At this point, it’s a little late to be asking… but how’s the workload for CBE majors at Penn? I’ve heard from those on other posts that Penn’s CBE program forces you to take up to 5 Core, Math/Science courses within a semester (which apparently “not even MIT” does). When I visited Cornell, which is also known to have one of the most rigorous engineering programs, the MechE students advised me to take 3- at most 4 core classes per semester, in order not to overstress myself or murder my GPA. I used to think that Penn offering concentrations within the major was a real plus, but maybe this is because most CBE majors are too overloaded with required classes that they have no space for even a minor (I’m guessing that a double or dual major is out of the question at this point).
My courseload in high school was meh.
Junior year - AP World History (lots of work for this class), AP Physics C, AP Calc AB
Senior year - AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Calc BC, AP Psych (easy), AP Lit (easy)
I don’t put in as much studying as I should. So I tend to feel that I only find classes particularly difficult and consuming because I wait until the last minute to do assignments or seek help. Given that in College, I’d have more free time that I’d just have to manage, is going to Penn for CBE still a good choice?
I enjoy challenging myself, but my family is putting A LOT of money into this decision, so the number one priority for me is putting myself in the best position for finding a job. What would y’all do? Anyone have a ballpark figure of how many hours of studying/homework they do per week/ day? Is it manageable as long as you manage you time?
CBE is definitely very challenging but I highly doubt it is gonna be way more challenging than Cornell or MIT. It is manageable as long as you are really focused. Cant really give you an average because it really varies from one person to the other, but It will take up most of your free time. My advice would be definitely do not procrastinate and seek help from early on. these are two key factors that will contribute to your success while at Penn. The good thing is that at Penn you can always switch to another engineering major very easily or even switch from SEAS to CAS, if after a semester or two you think CBE or engineering in general is too much for you to take.
@tina21 You can manage it, you just have to be on top of things as @penn95 says.
Things to consider:
- Most Penn SEAS students are very involved in multiple activities, but you have to know when you need to hole up and focus on classes. One good thing is that there are many engineers around you who are working just as hard as you are.
- Keep in mind is that class can vary substantially in how time consuming they are. DD had one project-based CS class was literally taking 25- 30 hours of effort per week by itself. Clearly, you can't take two classes like that in the same semester.
- Most Penn students had nearly perfect high school grades. Do not expect that you will keep a 4.0 gpa at Penn. The average is about 3.4, but that is in a class full of students like you, so the average grade is a lot lower and the competition is a lot tougher. Some students enjoy being in classes with peers for the first time, while others struggle to accept that they are not the best student in every class any more.
- Penn offers an amazing array of opportunities to its students. For most students, taking advantage of those opportunities and maintaining a decent gpa will pay off better than spending all of your time studying to defend a very high gpa, but failing to take advantage of the opportunities at your disposal.