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I have heard from a couple people that the students at Wharton are generally very focused on their futures and they have everything planned out. This characteristic coupled with the infamous curve supposedly leads to backstabbing and competitiveness that sacrifice friendship and collaborative efforts in favor of personal success. Can any Wharton students or Penn students who know Wharton kids comment on this stigma? When I visited Yale, the students to whom I spoke really liked the fact that their classes weren't graded on a curve and, as a result, everybody tried to help each other out as much as possible. I am interested in going to college for the intellectual experience and I don't want to be in an atmosphere where everything is based on grades and superiority complexes. Does Wharton breed the kind of high-stress, cutthroat attitude that is a hindrance to happiness and pure learning for the sake of learning and not for one's GPA? Any help/advice you can dispense is much appreciated.

By Mrsh8b (Mrsh8b) on Monday, September 06, 2004 - 04:15 pm: Edit

My daughter is a junior at Wharton (M&T actually). She certainly doesn't appear overstressed. She works well with people when assigned to groups. When students are allowed to choose their own groups, people seem to try to avoid slackers but I think that's an everywhere thing not a Wharton thing. So far she's been able to do well and still have time for friends, a sorority, and some community service activities.

By Suprmodl29 (Suprmodl29) on Monday, September 06, 2004 - 05:08 pm: Edit

is it possible to get a 4.0 at wharton?

By Belle28 (Belle28) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 08:02 pm: Edit

haha. yes. but that possibility is closely approaching zero. there are no weighted classes. honros classes have the same weight as any other course.

By Baghdadbob (Baghdadbob) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 09:45 pm: Edit

I would probably say from experience thus far that getting a 4.0 in Wharton is like flying to the moon by flapping your arms really quickly. It might happen someday, but the possibility is like a limit, which is as Belle stated "closely approaching zero." Most of the TA's in the first Wharton class you take, Management 100 have received a C before, and remember these are consider some of the good kids. Just my personal thought.

By Suprmodl29 (Suprmodl29) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 10:51 pm: Edit

hmmm...i see. (love the flying to the moon thing btw). i wonder how all the perfectionists (I'm sure there's more than one at wharton) take that? watevs, i should worry about getting IN to the school b4 i start worrying about the grades i'm going to (potentially) get! so what's a "good" GPA? 3.8?

By Dostoyevsky (Dostoyevsky) on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 - 10:54 pm: Edit

crap, my high school gpa might be lower than my wharton one if i get in...is this a problem? lol

By Bern700 (Bern700) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 12:08 pm: Edit

seriously, I came to wharton thinking that it was super cutt-throat, competitive, etc. with lots of backstabbing and end justifies the means kind of people. I was surprised to find that it is nothing like that. Sure there are some that might be ultra-competitive but in general people are willing to help, you end up doing a lot of work in groups and you want to see yourself as well as you friends succeed. Yes you get a ton of work to do which can be stressful but I've never been stressed from the competition. People tend to be scared of the "curve" but a lot of the time it helps you. The profs make the tests really hard so no one really does outstanding and the curve boosts your grade...trust me it will be the first time that you get a test back and say "Yes, i got a 67%, awesome!!! I pulled off an A-!!!!!"

By Suprmodl29 (Suprmodl29) on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 06:36 pm: Edit

haha that's great...can't wait! (if i get in) (PLEASE!)

By Jarahul106 (Jarahul106) on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 05:36 pm: Edit

hey Bern, u said the work can be stressful. Have you found it to be like much more in comparison than your friends in SAS? I'm sure whatever school at Penn can have tons of work, but do u find yourself consistently find your friends being able to have fun while youve gotta deal with a Wharton workload?

By Baghdadbob (Baghdadbob) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 08:16 pm: Edit

A 3.8 is outstanding. That is Magnum Cum Laude, which is graduating with the highest honors possible. A 3.4 is a great GPA, it is cum laude, which means you are graduating with honors. If you come to Wharton and end with a 3.8, you probably won't leave your room very often.

By Bern700 (Bern700) on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 08:40 pm: Edit

Well I've found that my friends in SAS have a similar workload...just different. Their work consists more of reading than anything else. At Penn, we work hard AND play hard. You'll find yourself hitting the books hard but then again thrs-sat night you'll be hitting up frats, bars, restaurants, clubs, lounges, parties, etc. It's truly an awesome balance. My friends at other Ivys complain about their social lives being surrounded by nerds that don't do anything other than study.

By Jarahul106 (Jarahul106) on Monday, September 20, 2004 - 06:08 pm: Edit

ok cool, im glad to hear that wharton isnt like ESPECIALLY burdened with a heavy workload. cool

By Transient (Transient) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 12:18 pm: Edit

message's a bit old, but thought i'd share my thoughts. i'm a junior now. applied for wharton, later applied for dual deg with the college.

curves: wharton is usually 25% A's, 35% B's, and the rest C's and F's. that means the average joe will get a B-. average GPA is 3.3 something i think.

4.0: don't know anyone with a 4.0, but i know a few with 3.9+ and a lot more with 3.8 somethings.

C's: you don't get a C unless you never come to class or something. really a lot of students are lazy and if you just do a little work it's not hard to be in the top 50%.

stress: the college has stressful classes, but i think since the requirements are so lose you could take all easy classes. i don't know anyone who's done this, but i think it's possible. for example, my comm major friend was watching the cartoon network categorizing the type of commercials that came on and asked me to make a bar graph for him on excel.

GPA: 3.4 is kind of low. if you want one of the "prestigious" internships/jobs wharton is famous for you should be shooting for 3.7, 3.6 at the least. yeah they say the "minimum gpa for an interview" is 3.2 or whatever, but no one with a 3.2 ever gets selected for an interview.

as for yale, i imagine the environment's completely different without curves. from my experience wharton students help their friends with studying, but they wouldn't volunteer to help some random guy. also the curve kind of pushes you to learn the material really in-depth. i don't think anyone's backstabbing, but i wouldn't call it an intellectual place either. the people at wharton are there to get jobs.