USC or Penn (oh but there is a twist)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I am a junior right now, but decided to go to college a year early, skipping senior year. I got this idea because USC has a program called the Resident Honors Program which is for juniors like me who want to go a year early. So after I heard about that program I decided to apply, and proceeded to try my luck elsewhere, namely hte University of Pennsylvania, Stanford and WashU in St. Louis. WashU waitlisted me, but to my surprise, the College @ Penn decided to take me! </p>

<p>now I am completely torn. I am wondering, as far as academics, would it be a better idea to go to Penn, where I will not be as strong of a student, but receive an "ivy education" or go to USC where I probably can get into their Thematic Options and possibly even (fingers crossed, knock on wood...) the Freshman Science Honors Program, and might have more oppurtunities for UG research/internships as I will be closer to the top.</p>

<p>I intend to, should i go to Penn, dual degree in Internation Business, and then something Bio-ish, like Neuroscience or whatnot. At USC, same thing, International Relations w/ an emphasis on Business and then Neuroscience or other bio-related field.</p>

<p>Of course, I want to go to a decent grad school, and I am also wondering if, when it comes to that, would a mediocre performance at Penn, or a strong performance at USC, carry more weight?</p>

<p>Socially, USC and UPenn, I am sure, both are filled with amazing, friendly people. In that aspect, I am not very worried. However, as a Junior, I do fear that I will have trouble adjusting, as even Seniors do. At USC, I will be part of the Resident Honors Program, so will have support from peers. At Penn, it might be quite lonely....</p>

<p>Please give me your opinion on where I should go, or point out flaws in my reasoning. thank you</p>

2

<p>Well, Penn is just so much more highly regarded/ranked whatever, but you are right and wise to look at your chances of success. dd was sent an invite to apply to that USC early program, and was tempted(!) but her HS school is pretty special and there was no dead end situation, like she had maxed out all opportunities. </p>

<p>Are you sure you can study Int'l business at Penn or do you need a separate admission to Warton? or did you get into Wharton?</p>

<p>I'd contact the admissions office at Penn to ask if there is any support for ppl in your situation. They may also let you defer your admission for a year, so you might like to think of that, and if you can take classes that will prepare you to succeed at Penn (I'm thinking as much writing classes and AP science as possible.)</p>

3

<p>You could possibly pass as being a freshmen at Penn, right? No one has to know.
Why do you think your not ready for UPenn? They accepted you thinking you are, academically, at the same level as other applicants accepted</p>

4

<p>to bettina,
yes, the things is, i did max out both science AND math at my high school (calc bc + chem ap as soph, bio ap + physics ap now as junior) and my real passion is in science... plus my administration is a bit frustrating when it comes to dual enrolling at local colleges for night classes and stuff, its just easier and more practical for me to get out
and after talking to some ppl @ penn, i think that i can apply for a dual degree, without totally transferring to wharton. its suppose to be very easy as long as you have teh gpa
i think that there are other "young'uns" like me at penn, since hte girl i talked to knew one of them (he skipped TWO years... wow?) but at USC there's just more of a community...
thank you for ur comments =)</p>

<p>to faxanadue
i could, but i dont think i am ready for penn academically. i kind of am scared of being a tiny fish in the open sea. and the caliber of competiion, curves... etc. really DO intimidate me.</p>

5

<p>Go Penn. If you want to be the smartest person at your college, why spend $40,000 a year at USC, just go to a community college.</p>

6

<p>I'd say go to USC!</p>

7

<p>penn definitely. if u were accepted u will definitely be ready. besides, i dont htink senior year made me much smartert...i actually just had basically 7 months of senioritis and doing nothing =P basically just hanging out with ur friends. penn is the wise choice - i think u would be fine academically</p>

8

<p>There is no such thing as an International Business major at Wharton. There is a second concentration option (you need to do a major such as finance/management/etc in order to get this option) known as global analysis. All you need to get this concentration is take 3 classes with an international focus, a business language course (i.e. business spanish, etc.), and do a semester abroad. </p>

