Senior Manager
Joined: 04 Jan 2005
Posts: 254
Given Kudos: 3
Location: Milan
Concentration: Technology, Entrepreneurship, VC
Schools:Wharton, LBS, UChicago, Kellogg MMM (Donald Jacobs Scholarship), Stanford, HBS
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Waivers (Wharton et al.)
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22 Jun 2009, 03:20
This is meant to be a thread to elaborate between current and incoming students about the first significant choice to make after being admitted: waiving or not waiving core courses*. The scope is both general guidelines and specific instances at various schools in terms of classes worth or not worth waiving.
I am going to Wharton, and the choice here is particularly overwhelming due to the number of electives offered (their actual availability from day 1 for 1st years is indeed matter of discussion). So I'll start with my tentative approach, also asking inputs from current students of Wharton and beyond.
WAIVERS
Hypotheses:
- I have a background in business administration whose quantitative coursework is completely lost on me. I mean completely.
- I want to major in statistics. I could also major in finance or marketing, but not on purpose (just if, bottom-up, I take enough coursework that interests me).
- I am standing by the "waive all you can" philosophy that I heard is the best, but would like your input too (and to know which parts of core are more or less waive-worth anyway).
So, my tentative pre-term registration goes as follows:
Pre-term:
- Basic math review
- Stat basic course
- Financial Accounting review (I know this, just not the American peculiarities and need a refresh nonetheless)
- Managerial Economics basic (could also try Review, but I remember little about micro)
Waive:
- BPUB/LGST 621 Government/Legal by credential (I have lots of coursework)
- MKTG 621 AND 622 by credential (I majored in marketing in undergrad, 622 may be partial since I did not do SABRE, yet there are analytical marketing classes that interest me and I could take in place of 622)
- MGMT 654 Competitive Strategy by credential
- MGMT 621 Organization
The things I am undecided/missing information about:
- ACCT 620: I was think about waiving partially and doing the accelerated course, provided I can take an interesting class instead in the timeframe. What's your input?
- MGEC 621: I can substitute this with Game Theory (BPUB784), that is not offered in first semester though. Is it worth it or should I take the regular class instead)
So I am:
- Taking no waiver exam in August (credential or nothing, I am already bothered by the online math exam);
- Take the full Finance coursework (nothing in preterm)
- Take the full Math/Stats (obviously)
- Ignoring Marketing (though lots of electives interest me)
- Waiving General Management classes as much as I can
My open points:
- What's the tradeoff between customizing the courses and missing out on cohort life (when waiving as much as I want to do, i.e. not all but a sizeable part)
- Is it doable/easy to take electives in the fall term of 1st year, both from a scheduling and workload/difficulty POV?
- If I waive a class, can I still take electives which list it as prerequisite?
* Boothians need not apply!