<p>I had this same decision last year and ended up choosing Wharton because:</p>
<ol>
<li>I just felt more comfortable on Penn's campus than Yale's</li>
<li>Although New Haven is improving (thanks to billions from Yale), it still cannot compare to Philadelphia. This past Saturday, I was 52 stories above ground (at the Mellon Bank Center) for a banquet. It was insane. Could you get that in New Haven?</li>
<li>If you want to do business, you can't do better than Wharton.</li>
</ol>
<p>I recommend that you go to Bulldog Days / Penn Previews. Be careful though, Yale throws some crazy parties on Bulldog Days and there are rumors that the University subsidizes some of it...</p>
<p>If you have any specific questions, let me know.</p>
<p>Yale is cool and all but eh, Penn is cooler.</p>
<p>I would easily pick Yale. </p>
<p>Remember you are picking an institution. Yale is considered a top 5 university.</p>
<p>Nobody, I mean nobody believes Penn deserves its number 4 ranking in USnews.</p>
<p>Your entire Yale community will be more amazing, more diverse in interests than your Penn community.</p>
<p>Choosing Penn over HYPS, even if for Wharton, is missing out big time.</p>
<p>Most people consider Penn to be at the bottom of the Ivy League with Cornell. They both have the highest acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Yale is considered at the top with Harvard and Princeton.</p>
<p>DiamondT, your generalizations on the diversity and 'amazing-ness' of the student bodies at Penn are absurd.</p>
<p>Even when the rest of Penn was indeed crap, Wharton was always considered on par with HYPS.</p>
<p>Penn is considered bottom of the Ivy League only by people who have been living under a rock for the last decade. The last decade has seen great change and progress at Penn and it is regarded very highly by anyone in the know--clearly you are not one of those people.</p>
<p>I believe I speak for many when I say I believe most business institutions give equal or higher regard for a Wharton degree than a Yale degree.</p>
<p>First, I have to point out that Donald Trump went to Wharton for grad school which is COMPLETELY different in terms of career prospects and prestige. </p>
<p>I have always been unable to see the point in attending Wharton for undergrad if one has any intentions of getting an MBA. While it might be suitable for those who want to go into aspects of business that don't require an MBA, the lack of a graduate degree would be a serious hindrance to those who want to reach the highest echelons of the business world (I do not buy the argument that Wharton undergrad negates the need for an MBA, because someone with a BA AND an MBA from decent schools would ALWAYS be more desirable on paper than someone with a BS in finance or whatever the Wharton undergrad degree is). I don't see anything in the Wharton curriculum that wouldn't be rehashed more in depth in an MBA setting, not to mention the fact that, at its heart, business is not really a subject that can be taught in any effective way in an academic setting (what can be taught can be mostly covered in the context of getting an MBA). IMO, an undergraduate education (for those who plan to go to business school) is best spent learning something that you might never get the chance to study in depth again (like literature, history, physics, etc.). While it's sensible to take some basic econ/stats/finance courses, they shouldn't dominate your time. You would be much better served by going to Yale and learning something different from what you are going to do with the rest of your life. There is no way that anyone could argue that passing up a Wharton undergrad degree in favor of a Yale degree could hurt you in future job prospects. Yes some people might site stats about how Wharton grads are earning way more than Yale grads shortly after college, but when you take into account that a far higher percentage of Wharton grads choose to go into lucrative fields right after college whereas Yale grads might be going to grad school, teaching jobs, law school, med school, etc. that advantage doesn't really amount to much. </p>
<p>The point is, that most people will want to eventually get an MBA, and Wharton does not offer any advantage towards getting an MBA that a Yale education couldn't provide (obviously one would have to take a few econ classes or whatever at Yale, but otherwise they would be fine). Unless Wharton is giving you a lot more money/you really can't stand New Haven/you want a slightly more typical college-life experience (Yale is great, but after visiting my friend at Penn, I realized that it has a decidedly different feel that I hadn't noticed in my two years here), there is no reason to pass up Yale.</p>
<p>i think this conversation is pretty ridiculous...u should be listening to ppl like thinkjose and whartonalum who actually go to the school or are alums of the school when discussing what wharton is and isn't. most of you guys have no idea what the job markets are like for any of the positions so i don't think its very useful to comment....i'm a wharton soph. and i'm still getting new knowledge on the benefits of wharton in terms of jobs, so i find it hard to believe that high school students know more about the benefits of a yale degree over a wharton degree. also, wharton offers a liberal arts education mixed with a business education. i think wharton is a pretty amazing place to be and there is always something new and innovative going on at Penn. I agree with thinkjose...go to the preview days and decide from that. good luck in your decision...i'm sure that if you go with your feeling after seeing both schools...you will make the best choice.</p>
<p>All I know is, I probably made the right choice coming to Penn. I know that I wouldn't be "stronger" going to Yale, or "stronger" going to Penn, since I am the same person. You can't lose either way.</p>
<p>"First, I have to point out that Donald Trump went to Wharton for grad school which is COMPLETELY different in terms of career prospects and prestige." ~FALSE~</p>
<p>Donald Trump did get his bachelors degree from Wharton. He went to Fordham University for two years and then transferred over to Wharton. In "Art of the Deal" Trump says, "I began by attending Fordham University...but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in." </p>
<p>Get your facts straight...</p>
<p>I always thinks it's so funny when people proclaim to know (or that other high school students know) that they want to get an MBA.</p>
<p>It's not the same as saying I want to go to law school or medical school, whose degrees are REQUIRED for you to practice in that field. You have no clue what will happen while you are in college or once you graduate - these 4 years can completely change you and it's ridiculous to make those kinds of assertions.</p>
<p>But if you are fanatical about getting an MBA, why waste 2 years worth of time and money on an MBA when you can get the same caliber education (taking the same classes as MBAs) as an undergrad while you BLEND that with liberal arts? Instead of spending 2 years back in school learning everything Wharton undergrads learn, you might as well continue working, making money, and advancing your career. That's why our alums don't go back for MBAs.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your insightful advice...I have visited both a few times already, and I am planning on going to the Penn Preview in the next few weeks, as well as the Bulldog Days later...All I can say is; this is going to be a stressful month!</p>
<p>I have a 3.5 GPA ... What are my posibilities to enter U Penn
Wharton?</p>
<p>You might stand a chance with near-perfect SAT and stellar ECs and similarly stellar recommendations.</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation...among others, I turned down Harvard for Wharton. I actually narrowed it down pretty quickly to Wharton and MIT. Harvard doesn't have an undergrad business school, which means that you'll end up having to get your MBA. At Wharton, it'll be up to you. Plus, you'll be at the top when you get a job. You'' be ahead of everyone else because you'll already know a ton; this is only anecdotal evidence, but I've heard the same deal from so many Wharton grads, including my brother.</p>
<p>Penn has the highest acceptance rate (along with Cornell) in the Ivies because Penn has more programs than any school in the Ivies. That's just common sense. If Penn only had a few like the others, trust me, our acceptance rates WOULD NOT be 17+%..</p>
<p>Finance=Success=Wharton.....it's that simple</p>