History Major at Penn?

45_Percenter
Mon, 07 Aug 2017 18:57:39 +0000

@Cue7, a Wharton student CANNOT major in History, or any other of the liberal arts fields housed in the College of Arts and Sciences. In fact, a Wharton student cannot even major in ECONOMICS, despite the name of the Wharton undergraduate degree (BS in Economics). Wharton undergrads USED to be able to major in Economics when that department was actually housed within the Wharton School (as were Political Science and Sociology, believe it or not), but those departments were moved from Wharton to what was then the Faculty of Arts and Sciences–now the School of Arts and Sciences–more than 40 years ago. And the ability of Wharton undergrads to major in Economics subsequently disappeared. In fact, Wharton undergrads don’t MAJOR in anything at all at this point, but rather have “concentrations” in Wharton departments (Management, Finance, etc.) that require significantly fewer courses than do “majors” in the College (typically only 4 courses required for a Wharton concentration, if memory serves, compared to the 8-10 or so required for a major in the College). So the only valid Penn undergrad population for comparison of numbers of liberal arts majors to those in undergrad liberal arts populations at other schools, is the 6400 undergrads in the College of Arts and Sciences. While Wharton undergrads can TAKE COURSES in liberal arts departments, they can’t MAJOR in those fields, unless they are pursuing dual degrees in both Wharton and the College. But the number of Wharton undergrads pursuing uncoordinated dual degrees in both Wharton and the College is so small as to be insignificant for this comparison.

I know you did graduate work at Penn, @Cue7, but with respect to your understanding of the undergraduate schools and curricula at Penn, I think this time you got a bit too far out over your skis.