Hey–I’m new to CC so please let me know if I make any mistakes.
I recently got accepted to the Wharton School at UPenn, which has been my dream school for years. However, after reading more about the school’s student life, I’m starting to wonder whether it’s the best fit. Obviously, Wharton has a reputation of being especially “cutthroat,” but I was wondering whether there’s truth behind this stereotype. I’m largely concerned that attending Wharton will force me down a hypercompetitive pre-professional path rather than still having access to the traditional college experience where I could experiment with different areas of study, build strong relationships with the people around me, and genuinely enjoy my undergrad years. Hearing from current or recent Wharton students would be especially helpful.
I understand that it’s this competitive, pre-professional spirit that makes Wharton such a well-respected program and that this question is very vague. I’m just especially interested in what the undergrad experience is like at Wharton, especially for those not gunning for an investment banking job.
Thanks!
Within the past year or so, UPenn made the news with respect to stress. (The very experienced head of the counseling dept. committed suicide several years after making a career move to Penn from Cornell where he was for many years. The article addressed student stress.).
I know several Wharton grads & parents of Wharton grads. All are very successful. The issue of stress was never raised, but the competition among Wharton students for finance positions is intense.
Awareness of the issue is half the battle. Exercise daily. Eat healthy food. Understand & appreciate that you are among the best & competing for the most sought after finance positions on Wall Street.
The good news is that Wharton grads are highly sought after & recruited. Just stay healthy & do your best. There are a lot of ways to be successful with a Wharton degree.
If uncomfortable with the results of your research about Wharton and stress, then what are your other options ?
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Those are important things to consider, thanks! Besides Penn, I’m fortunate to have Georgetown, Dartmouth, and Cornell as my other options. Close to Wharton, I’ve been considering Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service as a second option. I understand that these other schools have their own individual problems and even share problems regarding a “stress culture” and mental health. But in comparing the schools, it seems silly for me to pass up on the opportunities that come with Penn and specifically Wharton. All of these schools will be competitive and stressful in their own ways, but I was just concerned that Wharton would be especially so to the point of detracting from students’ college experiences.
I would not be concerned with Wharton’s atmosphere. Yes, Wharton will be tough, but it is also an incredible opportunity. There is a reason Wharton is rated the #1 undergrad business program by every major ranking system and that’s because it has great programs in addition to great classes/professors. Wharton has undergrad research opportunities, entreprenuership programs / grants, international programs, and everything else. As much as Wharton may be difficult, it is not cutthroat. People say Stern is much more cutthroat, but the fact is Stern students support eachother and have fun… they just work hard too. The same goes for Wharton.
Wharton also requires more than half of all credits to be taken outside of Wharton, meaning many, many courses in the areas that you like to study. Since you are strongly considering SFS, you must be strongly interested in international studies. Penn recently built an entirely new building called the Perelman Center for International Relations and Economics, so you know Penn is investing heavily into those areas as well, so you will not be limited academically. I took an International Relations summer course in that building last summer, and enjoyed both the building and my class.
The Wharton name serves you beyond your first job as well, and most Wharton students do not return for an MBA because they frankly don’t need it. They have the alumni network and prestigious name already. I think it is easy to focus on the difficulty of a school, but a school is so much more than that. I was rejected from Wharton, but I was accepted into Stern, and when I applied I was totally scared of going, but when I talked with students I realized that Stern is just a place where a lot of people aim high and work hard, and you also are immersed into that culture. You are still going to meet very friendly people and do interesting things. The same goes for Wharton.
Hey, first of all, congrats on getting into some amazing schools! I’m a Penn/Wharton freshman right now and I had exactly the same worries as you. I’m not super cutthroat or intense and I was reading all about the stress culture and the cutthroat competitiveness at Wharton, but I ultimately decided to attend because I knew it was an amazing opportunity. When I got to campus and started getting to know people, I cannot tell you how wrong my assumptions were. This year I have met some of the most genuinely nice and caring people I have ever known in Wharton. Are there some hyper-competitive people? For sure, but the vast majority are not. People are very driven and ambitious at Wharton, and at times that can easily be mistaken as competitiveness. For me it’s been inspiring seeing students who you know one day are going to do great things and lead great companies.
At Penn, a lot of people find community in their clubs and I personally did as well. Some of the finance and consulting clubs are very selective to get into, but in the end, most people find a group that they really enjoy being part of.
Wharton is intense at times and definitely pushes you, but I’ve found it to be incredibly rewarding and an overall amazing experience. At any of the schools of the caliber you listed, people are going to be somewhat competitive because that’s just the nature of people who are admitted, but what you’ll realize is that it’s mostly competition with yourself and you just have to find the friends who push you, but also are caring and supportive too.
Hope that helps, and hope to see you on campus next year!
Also, to address your question about the pre-professional nature of the school. Yes, it is pre-professional and a lot of my upperclassmen are going the finance/consulting route. For me personally, I’m not completely sure what I want to do, and I have definitely been able to explore my interests across the university. As a Wharton student, 40% of your classes will be taken in one of Penn’s other schools and personally, I’ve taken classes on foreign policy, urban education, and urban development so far (I’m planning on doing a Poli sci minor). So if you wanted to explore other areas (like I did), there’s definitely room to do that.
The way I feel about my time so far here is that I’ve been able to learn a lot in many really interesting classes, but being grounded in business gives me a framework to be able to apply those skills in more practical way.