<p>Since you got into the college you need to apply for a dual degree with wharton. The minimum GPA is 3.4 to apply, to be competitive and have a chance you need 3.7+. This is no easy task. </p>

<p>If you really want to do this then you'd be doing your B.S. in the college and the B.S.E. in wharton with 2 concentrations. So technically you'd have to do 3 majors (your science, your 1st wharton, and then global analysis). This would take at least 5 years if you don't have a significant amount of AP credit (you'd probably need like 5 that counted in order to not have to stay an extra year- penn is pretty strict with AP scores, practically need all 5s).</p>

<p>My Suggestion(s): Since you've exhausted your options in h.s. you are definitely a smart kid. So my guess is you can handle the academics at Penn. What you can do if you want to do international business and a science is do a double major in the college in your science and international relations. For an IR major you need to take lots of classes with international focus. This includes classes in wharton with an international focus. So you could major in your science of choice, and IR but for IR you could take mostly wharton classes (international finance, international banking, multinational corporate management, etc.). The only difference here is that you would not graduate with 2 degrees. You'd graduate with 1 degree and two majors - plus you wouldn't get a very well recognized wharton degree that is to say if you want to go into the business world (very well recognized in the business world - best UG business program). </p>

<p>Personally I think you'd do very well at both schools. I am biased towards penn of course so I think that you should come here. The academics are amazing, the people are really nice, the faculty is great, the social life is vibrant, and lastly it is academically much more prestigious than USC. I would however go to USC if I were offered a full scholarship. </p>

<p>Don't worry I think you're ready for penn. If you want however, you can defer a year (they allow you to do that) and take classes at possibly your state college or a community college to further prepare yourself. I still think you're ready though.</p>

<p>GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully you'll be here at Penn next year!</p>

9

<p>i dont know... its hard to pass up penn, but my parents point out that a lot of their co-workers' kids who are at ivies (after coming from california) feel kind of lonely there and even advise their younger siblings to go somewhere else. i would suggest you to call up penn to see if there's some special support system for you. if you're doubting your maturity level and academic-caliber, then penn isnt the place to be for now... even for a high school senior, if they sense they aren't ready for a certain college for whatever reason, its better not to go (i know a friend who got accepted to Berkeley but knew he wasnt on par academically, went to UCSD instead and enjoys it). the bottomline is, if youre not going to enjoy college or if youre suffering, then why put yourself through it? i know its hard to turn down prestige, but im all about personal "fit," so if i were in your situation, i'd choose USC. but seeing how you are a very talented person, im sure you'll be quite successful wherever you go or whatever you do after undergrad at USC. but then again, perhaps you can adapt to penn and can do well academically too. although i suspect if u do really well at USC, you might have a better shot at grad schools, as USC's undergrad quality is rapidly rising and should be respected (although definately not at penn's level) by the time u graduate. </p>

<p>in response to what faxanadue said, yes, colleges accept students who they think are capable of doing well in their college, but theyre not always accurate. they could overgauge someone's ability. that's why there's dropout rates (even if its really small) at almost every college, or some people transfer elsewhere. some kids can feel that they arent academically on par with the school they get into and would rather not go to it, even if its more prestigious or ranked higher. im not saying the b<em>muse</em>d is necessarily one of these, but its a possibility and we cant blindly say go to penn simply cuz its way better than USC.</p>

10

<p>I would go to Penn, the age thing shouldn't be too much of an issue (its only a year) and business isn't med or law school. In Business, the college name brand will matter a LOT more.</p>

11

<p>Penn is so much of a better school. If you don't feel ready now, defer. What a waste to go to a college because you think it will be easy! Don't rush through high school, there are lots of options. Volunteer abroad, or if your parents can afford it do a PG year at a great school with tons of APs. When you look back on it, saving a year and going to a lesser college will feel silly.</p>

<p>As for kids from California having trouble on the other coast, please!!!! My high school in MA is filled with 14 year olds from CA who are happy and well adjusted!!!</p>

