Help with the most difficult transfer decision? (being a "do-gooder" at Penn v Brown)

Penn95
Tue, 26 May 2015 04:34:58 +0000

Many of the things you mention are true but one thing that isnt true is that Penn econ majors are overshadowed by Wharton students. This is not the case at all. First of all in terms if professionals outcomes yes many econ majors go i to business and are equally successful in doing so as wharton and engineering. The interest in business is just a big part of penn’s culture no matter what your major. That said if you look at the career services website you will see quite a few econ majors going on to non-business endeavors ( such as pursuing phds in many prestigious institutions such as Penn, Harvard, Yale, Oxford. I think saying that there is a huge social pressure to go into business is an exaggeration. Penn econ is one of the best econ departments in the world with many bright students and professors ( of course you are bound to find a few professors who are not amazing, but that is the case in all schools). Lastly what people fail to realize is that the presence of wharton supplements and does not overshadow other majors/courses of study and it is part of what makes Penn unique.

Also yes in general Penn kids are more focused, intense and have a clearer career goal than Brown kids. But trust me there are many people at Penn who dont know what they want theirs careers to be and want to explore. The Penn culture makes them explore stuff more methodically and practically than they would at Brown. Penn’s unique characteristic is that it is a combination if pre-professionalism and liberal arts nit just one or the other. The fact that penn offers more opportunities to explore through the many more clubs it has than Brown and overall stronger academic departments is a plus. Penn will give you a few more opportunities than Brown, but you cannot go wrong with either school.