Non-Wharton students are often unaware they can participate in Wharton clubs.
Credit: Connie KangFor some College students, entering Huntsman Hall for a study session just isn’t enough to satisfy their craving for business.
“Most Penn students think about business at some point. [Penn is] a very pre-professional school, and clubs can provide that avenue,” College senior Alina Wong said.
During her freshman year, Wong knew that College students could get into Wharton clubs but wasn’t sure how involved she would be as a freshman. She joined about 10 different listservs and eventually decided to try and get involved in Wharton Retail Club.
“I would say it’s about [a] 60-40 [ratio of Wharton to College students],” Wong said.
Since beginning as a member of the marketing committee, Wong has worked her way up in the club. She served as vice president of marketing before moving to a role as vice president of finance.
“That role had the highest level of involvement, so it was an easy transition into the presidential role,” Wong said.
Last year, Wong was elected as co-president of the group along with Wharton senior Roopa Shankar.
Wong is the former president of Wharton Retail Club and is also involved in three other Wharton Clubs: Wharton Middle East North Africa, MUSE and Wharton Women. She explains how the environment in all three of her clubs are a mix of Wharton and other undergraduates.
She also added that students from other schools did not by any means constitute a majority in Wharton clubs.
According to the Wharton website: “In addition to business fraternities and sponsored student organizations, Wharton offers over 45 independent undergraduate student clubs.” Although all Wharton students are made aware of the cohort system before they arrive, they probably aren’t made aware of all these clubs.
It does not explicitly state on the website that undergraduates from other schools can join the clubs.
Neha Gupta, a College junior majoring in economics who is also part of the Wharton club MUSE, also said that Wharton clubs are very welcoming.
“MUSE isn’t exclusive at all, and if you get on the listserv you’re able to see a lot of different recruiting events and case competitions,” Gupta said.
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