12

<p>I'd give UPenn a try. Many kids are skipping senior year HS. My S found he wasn't so muxch younger than many at college, who had skipped a grade early on. (And he's on opposite coast)
Penn will ofer many opportunities to sample different fields. I thnk you are scared of the prospect of not being one of smartest, but to be accepted as a junior shows how highly they think of you. College is the time to be with other bright kids, to sit around and have depth in conversations,
good luck to you</p>

13

<p>Well I would say Penn but from what you said in trying to get a dual degree, for the dual degree programs at Penn there is usually special admission that's tougher than usual. Example: huntsman, jerome t. fisher, etc.</p>

<p>If it's possible to do, go to Penn. I'm not really sure how that would work though.</p>

14

<p>I have a few friends here at USC that did the Resident Honors Program, and skipped their senior year. They are both very happy and fit in perfectly. They are also really intelligent.</p>

<p>Don't think that just because USC isn't as highly regarded, that it isn't a great school filled with smart, hardworking people, where you will have a wonderful time, and, yes, a lot of competition for being the best. You won't automatically be the smartest, just because USC isn't ranked as high. </p>

<p>Two of my roommates are IR majors, and love it. One just got a really good job for when she graduates this May, and the other is only a junior, but enjoys the major- minus the 20-page paper she had due the other day. :)</p>

<p>I think either way, you can't go wrong. Both are amazing schools, and while I only know for sure that USC has great, friendly students, I'm sure you will be fine at Penn, too.</p>

15

<p>i visited USC and i loved it. only other school i liked that much is Umiami. but penn is more prestigious, so ide sugegst you go there.</p>

16

<p>There is a dual-degree program in international business at Penn; however, you have to apply to it when you do the application for Penn, since it does not allow students to matriculate into the program after they enroll. Though bern is right in that dual degree programs are much more selective, accepting around 50 ppl per year.<br>
For you issue, deferrment might be the best choice. Then again, USC is not a community college, and is certainly not a bad school, even though not up to par with Penn. Really depends, I guess.<br>
If you really are sure about international business, keep in mind that most business majors don't go to graduate school. Instead, they work immeidately after undergrad for a few years for experience, and then go back to get a MBA. In this case, Penn would give you more opportunities for job offers, BUT you were accepted to the College, and you would have to transfer to Wharton for business, which, beacuse of its demand, is very hard to transfer into (think: college GPA of at least 3.6; the previous year, it was around 3.8 -> hard to pull off!). If you feel that you are not ready for Penn, you might want to take some time off.<br>
Think about it. :)</p>

17

<p>First let me clear a few things up...there has a been a lot of bad info posted on this thread.</p>

<p>At Penn there are JOINT-DEGREE PROGRAMS (Huntsman, M&T, Nursing/Wharton, etc.). These you are only allowed to apply as a senior in h.s. They take about 50 people from the 700 or so that apply. M&T allows you to apply after freshman year too but you need like a 3.95, 2 prof recs, etc. btw, Huntsman is not a program in IR/Business it is a program in International Studies/Business. IR is different from IS in that IR studies more poly sci/econ while IS is more of the culture of a country/area. These JOINT degree programs cut some of the requirements and can be finished easily in 4 years (nursing 5).</p>

<p>There are also DUAL-DEGREE PROGRAMS. These you apply to once you're at penn after the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th semester. You can apply for anything major. To do a DUAL degree you need to apply to the specific school. From wharton to get into the college you need like a 3.0, from the college to wharton you need like 3.7+. These programs don't cut any requirements so unless you have some AP credit/overload on classes each semester/take summer school. You won't finish in 4 years.</p>

18

<p>Lol, my mistake. I get the two mixed up sometimes. :P</p>

19

<p>I'd go to USC.</p>

20

<p>Hey, I've also been accepted to RHP. The more I read about USC, the more I want to go. Since I'm in the same place as you, I can't offer much advice, but I do think that you will have plenty of opportunity to challenge yourself at USC. Thematic Option is supposedly very rigorous and respected, yet still enjoyable.</p>

<p>What do you know about the Freshman Science Honors Program? I haven't heard much about it.</p>