Hey guys,
I'm a student studying at Australia, I was recently offered to study at uPenn, specifically Wharton for one year as part of my degree.
My main concern at the moment is my financial situation (I come from a middle income family), my uni recommended to bring at the very least $3000 AUD for each month in the US. Even with scholarships and what not, it's still a big chunk of change. So I'm still undecided on this aspect.
So.. along with that I just wanted to hear any thoughts, experiences from Wharton undergrads/alumni. How is the social scene? Student life? Best/cheapest eats? Accommodation?
Thanks.
Bump?
What I'm gonna say may be controversial---but if you're not getting a UPenn degree/certificate, forget it.
Pray tell?
F.y.i - To my understanding, I will be receiving a transcript from Wharton as well as acknowledgement on my own transcript that I attended Wharton for that year.
if you just wanna go, don't take my opinion, just go~
but at the end of day, I think it won't help unless you get certificates or degrees from Wharton. You can talk about Wharton all you want for your grad school / job interviews, but it'd be stupid to do that if you're earning degree from another school--it's like you're bashing your UG school in front of interviewers.
Where do you want to work when you graduate?
Does this year at Wharton and/or a year in America carry with it enough of a prestige/resume bump (either Down Under or wherever you want to work) to justify the cost?
1) I'd like to work in funds management. Somewhere down the track, I'd like to work in the US buy-side.
2) To my knowledge, employers are well-aware of the difficulty of the exchange to Wharton, as well as the prestige of Wharton itself.
Just to give some side information, my initial goal was to go to exchange in the US, it just so happened that I was offered my first preference (Wharton). I've always wanted to go to the US and experience life in another country, so prestige was not my first thought when I initially wanted to go on exchange.
Cost has only recently become a factor as since receiving the offer, as far as I know Wharton is a bit more pricey than other alternatives.
I think that if you want to work in the US after you graduate, it makes a whole lot of sense to study here for a year. And if you're going to study here, it's hard to find a better place. Money is always an issue, but try and look into as many options (I'm unfortunately not familiar with funding for exchange programs) for funding as possible.
You'll kill it with the ladies with that accent too. Although they will be Philly girls, so, you win some you lose some.
Hahaha, duly noted.
Did you by chance go to Wharton UG? Still looking for thoughts and experiences from Whartonites!
Can't help you there, but you're in the right place. Someone should be able to help you.
My advice would be to go for it. You only live once and to have the chance to not only attend a great university with a relevant brand in the finance world but to combine it with living abroad is unique. I know plenty of people who went to Wharton both as full time students and as exchange students (it's one of the main partner universities of my almamater) and the feedback has been positive throughout. Happy to answer any questions via PM.
I've sent across you a PM. Very interested to hear the thoughts from an exchange student.
don't drop the soap
Although, in reality, dropping the soap isn't the real issue....it's the picking it up that's the problem.
I'll make sure to bring liquid soap over.
Does the $3000/mo need to cover housing and all food? I thought that most study abroad programs included room and board, at least when you're US and go abroad. The last I checked the AUD was ~.8 so they want you to bring ~US$2400/mo in spending money? That seems like a lot of money for a college student and Philly's not a super expensive city.
I think the life experience itself is good and you'll make friends with Wharton kids who end up all over finance so if someday down the road want to work in the US there's a decent chance you could network through them.
As of 2013, study programs from my university do not cover housing + food, that needs to be arranged by the student.
In my exchange guide its recommended to bring $2200/mo, but speaking to an advisor and speaking to past exchange students around $3000/mo for food, housing as well as spending money (I'd like to tour the US) seems to be the norm.
So, would ~1700 USD p/mo be enough for food, housing as well as spending money? Or does that mean i'll have to live off ramen for that year
Do it, and you can do it frugally. This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
You don't need to spend @2000/month to live in Philly - that's ridiculous. Find a cheap off campus apt and roommates, and make your own food. You should rather spend the money on travelling around America.
Yeah. I did some quick research last night on collegeconfedential (lol) and found it's possible to get accommodation for as cheap as $125 week, I guess my advisor is just blowing smoke out her ass.
Off-campus housing would be around 600-700 dollars a month, so I guess you can get by with around 1000-1200 and maybe some extra travelling budget.
Definitely go. Even a Wharton exchange carries a lot of prestige (especially if you get good grades). Whattherock doesn't know what he is talking about.
I can only give you general advice here, but I am doing a double master's degree in Europe, and have been on two academic exchanges, and I did one of them at a less reputable university than my home university. Despite this, I have received multiple compliments in my job interviews about my international experience. One of the interviewers even felt that I should have made a balder statement about having studied in 4 countries (did my bachelor's at another place) on my resume.
From my experience, companies are not so narrow minded that they say "unless you have a degree from that country/university/program, your experience means jack shiz to us", it is quite the opposite to be frank.
My advice is still general, but based on my experiences with experiencing new universities and how to market that in interviews, I would say do it as long as you know for sure that you can afford it (which I am sure you can).
Edit: And in terms of bashing your own Aussie school... who ever said you had to do that? In interviews, when asked questions that I could potentially have derailed into a "the university I attended in 2012 was horrible, this one is better", I rather went something along the line of "I decided to start my academic career at university X because [financial reasons, reputation reasons, proximity to home etc.]. I chose to go to country Y as the method of teaching is far different than in country X, and because my university X has a very popular exchange agreement with Y. Why bash one school, when you can promote both?
