I plan on applying to Early Decision at Upenn, but I’m torn on whether I should apply finance to at Wharton or Economics at UPenn in the college of arts and sciences. I want to be an investment banker as my future job, and I know that Wharton’s program is more geared towards those kinds of disciplines, but I heard Wharton’s admissions are more difficult than UPenn’s. I also heard that transferring to Wharton from CAS is a pretty arduous process that is not worthwhile. I was considering applying to the CAS at UPenn, but I’m worried that the CAS will not be as good as Wharton’s program for what I want to do. I don’t consider myself a particularly outstanding student, but I think my GPA and academics are enough to compete with other applicants to UPenn. Is Wharton’s finance more difficult to get into compared to Economics @ CAS for UPenn, and if so, how much easier is it to get into CAS compared to Wharton?
Someone I know decided to apply to UPenn for Economics using this logic and got deferred/rejected anyway. He wound up another top school that was a better fit. Based on this, my advice is go big or go somewhere else that will help you pursue your career goals.
Econ at CAS, especially mathematical econ, is quite rigorous. Recruiters know this. The big firms recruit heavily from both CAS and Wharton and they host info sessions that are open to all Penn students. Wharton has consulting clubs, which are competitive, and those do provide additional networking opportunities.
Consulting and financial services are the industries where the great majority of Wharton grads get their first jobs. That should be no surprise, given the pre-professional orientation of that school. But more than 40% of CAS grads also go into those industries right after Penn, and CAS students have a more diverse range of career interests, which means the rest end up in non-profits, journalism, education, etc.
My sense is CAS students who want to go into business do get recruited. For that matter, many Wharton students will find themselves in a first job working alongside other early-in-career types who were not undergraduate business majors. After all, financial and consulting firms also recruit from places that do not offer an undergraduate business major.
You are going to have to answer a supplemental essay to describe why you chose to apply to a particular school at Penn. Penn wants to know what it is about a liberal arts education (CAS) or a business education (Wharton) that appeals to you and why you think you can contribute to the Penn community through that choice. I would not fake it. If Wharton is what you want, go for it. If the rest of your application screams “investment banker” and you don’t apply to Wharton, it will raise questions (unless, of course, you can effectively articulate why the liberal arts would make you the kind of investment banker you want to be).
Do not assume, however, that CAS will be an easy admit. You do indeed need to be an “outstanding student” to get into any school at Penn, full stop. You might want to start a “chance me” thread so you can get advice on your prospects for Penn and all the schools on your list.
