<p>Hey guys. I've been a longtime reader of CC, but this is my first post. Honest thoughts and feedback will be great. Please no trolling. </p>
<p>So I just finished my freshman year in Penn CAS. I intend to major in economics, so I took the intro micro/macro sequence, multivariable calculus, stat, as well as other classes. I have a 4.0 gpa thus far, along with involvements in several extracurricular clubs and some good relationships with professors. Suffice to say, I think my freshman year went quite well. </p>
<p>Despite this however, I'm not quite sure if Penn is a good fit for me, culturally, socially, and academically. First, I'm seriously thinking of doing a phd in econ after college, and multiple profs and econ grad students have told me that Penn does not place well at the top phd progrmas for whatever reason. Second, I am a bit uncomfortable with the whole pre-professional feel where it seems like everyone is obsessed with landing that gig at goldman/blackstone/mckinsey, etc. I know not everyone is like this, but that mindset certainly permeates the culture. And third, Penn is a bit too fratty for my taste socially. </p>
<p>Sorry if this offends any current Penn students. And I'm sure many will disagree with me strongly on these points. But this is my conclusion after freshman year. Hence, I am seriously thinking of applying for transfer this upcoming year at harvard, yale, MIT, stanford, columbia, and brown. </p>
<p>Any thoughts from current penn students or people who have managed to transfer out of penn into one of these schools would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>THIS PERSON IS A ■■■■■. He/she also posts under the name “Arbitrageur,” and made the mistake of posting earlier today in this forum under that name, saying virtually the same anti-Penn-CAS nonsense that he/she posted under this new identity, which he/she created just today.</p>
<p>Ignore him/her.</p>
<p>What he/she says here is obvious BS, and total nonsense, and I seriously doubt that this person actually goes to Penn.</p>
<p>I think that Ivy-to-Ivy transfers must be really tough. The receiving Ivy is really looking to fill its transfer slots with unique “stories” or athletes, and not someone who is simply unhappy with the social scene at the Ivy they are at. You have no chance unless you (1) make a compelling case concerning what precisely about the receiving Ivy is so compelling you can’t get it at Penn, and (2) describe what unique background you bring (or talents you have to contribute) that are lacking at the receiving Ivy. You really, really have a hard slog ahead. Better for you if had gone to community college for a couple of years, joined the Army and served in Iraq, and returned with a “story.” Right now, you’re just a dissatisfied student at a privileged university – that won’t go far.</p>
<p>Well, let’s take a look at the facts. Arbitrageur suddenly shows up here today–after a long absence–and spontaneously posts this nonsensical flame in the long-dormant Penn Class of 2016 RD Results thread:</p>
<p>And then you proceed to create this thread and post this dubious statement, which is unbelievable on its face:</p>
<p>
I’d find it hard to believe that even one or two profs or econ grad students would say this, given the diversity of undergraduate schools from which students in the top PhD programs actually come. When you escalate it to “multiple” profs and grad students, it’s incredible on its face (especially when one reviews the CAS career surveys for the past several years and finds Penn econ majors going on to graduate econ programs at places like Harvard, Columbia, Penn, Chicago, Duke, and Michigan).</p>
<p>And then there’s the question of why someone who’s purportedly considering transferring out of Penn, would suddenly create a CC identity to come into the Penn forum to supposedly obtain “any thoughts from current penn students or people who have managed to transfer out of penn into one of these schools.” Again, this pretext is quite dubious. </p>
<p>As the above clearly demonstrates, your BS is extremely transparent, and much of what you assert in your posts is inherently ridiculous.</p>
<p>benzua, i was actually dinged at all those schools. </p>
<p>I am totally aware that ivy to ivy is very hard. I have to craft a story about why penn is not a good fit and how those schools are a better fit academically.</p>
<p>^if you were rejected at all those schools it sounds almost like by extreme luck you got accepted to Penn considering it is a peer to harvard, yale, stanford, mit, columbia, and brown. </p>
<p>If you are serious about transferring you should narrow your list. Yale accepts only about 2% of transfer students and they usually have an extremely compelling reason to go to Yale and usually also only apply to Yale because that is the only place they can see themselves at. In other words, Yale only accepts transfer students who NEED only Yale for whatever reason. </p>
<p>Harvard, stanford, and MIT will probably look for a unique story and not just that you are not socializing well with other privileged ivy league students. Also, I doubt H, S, or MIT will be able to plug a student into a top phd program while a 4.0 econ major from Penn won’t. My guess would be that if you focus on how penn won’t be able to get you a top phd program, H, S, and M would reject you just cause they think you are blatantly wrong. </p>
