and I don’t want to dive into the cutthroat environment that it’s famous for. And yes I’ll go for the MBA program if I do really well.</p>
<p>Honestly I just really want to be at Penn.</p>
<p>I think that’s probably the smarter choice if all you really want is Penn. Again, you can always take Wharton classes even as a CAS student (there’s obviously a limit, though). </p>
<p>I will say, though, that Wharton isn’t as cutthroat as people make it out to be. There are so many group projects – you really can’t afford to be cutthroat. People are still very competitive on tests, however.</p>