<p>I have been fortunate enough to be admitted to the Wharton School of Business, and the University of Rochester. Cost is of no concern as I was awarded a full scholarship for both. I am completely torn between the two, I love the prestige of Wharton and the security that it will offer me in my career, however I am a liberal person coming from a small charter school and I am worried about the cut throat nature of Wharton and the large size. I am interested in studying economics, and I enjoy the freedom of that Rochester offers within the curriculum and the scholarly nature as opposed to Wharton's focus on business. I do also find the size of Rochester attractive. I am planning to get my MBA, and I feel that the smaller size of Rochester would allow me to be a big fish in a small pond, as opposed to being a small fish in a big pond at Penn.</p>
<p>Also, I am not sure what I want to do after graduation, a career in consulting sounds appealing to me.</p>
<p>I am in dire need of some advice, any more questions/details needed? Feel free to ask.</p>
<p>In my mind this should be an easy decision in favor of Wharton. The Wharton name carries so much weigh both within the US as well as internationally. It will help you immensely in getting that first job or in moving on to grad school. It is a credential you will have for the rest of your life. UR, while a fine school, just is not in the same class. </p>
<p>And remember, you are not just going to Wharton, but you will be a part of the greater Penn student body. When I went to Wharton (admittedly years ago), I had roommates that included an English major, a chem. major, a psych major, and an engineer along the way. I also managed to take a ton of amazing history classes (a passion of mine) and still fit in all the Wharton requirements.</p>
<p>But going to Wharton does help make the school feel smaller as you will have a number of classes in one building and you will see some faces over and over. I felt that going to Wharton and being a part of Penn was the best of all worlds.</p>
<p>Thank you Happy1, I just feel that maybe the curriculum is not as dynamic as I would like. I see a divide between taking the practical and business side of economics as Wharton/Upenn Vs. taking a more scholastic approach at Rochester. However, maybe I just have a biased opinion coming from a charter school</p>
<p>It sounds like you may have some misconceptions about Wharton, such as its purported “cut throat” nature (Wharton courses like Management 100 place great stress on teamwork and leadership), lack of scholarly focus (it has the largest, most published, and most cited business school faculty in the world, engaged in an amazing amount of scholarly research), and the doors it opens beyond the traditional business career paths (including graduate and professional school, nonprofit management, etc.).</p>
<p>And if you are interested in a career in consulting, you can’t beat the recruiting at Wharton.</p>
<p>45 Percenter: Thank you for the links I’ll go through them. I didn’t mean to pain an “ugly picture” of Wharton, I know it is a phenomenal school, as demonstrated by my interest. It just worries me because there does seem to be more of a focus on a career, than the scholastic aspects of education, which do indeed go hand in hand. I suppose the competitive nature of the school just intimidates me a little, however thank you for your post.</p>
<p>^ Also keep in mind that as a Wharton undergrad, you can take 40% of your courses in Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, which has lots of departments ranked among the top 10 (including Economics, History, English, etc.) or top 20 in the nation. You could even pursue dual degrees in both Wharton and the College (30% of Wharton undergrads earn dual degrees) or, if you find that Wharton is not for you, you could transfer into the College.</p>
<p>So you’d have lots of options at Penn/Wharton, all in academically eminent programs.</p>
<p>Wharton, hands down. I’m a fan of UR, but the education and the opportunity you will gain from wharton are huge. Don’t
Pass that up. And being part of Penn will give you a full college experience.</p>
<p>Full scholarship to Wharton? If it’s merit, it’s news to me. Anyway, if you go to Wharton, you won’t need MBA ever in your life. That means you’d save at least $300K ($150 MBA costs + two years worth of salaries; not to mention that going to UR and then MBA doesn’t guarantee you a spot at Wharton, since MBA admission relies heavily on work experience).</p>
<p>Great, if I were you, I’d go to Wharton. Otherwise you will ponder how can you save enough for MBA (since there won’t be any financial aid for MBA).</p>
<p>Pay particular attention to the Sample Schedule. The University of Rochester offers enough freedom in the curriculum to potentially double major in Business and anything else. If this kind of curricular freedom sounds appealing to you, take another look.</p>
<p>Through the KEY Program you can spend a 5th year tuition-free implementing a business plan. Give the U of R a call if you want to learn more. Best of luck with your decision, you have some great options!!!</p>