<p>I think your only real shot would be brown and columbia. Brown you can emphasize how they put imperative focus on undergrads while Penn puts a lot of focus into grads. Columbia is similar to penn in that it focuses a lot on graduate programs so you will have to find another angle for that transfer.</p>
<p>I don’t believe you have a shot, at all. If you were already rejected from those schools – “I was actually dinged from all those schools” – I see no reason for a single one to change it’s mind. They are all peer research institutions and are more likely to accept as transfers students who are reaching UP and have compelling reasons to reach UP, as in the opportunties currently available to such applicants have been “maxed” out where they currently are enrolled. These schools are going to offer their limited spots to students for whom transfer admission will TRULY make a difference, not only to the student so accepted, but to the school. These other schools will surmise correctly that your opportunities are ample at Penn, and equal to those offered at each of these other schools. And your reasons for a lateral transfer could not be LESS compelling in the grand scheme of things. You have no chance at an Ivy-to-Ivy transfer. NONE!!!</p>
<p>Really, you should have done your research before you accepted Penn’s offer, as in visit the school and determine pre-enrollement whether or not it was a fit. That is the other argument that all these schools will make against your transfer candidacy. It’s not the fault of any other school that you did not adequately research Penn before you enrolled! </p>
<p>And, yeah, each and every one of these schools has ALREADY rejected you. Not a one will change it’s mind. Your best bet is to investigate schools to which you did NOT apply originally, and from which you have not already been rejected. That is your best shot at a transfer, applying to schools which did not already reject you!!!</p>
<p>What really seals your fate is that you are doing so well at Penn! Clearly adapting well to and taking advantage of all its manifold academic and extra-curricular opportunities. Because you say “freshman year went quite well,” YOU HAVE NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER OF AN IVY-TO-IVY TRANSFER to schools that have already rejected you. Your academic adaption to Penn will be the PROOF that the right choice was made, because you are doing SWIMMINGLY where you are. NO CHANCE!!! </p>
<p>Suck it up and make the best your poor little self can at one of the TOP FIVE universities in the country, and one of the TOP TEN universities in the world!!! Sorry to be tough, but this is a bit hard to believe. I am not quite as cynical as 45 Percenter, but…really? Stop whining!</p>
<p>You could have said that you simply don’t like Penn and it would have been believable since quite a few students don’t. However, saying that Penn Mathematical Economics (the major for students interested in a career in academic Economics) would put you at any sort of disadvantage in getting into a top economics graduate department compared to any other top undergraduate school completely undermines your legitimacy.</p>
<p>Thanks for the honest input guys. I agree that it will be tough, but from talking to my advisor Penn actually sends a few transfers each year to other top programs. I did not ask for specifics on what their situation was, but according to her, they all did very well academically and got great recs but felt that it was not quite the right fit for them. Contrary to what swing said, I don’t see how my 4.0 after freshman year is a detriment to my chances. Would they rather take a state school kid with a lower gpa just because they “need” harvard or yale more than I do? I do agree though that I need to have a good story of why Penn is not the right fit for me and how those schools are better suited for my short and long-term goals. </p>
<p>I also disagree that Penn CAS is a top 5 school along with harvard/yale/princeton/stanford/mit. There is no objective evidence to support that claim (selectivity, caliber of students, etc.) and such a claim is bordering on egregious Penn trolling.</p>
<p>PennDude, was referring to the oft-disputed USNWR rankings which place Penn in the top five national universities, TIED WITH Stanford and MIT. In the world university rankings, reported by USNWR, Penn is indeed ranked one of the world’s top ten universities. Actually, it is you who is uninformed. Not a Penn “■■■■■,” my degrees are from UChicago and Harvard.</p>
<p>Just want to say, from the perspective of someone who has graduated from a school you desire to attend: your assertion that Penn does not place its grads in top Ph.D programs is totally wrong. If that is your real reason for wanting to transfer – and my guess is that it is – you are wrong! UPenn grads do get into top Ph.D. programs. Seems to me your real issue is “prestige.” And that is an insufficiently compelling reason to initate a successful transfer. The schools WILL see this, unless you have something else real compelling on the table.</p>
