How difficult is it to do a double concentration and a double minor?!

moizuhk · 07-05-2008, 02:32 PM

Well I got into Wharton and I wanted to know whether it would be possible to do a double concentration in Finance and Management and double minor in Actuarial Mathematics and Computer Science (CSCI) and maintain a very good GPA while doing so (3.8?)?
I really want to do all these courses and was wondering whether I could manage to do it in my four years at college? Does anyone know of people who have done similar stuff? It would be great to know of some examples. Thanks

broetchen · 07-05-2008, 02:43 PM

why? why? why?

Finance at Wharton will be hard enough, I don't think that the management concentration will add much value to the degree.

Correct me, if I am wrong, Whartonites.

moizuhk · 07-05-2008, 03:12 PM

well I am open to suggestion

But still i would want to know how hard it is to do what I am thinking of doing. Is finance at Wharton really that hard?

chocoman · 07-05-2008, 05:50 PM

You can do it, but you're going to have to sacrifice other things (late-night parties, extracurriculars maybe even time-consuming romantic relationships). Don't even think about pledging.

In other words, youre going to have a pretty boring 4 years.

legendofmax · 07-05-2008, 06:25 PM

You can do all that if you plan on not doing much else with your time at Penn.

tenebrousfire · 07-05-2008, 08:05 PM

why do you need to have the double concentration / double minor?

you could do the double concentration alone and dabble in the rest without having to complete all the minor requirements

Venkat89 · 07-05-2008, 08:44 PM

A double concentration isn't that bad. If you minor in Math it also isn't so bad (like 3 extra classes if you plan it right). Unless you want to be an actuary I wouldn't bother with the Actuarial minor.

You can make as many concentration/minor plans as you want right now, I guarantee it will all change in the next few semesters.

moizuhk · 07-06-2008, 01:39 AM

^exactly. I know I will change plans but I was thinking the same as chocoman and some other posters said. However, I think i am pretty bent on doing at least finance and that double minor.
There are a few more questions i have; could one easily learn two languages at Penn during the four years. I mean could I do a language as part of the language requirement and then do another (maybe pass/fail) as part of the General education distribution requirement?

Secondly, is it a bad idea to take Math 114 first semester?

Thanks guys

chocoman · 07-06-2008, 08:59 AM

I know several people who took 114 first semester. Some got A's, some got C's - depends on how good you are.

legendofmax · 07-06-2008, 10:08 AM

Nothing wrong with taking 114 freshman year. It's not a hard class if you are decent in math, but make sure to get a good teacher (DeTurck is great). Having a bad 114 teacher can put a big strain on things -- moreso than getting a bad teacher in some other class, in my opinion.

And I'd agree with what's been said so far. A double concentration is usually a nice goal and is also very feasible. If a minor has a lot of overlap, then all the better -- go for it. But don't overload yourself with a bunch of concentrations and minors for the sake of simply having them. You're better off focusing more heavily in a few concentrated areas (that's why they're called concentrations!), while dabbling in things you find interesting. There's no need to force yourself to fulfill so many requirements, and having an extra minor or two is not likely to give you any real advantage anyway. I'd argue that a double conc + minor is better than having only one conc + two minors, at any rate.

But yes you'll be changing your plans, at any rate. Just don't get too caught up in overloading on the minors :P

Venkat89 · 07-06-2008, 01:06 PM

I found this past year that the Math 114 professors were better second semester than they were first semester. If none of the professors have decent ratings on Penn Course Review for the fall I'd push it back to the spring and take some other classes in other requirements.

pineapplebananas · 07-06-2008, 06:04 PM

Vanerp isn't listed in the Penn Course Review for 114 for some reason, so I'd like to tell you that he is an amazing professor. He also taught 104 last Fall and if you look at his scores on PCR, then you'll see he outranked the next highest professor (DeTurck) by almost a full point (on a 1-4 scale). I think his classes also got the highest percentage of A's on the 104 and 114 finals (which is key in determining what curve you get within a class).