<p>Ok so lately I have been hearing how Wharton has cut throat competition and that its very competitive and all, but what does that mean exactly. I have always lived under the premise that you simply do the best you can and that's all thats required, I mean sure now the other kids at college are all smart, but for some reason I fail to see the competitiveness with something like academics. Its not me against my fellow classmates, but me against the subject material to be learned right? Does this competitive notion stem from the infamous curve or what?</p>
<p>it mainly stems from the curve…most people coming into penn are used to being top of their h.s. classes, etc. because of the curve in a lot of classes it can be pretty difficult to actually get a A even if you work really hard and study, etc. When you get 46/50 questions right on a test and end up getting a B- or a C+ it can be really demoralizing which fuels the competition meaning sometimes people won’t want to collaborate on learning the material (i.e. people won’t be willing to help you if you don’t understand something), etc. because they fear that you if they help you then you may do better than then and they’ll get screwed by the curve. In all reality though it’s not as bad at people sometimes make it out to be. Additionally, you’ll come to notice that although people come in freshman year with varying ideas of what they want to do after graduation the vast majority of people get sucked into the concept that if you don’t do investment banking, PE/VC/HF, or management consulting then you are a failure which drives most of the people in your class to try and go after these jobs. During recruiting things can get competitive in that people are all looking at the exact same job opps, etc.</p>
<p>My friend, who is currently a junior at Penn’s Engineering school, said that he hates taking classes at Wharton because there is a massive ‘down curve’ (apparently when everyone gets an A on something, the kid who got a 94 as opposed to a 95 would get a B). When I asked why don’t they make the exams harder rather than down curving, he said they’ve tried but the students still ace them. However, he did not say anything about the cut throat behavior of students there.</p>