<p>hey guys,
i just got admitted RD into UPenn class of 2011 ( college of arts n sciences). i had also got admission for economics at the london school of economics at london. i wanted your advice on which one i should attend.</p>
<p>while UPenn is an ivy league, LSE is no 2 in uk for economics ( which i want to pursue ).
If i end up going to lse, ill be trying for a transfer to wharton.
Also, since i’m an international student and i have done a yr of university in my country, ill be completing my under grad from lse in 2 yrs, while upenn would take 4.</p>
<p>so seeing all this, which would you hv chosen and think is a better option - an ivy league or a top college of uk.</p>
<p>I think Penn would be a much better choice for an undergraduate. At LSE you can't take classes outside your major. A lot of what you learn there will have to come from your own personal initiative, research, project organization, and networking. (I'm not saying Penn hands things to you--it's just different at LSE.) To me and to many others this is much better suited for focused graduate study.</p>
<p>ohh and also.. ive gotten waitlisted at U Chicago, which is like the heaven for economics..lol.. so what do u think are the chances of being accepted there..?? and then which one shall i choose ?</p>
<p>2 years vs. 4 years is a very big difference, and you should weigh that heavily. penn and LSE are on the same plane academically at the undergraduate level. however, mallomarcookie has a very valid point: do you plan on doing things such as research or taking interesting courses outside your major (like at wharton, for instance)? here are some other questions that you should ask yourself: </p>
<p>does distance matter, and which school is closer to you? traveling back home for during breaks will become expensive.</p>
<p>does the location of your first job matter? many recruiters at penn are domestic and i imagine that LSE is roughly the same (not to say that both schools don't have international name recognition, it may just be harder to obtain jobs overseas)</p>
<p>what type of a college experience do you want? look beyond the rankings and "ivy league status" at the actual offerings at each school, such as extracurricular organizations, sports, campus, social life etc. if it is possible, visit both to make up your mind (if you can visit, make sure you not only take a tour but schedule a meeting with the econ department)</p>
<p>EDIT: also, i'm not sure how UChicago works with their waitlist, but generally your chances of getting admission on a waitlist are low...</p>
<p>LSE - definitely (though they turned me down ;) )</p>
<p>Telling that the LSE does not have intl name recognition is simply untrue - they are ranked second for social sciences in the world behind Harvard and their economics departement is the highest regarded. LSE is known as IB feeder so if you want to go there, it will outrule UPenn Cas by far. </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong - Penn is a great school and I would love to attend, it will give you a much better undergraduate experience, you will do a lot of ECs, find many friends, is less nerdy - BUT LSE will boost your job chances like no other school. </p>
<p>It's not only the school but that it is situated in the financial head of Europe, you are literally only a footwalk away from where is the most powerful financial district in Europe. True is that you will be hired domestically but again, IB is not a business where you need to stay your whole life in one country. Be it Hong Kong, NY or London, the BB has headquarters quite everywhere and they earn a lot everywhere.</p>
<p>You say that you are an intl - where do you come from? If it is Europe, the LSE will cost you nearly nothing (~5000 $ tuition a year) and European universities tend to begin at a much higher level (as our high school education is longer) - esp. if you start from year two on.</p>
<p>Indeed, you cannot make a wrong choice (btw. I'm also waitlisted in Chicago ;) ) but you CAN make a right choice. If you were admitted to Wharton - maybe, just maybe I would consider Penn but as the facts stand, LSE is the way to go!</p>
<p>kabirbedi, i was in the same position as you last year--am an international student and got into both LSE and Penn CAS. I chose Penn .
Here's why:
1) While I love London as a city, and had never imagined I would study in Philadelphia of all places--I didn't feel too happy with the British system of education where you focus on just one field of study for 3 years. Like you, I too am pursuing Economics (and was very tempted by LSE's ranking and dept.), but also wanted to study a lot of other things. I wanted to study Econ but also be able to take courses in history, philosophy, cinema, literature etc. and at LSE (or anywhere else in the UK that sort of academic freedom isn't possible). Penn's CAS too has one of the top Econ depts in the US, and in any case I felt the overall undergraduate experience was more important than the ranking of a specific department (which fluctuates in any case)
2) Have you visited LSE? Penn has a 150+ acre campus in the heart of Philadelphia with large, green spaces and beautiful old gothic architecture and castle-like buildings. LSE has is "a building" in the middle of a street in London, with several other buildings scattered all over which you would probably have to take the underground or a bus to get to. I understand this is a superficial fact to consider, but it goes a long way in defining your campus experience. Socially, the LSE experience breaks down because of this--everyone knows everyone in London and people have friends in SOAS, UCL, Kings etc. and that's great fun, but you don't feel as though you belong to one school. And I know this because half my graduating class ended up in London. At Penn, the campus is big enough to not be overwhelmed by the city so you actually feel as though you are going to a school rather than just taking classes in a city. For some people that's cool, but for me I'd rather save that sort of thing for grad school.
