About Adarsh Shah Expertise I can answer most questions pertaining to UPENN and the Wharton Business School; questions about admissions, academics, environment, sports, Philadelphia, and life in general.
Experience I'm an International student with an active interest in knowing about and sharing information about this great university. I am also the head university tourguides, hence I've got information on all aspects of campus life.
Expert: Adarsh Shah Date: 11/13/2006 Subject: Competitiveness
Question Adarsh,
I constantly here from people that Wharton students are extremely competitive, to the point they don't even like to work together. I have been told that this is due to some of the grading curves in classes. Do you feel this competitive attitude to the extent that people don't like to study together and that they are just out there for themselves? Also, do you find many left wingers inside of Wharton?
Thanks,
Al
Answer Hello – thank you for your question! I must sincerely apologize for the delay in response; I had to make a somewhat last-minute trip to Kenya where I didn’t have an internet connection for a while. Since I've been back I've been trying both to catch up with work and AllExperts questions! I hope this delay doesn’t majorly inconvenience you.
Your question is tricky but I’m going to take a stab at it.
Wharton is competitive, yes – it’s that competitiveness which has allowed it to become such a great school. The Wharton curve is used as a grading system for a majority of intro level classes, a few upper level classes too. Generally, the curve follows a distribution where 25% of the class gets As, 50% Bs, and 25% Cs or lower, which isn’t a terrible curve to begin with.
This said your question on students being just out there for themselves fortunately doesn’t ring true. Most classes, at least upper level classes require a great deal of group work. Learning how to work well with others is something successful Wharton students master early. Even with classes without group work requirements friends often meet to study together.
Additionally a Wharton student will take a great deal of classes outside of the business school, primarily from The College of Arts and Sciences, where grading curves seldom apply.
To sum up I think Wharton does have that healthy sense of competition which drives its students to perform, but since the faculty has recognized that in the business world you need to be able to work with others, and because students are generally nice and socially adjusted, it’s not an individualistic environment.
As to the left winger population, hmm… no official numbers of course! Penn itself is fairly left wing, as you’ll find most Ivy League universities tend to be. However, there are both right and left wing organizations at Penn, and both have strong reputations. Fortunately, politics doesn’t interfere with academic agenda at Penn.
I hope this has been helpful - let me know if you have any further questions. I apologize again for the delay.