You most certainly don't need $2000+ a month to live in Philly. Rent - $7-800 (can go lower if you're willing to live in a bigger house, say 4+ people) Food - $3-400 Miscellaneous/anything out-of-pocket, going out etc. - $2-300 So easily can go under 1500/month. If you have any specific questions about Philly or University City in particular, feel free to PM me.
$650 a month in rent, which was a bit lower than many of my friends with the help of some extra roommates. (avg mo. 700-1000) Eating relatively healthy, which was a bit more costly, I still averaged $400 a month in food. You should be fine budgeting $300. Going out can be expensive, but there are still a few spots with $1-3 beers. Play your cards right with that accent and the girls will be paying for you. (30 of cheep beer will run you just under $17.)
Having that experience on your resume will open many doors for you. Although it will be costly, it is a good investment in yourself and Philadelphia isn't the worst place to live. Better to go for it than be stuck saying "what if"
Go. Not having done a year abroad at university is one of my biggest regrets. And yeah, as stated above by multiple people, do it frugally - get roommates etc. to boost that ROI.
Penn is a fun school - I would definitely do it if I were you. I think it's worth it because some people will value the academic experience you had and you might meet people you'll want to stay in touch with from a career perspective.
Keep in mind if they grade you against your classmates you'll be on curve and people are so motivated that it's not easy to be in the top 10% so make sure that is not an issue for you. You'll have to study hard to do that well even if you are naturally very intelligent and test well. The material itself is not that hard though.
Some students will spend more money than you've budgeted between going out and eating out a ton, but there are also plenty of people just hang out around campus parties so you should be more than ok with that budget if you have simple tastes. You definitely can go cheap on housing in philly - get a room for like $600 if you don't need a really nice place. PM me if you want.
I am in in at a bb in Australia from a top target here and I went on exchange to the us for a year as well - my thoughts:
Go, because it's fun. However, no one on this side actually cares where you went on exhange, even if it is Wharton - I turned down a Wharton exchange to go to more of a party school in a better city and still ended up at a top bb. While Wharton certainly won't hurt you, people know there is a big difference between attending Wharton and going there in exhange, and frankly aren't really impressed by the name. I would recommend going to Wharton if it's your first choice, and it may help in other ways if you want to work in the us down the track, but don't rely on it to land you jobs in Australia - and if that's why you picked Wharton, but would enjoy another school more, go to the other school.
thanks for the insight, Wharton was my first pick obviously because of prestige, my preferences below that were UT Austin, Michigan, UCLA etc.. NYU was a bit of a stretch (90+WAM).
In ib, not in in
I think Wharton's a great place to be -- provided you reach out to plenty of student organizations as an exchange student, try to get into the best parts of the curriculum, and check out Center City/North Philly/hit up your Philly bucket list (make sure you make one prior).
I'm not sure which classes you'd be taking; obviously don't spend your semester abroad taking FNCE 207 (corpval) since you might as spend your time sitting in Huntsman 3rd complab watching tons of equally emaciated souls who willingly signed their souls away to make v59 of their equally-BS'ed model working feverishly against an 8 AM time tick to meet Holthausen's high standards. Perhaps Negotiation or another marketing class -- basically anything that's not part of the core (you're going to not have a good exchange experience if you take any of the core) -- if you can get into them will really enhance your experience because there are some awesome professors here. Not to make broad sweeping generalizations or anything, but your typical Whartonite is driven, sociable, and happy to chat with you instead of trying to come up with 3 different scenarios to screw you over; so don't be a stranger, say hi or something. Of course, there's an element of competition, but I never saw it as cutthroat (contrary to many perceptions on WSO).
For the fun stuff -- dude, I personally love running and dance. The Penn Running Club meets around Pottruck at 6/7 PM IIRC, and they run in the morning as well as in the evening, and I always think there's no better way to explore Philadelphia than to see it in all its grand outdoorsiness. The Schuylkill River is a nice place to run as well as near Ben Franklin Parkway, and I think you'll enjoy the urban-like scene. There's tons of shows, workshops, and physical things here, so make sure you try new things. There's tons of bars around here as well as Speakeasies, so plenty to go to in the evening if you want to grab a drink or so. As for parties, I'm not sure about the exchange student scene, but IIRC there are Wharton exchange orientation days to help you transition and maybe find your crew for the year.
As for recruiting, I think the year at Wharton will help. OCR here can get very heated and pretty intimidating when all the stars from your finance classes come rolling into info sessions with suits (lol), and I'm not sure how international recruiting works, but the brand seems to be a benefit. I had a friend of mine who was a foreign exchange student land some nice S&T internship at a BB overseas, for what that's worth. He had a pretty great time here doing intramurals, grabbing good eats, going skiing and plenty of hiking in the PA area, so I think you can have a good time here too.
Before I ramble any further, I would heavily caution that if you do decide to take a year and spend it here, make sure to strike a balance between the social and academic aspects here. I have a few Wharton friends who had a hard time adjusting to the rigors required after spending a year abroad in London, Switzerland, Germany, etc. It sucks that there's not too much time to explore what you're truly passionate about due to the extreme pre-professional culture here (basically if you stop and go off course, you're less competitive), but be sure to have a shitload of fun while you're at it. PM me for further questions too.
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