<p>pearlygate, that was hilarious. not only the wharton section. i loved the eye of sauron.</p>
<p>by the way about the whole telling people about Penn vs. just telling them about Wharton. I recently got accepted to Penn. When i told my extended family here in India, they were like whats that? but once i said that Wharton is a part of Penn, they were like, "Oh! Wharton! yeah ive heard of that."</p>
<p>If you are into business you want to tell peopleof the prestige of your school business wise, because in the business world, and those somewhat related to it, wharton has a stronger name than penn. Also, everyone hates people confusing penn with penn state so I say Wharton school at UPenn even though i know it's not the standard abbrev.</p>
<p>My dad says "I went to Wharton" instead of claiming that he went to Penn.</p>
<p>But, even more importantly, he NEVER says he went to "UPenn," and corrects people when they place the U in front of it instead of just saying Penn.</p>
<p>I know its wrong and i say penn to those who know what the school is (because it's right and easier to say), but to those who dont i initially say upenn and then say it the right way. I dont know if you guys do that.</p>
<p>My dad is a Wharton MBA and a Penn PhD, so he says both. Apparently the MBA degree says "The Wharton School" and has nothing to do with Penn. My dad may not correct people about saying "UPenn" instead of "Penn" but every time I hear "UPenn," especially from my mom, it makes me cringe for some reason.</p>
<p>penn sounds a lot nicer and smoother, upenn sounds kind of blunt for some reason</p>
<p>
[quote]
Apparently the MBA degree says "The Wharton School" and has nothing to do with Penn.
[/quote]
I'm pretty sure that all Penn diplomas, regardless of school, say "Universitas Pennsylvaniensis" (they're completely in Latin, by the way) and do not further identify the particular school within Penn. But if your dad's MBA diploma is otherwise, let us know!</p>
<p>^It is otherwise. He says he got another degree in Latin from Penn, but he has his own Wharton School MBA degree.</p>
<p>^That may be, but I find it hard to believe that the official Wharton MBA diploma does not say "University of Pennsylvania" anywhere on it, since it is Penn, and not Wharton, that is the official issuing authority. Then again, maybe your dad's diploma is "special". :D</p>
<p>^FYI, here's what the official Wharton MBA diploma looks like (ignore "University of Pennsylvania" and "The Wharton School" on the bottom of the matting):</p>
<p>All official Penn diplomas look pretty much the same, except for the degree indicated.</p>
<p>FYI - UPenn's Nursing School has the same kind of reputation that Wharton has - if you are a UPenn Nurse it really means something!</p>
<p>Guess my dad remembers wrong. O well. He did get it 25 years ago so you can't expect him to remember this stuff.</p>
<p>I got mine 30 years ago (with a subsequent law degree from another university), but I still remember what it looks like. I just can't remember where the heck it is!</p>
<p>Actually, I also think think all current diplomas do not have the word "Wharton School" written on them. Even MBA diplomas do not have the word "Wharton" written on them.</p>
<p>Older diplomas might be different.</p>
<p>All I asked my dad was "do you tell people you went to Wharton or Penn?" He said he tells people both because he has a degree from both. I then asked if his MBA says Penn on it, and he said that it says Wharton. I blame his memory. Maybe I should have him checked for Alzheimer's.</p>
<p>All Penn diplomas look the same and they have looked the same forever - they're written in Latin! They must come from the time when having a university education meant that you studied the classics in the original Greek and Latin.</p>
<p>The only difference between diplomas (beside your name) is the name of the degree that you are awarded. Even doctoral diplomas, MBAs, etc. all look the same. This is as it should be because it's all one university. I guess MBAs are somewhat isolated and take almost all courses from Wharton and so don't identify with Penn as a whole (thus your father's faulty memory) , but undergrads are all "Penn students". </p>
<p>Undergrad Wharton gets "Bachelor of Science in Economics" (no matter what your major is) and College gets "Bachelor of Arts" even if you are a science or economics major. Go figure.</p>
<p>Yes, there is no school information on the diplomas, only the university name and the degree to distinguish what you studied.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I say that I went to Penn and if people ask what I studied I say "business." If they know Wharton is the business school, then they might say something. Otherwise, I don't say Wharton. </p>
<p>I think it's different if you are talking to fellow Penn people, because internally we all distinguish between the 4 schools. And that's not a bad thing - each school just has it's own curriculum and it makes sense internally.</p>
<p>I think it's also different when Wharton grads are talking to fellow business people because they are more likely to know what Wharton is. </p>
<p>But really I don't think of this whole topic as a big issue. It gets overhyped all the time.</p>
<p>WhartonAdvisor let's eat dinner</p>
<p>Besides business people, I think it's easier to tell the average person on the street that you go to Wharton because there's some chance of recognition, especially since Trump started touting the place. If you say "Penn" then you have to have the whole long discussion as to whether you mean "Penn State", how Joe Paterno is a great coach, etc.</p>
<p>I read today that for a short time 200+ years ago, Penn was called "The University of the State of Pennsylvania" and was a state college. So as confusing as it is now, it could have been even worse. </p>
<p>Every once in a while you hear a suggestion to call the whole place "Wharton University" or "Franklin University". Princeton was called "The College of New Jersey" until 1896. The best thing would be for someone to give the school a zillion $ and then rename it in his honor - Gates University, anyone? This is how Stanford, Duke, etc. got their names.</p>