<p>^ To follow up on that, Wharton and Penn continue to invest significant resources to ensure that Wharton is known for much more than just its placement in IB and consulting, for example:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> Wharton Public Policy Initiative](<a href=“http://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/]Penn”>http://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/)</p>
<p>In fact, the IB/consulting obsession is a relatively recent phenomenon in Wharton’s storied 133-year history. When I was a Wharton undergrad in the 1970s, about a third of Wharton undergrads went straight to law school, and many others went into large manufacturing and retail corporations, national accounting firms (before they were so associated with management consulting), marketing firms, and a wide variety of other business and government enterprises. Indeed, the prominent Wharton alumni often cited at the time were people like Reginald Jones (CEO of GE), William Paley (CEO of CBS), Robert Dunlop (CEO of Sun Oil Company), Walter Annenberg (CEO of Triangle Publications), William Brennan (US Supreme Court Justice), etc.</p>
<p>Of course, there were Wharton undergrads who went into the financial sector–including Wall Street investment banks, etc.–and management consulting, but it just didn’t dominate the Wharton ethos and image like it apparently does among many folks today. I guess we can thank the go-go financial craziness of the 1980s and 1990s for the current obsession, such as it is. But those of us with a longer view–and deeper knowledge–of Wharton realize that it’s MUCH more than simply a feeder into elite IB and consulting jobs, with top-ranked departments of Management, Marketing, Real Estate, Accounting, Entrepreneurship, etc. in addition to its top-ranked Finance department, and it always has been much more.</p>