So Wharton has recently (during this academic year) changed up a few things. One of them (and the only way I found out was going to my academic advisor and from friends) was that you can now graduate with AT MOST 2 concentrations. I’ve known lots of people who have done 3+ concentrations and I think its dumb how Wharton is controlling what types of things we want to study. I spoke to my advisor and she said even if we were to take all the classes that fulfill three concentrations, we can’t put it on our diploma (we can only choose two of those).
What does everyone think of this change? Also- is it even legal for them to do that because when i got in, there was no such rule until THIS YEAR…???
Penn isn’t controlling what you study - you can still take the classes. They’re stopping people from chasing 3 concentrations and creating unnecessary work for the sake of it. Concentrations are meaningless regardless. lol yes of course it’s legal.
After having spoken with Penn professors on this very issue, it has been made apparent that while some Penn students can handle such a course load, they will often trade for other valuable skills one would learn while at college. That much work over 4 years also has significant mental impacts, whether you choose to believe it or not. This rule was made, rightfully so imp, to salvage a culture which has been bent on academia that students are suffering by trying to keep up with classmates.
I don’t see why they would have to put a restriction on this, instead of just telling students they shouldn’t do it. Why can’t someone pursue more than 2 concentrations because they just simply want to? And also, it not that much more classes- just 4 more (basically less than one more class a semester). And people dual degree all the time here too (which is way more work)
And in terms of controlling what we study- we are only allowed to take up to 7 CUs a semester (only if we are dual degree), so yes they are restricting how many classes we take. My point is- why can’t they see that some students can handle this workload (even with partying and stuff)
Yes. Their school - their rules. Some colleges, including mine, don’t even allow more than one concentration. It is what it is. But as noted, there is nothing to prevent one from doing the coursework. It’s not like 3 concentrations is going to make any employer swoon.
@BehindYou : Yes, it is legal. The real issue is whether or not it violates any contract between you & the university or school.
I just think it’s weird how there wasn’t some big announcement on this and how its not on the website… so potential students who are interested in this school doesn’t know the truth lol
@BehindYou even with the 7 CU limit per semester for dual degree students, it’s still possible to add a second concentration right? Just not a third?
If you took 7 CU per semester you can easily finish a triple concentration worth of classes, even without any credits coming in. I’m not aware of a single person who averaged 7CU per semester though (uncoordinated dual degrees added a half semester rather than torture themselves their entire time at Penn). This is a smart move by the administration and should marginally help improve the culture.
How is it a smart move if they are restricting classes to 5.5 CUs? You can only take up to 7 if you are dual degree btw. So if you weren’t dual degree, it might be pretty hard getting in three concentrations and if you did, you’d have to take lots of gen eds that double count.
Students here are smart and know their limits. We don’t need administration telling us how many classes we can/cant take.
Students at Wharton are frequently too ambitious for their own good. That aside, 5.5 has been the limit for years. You can petition for more if you have a valid reason why.
The administration obviously disagrees.
All students I know and talked to disagrees with administration…
Also as for petitioning, you can rarely get a bump in classes just saying from personal experience (I am a dual degree myself)