3) I beg to differ with what DavidAlex has to say about a degree from LSE taking you further in terms of employment than a Penn degree. In some circles they would be regarded on equal terms, in some cricles LSE may be preferred (probably in Europe), and in others Penn would be preferred (Asia esp. India where Penn is hyped like nothing else, parts of the US). They are both great schools, and any difference in that perception really depends on who you are talking to. Also, partly because of Wharton most top-recruiting firms come to Penn's campus from the US and from around the world (and that includes Europe) every year. And no, they do not take 'just' the Wharton kids--but recruit from Penn as a whole. Whether you have a major in CAS or in Engineering or in Wharton, you WILL be recruited by these firms as long as your GPA etc. is competitive. (And you can look up Penn Career Services if you want to back this up on their website). Also, the average salary for Econ grads from Penn's CAS was around $65,000 plus starting bonus and annual bonus last year. And, since you are interested in transferring to Wharton your chances are much higher out of Penn CAS then from LSE. Wharton accepts over 90 transfers from Penn CAS and Penn SEAS every year, and only around 20-25 from outside Penn. Also, you can apply for a dual-degree and graduate with a degree from CAS and Wharton after your first year or even in your second.
3) Penn's 'One university' concept. You can take as many classes as you want from Penn's undergraduate and graduate schools irrespective of the school you are enrolled in. So while pursuing your CAS Econ degree, you can take as many Finance, Management, Marketing etc. classes from Wharton to enhance your resume as you like (and all of these are recorded on your transcript, and a certain no. even count toward your graduation)--I think that would hardly put an LSE Econ grad at an advantage when it comes to I-Banking. You can also submatriculate into the Law School (or any other graduate school) in your junior year if your GPA is good enough and you've taken the right combinations of classes.
4) I felt Penn would be an overall better experience. The faculty and departments at Penn are brilliant across the board. Also, Penn as with the rest of the Ivy League admits students on the basis of factors other than academic performance. LSE weighs heavily toward academics (predicted and actual grades+ personal statement). The result--the student body at Penn tends to be more accomplished outside the classroom and on the whole far more interesting. LSE makes offers to a lot of kids (whether or not they ultimately get the grades for the offer), Penn is more selective overall (I'm not referring to admit rate but the overall accomplishments of the students admitted).
I don't mean to bash LSE--it's a great school and was my second choice, and a lot of friends of mine study there. It's just a very very different experience from what you'd have at Penn and that's what you need to focus on when making your decision. When it comes to getting a job later, they'd both do just fine--in some places one may give you the edge and in other places the other might--but none outdoes the other 'by far'. And I second JohnnyK on London being expensive as HELL, esp. to go clubbing.</p>
<p>Some ppl in this thread are misinformed, but listen to snooker1! Since you're looking at Wharton and have already been accepted to the LSE, I have to assume that you're really focused on your career and that you prob want to go into IB after college? If IB is your ultimate goal, you can't go wrong with the LSE! But on the other hand, you can transfer internally to Wharton, which is mainly based on your GPA, so it's doable, too. Both schools would get you interviews at BB firms and from there on, it's up to you anyway. If you don't care about the college experience and just want a good job after graduation, then go for the LSE. Otherwise, choose Penn, because you'll have a better time there and LSE kids are a lot nerdier than Penn students!!! Btw, I'm in a similar situation as you and I'm gonna turn down the LSE, also for L101, to attend an Ivy college.</p>
<p>"LSE is known as IB feeder so if you want to go there, it will outrule UPenn Cas by far."</p>
<p>And Penn is not an IB feeder? People here seem to be misinformed as to how the On Campus Recruiting works. It is definitely not centered on Wharton, as so many might think. Rather, Wharton makes sure that every single major firm comes to Penn to recruit, but in the end quite a lot of CAS students go into banking, consulting, or similar fields - and it is not only economics majors, but people who chose to study english, history, architecture comparative literature and so forth.</p>
<p>If one wants to go IB, he should pick either the top school in NYC or Lodon. LSE locates in London. It is better pick LSE compared to U Penn. If one wants to work in IB in US, Columbia will be the better choice. Main reasons - Columbia is located in NYC like LSE is located in London.</p>
<p>Hey guys =) I talked this exact same thing with my counselor, and she told me that in her opinion it would be idea to go to penn for undergrad, and lse for grad</p>
<p>Overall, there is a huge difference between going to college in the US v. the UK. If you grew up in Europe having too many choices is not what we are used to in our HS system.If you are set on your goals being overwhelmed by choices might just throw you off your focus. I might just get into a situation soon where I will have to chose between an Ivy and an Oxbridge; not an easy decision because I love to study lots of different things but I am afraid that I will never get to the end of studying if I take too many different kinds of classes…</p>