<p>@penndude
“I also disagree that Penn CAS is a top 5 school along with harvard/yale/princeton/stanford/mit. There is no objective evidence to support that claim (selectivity, caliber of students, etc.) and such a claim is bordering on egregious Penn trolling.”</p>
<p>If the penn caliber of students is so low then I doubt harvard wants you…i mean you are a penn caliber student after all and so are less intelligent than harvard kids.</p>
<p>I think you are trolling considering Penn CAS econ and wharton eco classes are some of the best in the world and easily on par with a less business orientated school like princeton. </p>
<p>I really don’t know what to think…except that if you actually go to Penn, please, do transfer out. You’ll be making room for potential transfer students who can appreciate my school.</p>
<p>What on earth would make you think it would be easier to transfer into another top undergrad program than to get into a top grad-school program? Really? C’mon!</p>
<p>Knight, I do attend Penn. Not sure how I can prove this short of revealing my identity. </p>
<p>I never said that Penn is not a great school. I merely said that it’s not a good fit for me. I didn’t have much of a choice because the only schools i got into were my state school and penn. Got dinged by the other ivies+stanford, mit. </p>
<p>Instead of transferring, consider spending your junior year abroad in England at an Oxford college or at LSE. </p>
<p>For funded admission to a top economics Ph.D. program, you’ll need to take as least as much math as economics. Make certain you take intermediate “real” analysis (300 level), ODE, linear algebra, probability theory and mathematical statistics (requiring a probability course).</p>
<p>Gaining admission to another Ivy as a transfer will be difficult. Brown might be the Ivy that is the most different and which will take transfers. At Columbia College you’ll encounter a substantial core, which may or may not be to your liking. However, NYC is a much better city than Philly. MIT is the best both in economics and math but historically has taken prospective engineering majors from other fields as transfers. Lastly, you should consider LAC’s like Swarthmore, Williams, etc. which tend to send a high percentage of grads into Ph.D. programs. You could even try a class at Swat in the Fall.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, universities want what is best for them and not individual students. The fact that someplace other than Penn may be a better fit for you will be meaningless for transfer admission. Penn’s pre-professional culture is definitely not for everyone.</p>
<p>rhg, thanks for your mature and thoughtful response. I appreciate it. You’re correct that I need to take a lot of rigorous math courses since econ at the grad level is basically applied math. I’m planning on taking linear algebra, real analysis (critical course), probability, ODE, and maybe PDE as well. </p>
<p>I actually like columbia’s core curriculum, smaller class size, and NYC location. I was waitlisted there, along with yale and princeton last year. </p>
<p>Correct that MIT will probably prefer engineers. I love boston, and their econ department is amazing. There are a few professors there whom I would love to take classes with. </p>
<p>Worse case scenario, if I don’t get in next year as a transfer, I will just try to kick ass at Penn and do an econ Phd at a top program or go work at a great finance/consulting firm and maybe do an MBA at harvard or stanford. The key though is to keep my gpa up since college gpa is the best predictor of future professional success.</p>
<p>Which “multiple” econ professors, exactly, told you that Penn does not place its students in top PhD programs for “whatever reason”? No econ professor at Penn would tell you that, and if they did, they would provide a more educated reason as to why that’s the case and wouldn’t simply say that it’s for “whatever reason.” </p>
<p>It’s hard for me to believe you’re telling the truth since, if you were smart enough to get a 4.0 your freshman year at Penn, you’d also be smart enough to know that staying at Penn and maintaining that sort of GPA would open up so many doors to top programs later down the road.</p>
<p>Perhaps you’re confusing Penn’s general pre-professional proclivity with its inability to place its students into top PhD programs. The former is true - most econ majors major in econ to vie for the sort of jobs Wharton students get. The latter is false - there may not be as many in the econ department majoring in econ to actually a PhD, but those that are do well.</p>
<p>1) Penndude, I might or might not attend Penn, but I have the same feeling as you. Im also at one of the Ivies btw
2) dont listen to swingtime. Obviously hes a Harvard ■■■■■ who wants to convice people that his alma mater is superior and therefore one outside of the circle cannot transfer in. Btw this is false, since I talked to a transfer student at Yale, and he said a lot of his transfer mates were denied as first year applicants. He was first waitlisted and denied too.
Swingtime, you should be ashamed.</p>