Wharton bucks business trend with high matriculation rate

Despite a national trend showing decreasing interest in a business major which was cited by U.S. News & World Report, the Wharton School is seeing a boom in interest in its undergraduate program, with an all-time high of over 70 percent of its accepted applicants in the Class of 2001 matriculating this fall, according to Wharton Vice Dean Richard Herring. And many members of the class, gathered in the Lehman Quad outside of Vance Hall Monday for a welcome picnic featuring hoagies and soda, relayed positive first impressions of the school. Wharton freshman Mike Germano, who said he hopes to submatriculate into the school's new joint-degree program with the Law School, noted that the school's reputation drew him to the University. "Wharton is the leading business school in the world," Germano said, adding that he was especially excited about his Management 100 team's vote to conduct a peer-mentoring project with the Boys and Girls Club's Junior Achievement Program. Theresa Shin, a native Alaskan with a brother in the College, also mentioned the school's reputation as a lure. She described her classes so far as "a little hard" but indicated she was impressed by class size and make-up. "I love my classes? they're so small," Shin said, estimating that none contained over 100 students. She also noted there were "a lot of women in this year's class." Official Wharton Undergraduate Division statistics show the Class of 2001 is 32 percent female and 46 percent minority. Twelve percent of the freshmen are international students. Herring noted that the class is among the school's most selective ever -- with the highest quality matriculants. Based on statistics provided by the undergraduate division, weighted average SAT scores for matriculants rose to 1404. And the overall number of applicants to Wharton this year was 3,464 -- the highest in the school's history. Undergraduate division statistics also show the numbers of matriculants for Wharton's two major dual-degree programs were above target. The Management and Technology program admitted 46 students and the intensive, six-year Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business will include 37 members of the freshman class. Additionally, six freshman will pursue a degree from the new Health Care Management dual-degree program between Wharton and the Nursing School. But with such a high-caliber class, it is easy for some freshmen to feel a bit unsure of themselves. Ryan Kirk, who lives in Philadelphia and commutes to class every day, was not all that enthusiastic, saying he was "interested in going to a business school nearby and [Wharton] gave me cash." And Wharton freshman Mike Edlavitch, who hails from Minnesota, said he was drawn to Wharton for its "esteemed professors and great academics"-- but isn't sure he made the right personal decision. "I'm thinking about humanities," he said.