an honest portrait of penn, please

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>hi, everyone. i'm a senior right now trying to narrow down my college choices to the ones i really honestly think i could see myself attending.</p>

<p>so while i am interested in penn, i was wondering you guys could give me a completely honest portrait of what it's like to be a student there.</p>

<p>maybe you could answer the following questions?</p>

<p>1.) what are the classes like? extremely hard? fairly easy? interesting? lectures? small, discussion-based? etc.
2.) i want to be a movie editor/producer/filmmaker. how is penn in this department? if i went there, would i have to kiss my chances of being a filmmaker goodbye?
3.) i'm a bi guy, and i know penn is gay-friendly, but are there plenty of bi guys/girls too? i want to make sure i fit in and everything. also, i generally get along better friend-wise with straight or bi guys than gay guys. i do have gay friends though, but i want to be able to have all different kinds of friends, gay, straight, bi. are all orientations well-represented at penn?
4.) what do people generally do for fun at penn? i'm interested in joining a lot of student clubs. but i don't like drinking or doing drugs. are clubs big ways of socializing? how prevalent is drinking/drugs?
5.) how is financial aid? i'd need a ton to go there.
6.) i've taken honors geometry, honors algebra II, taking honors pre-calculus this year. no calculus. would this mean an automatic (or likely) rejection from penn?</p>

<p>and any other info about what it's REALLY like to be at penn would be really helpful.</p>

<p>like is there any certain criteria i NEED to fit to be happy at penn? (for instance, it's a lot better to be liberal at brown than republican.) does anything like this apply to penn? thanks a lot guys!</p>

<p>so if you didn't read the above cuz it's so long, basically the question is:</p>

<p>WHAT TYPE OF STUDENTS IS PENN SUITED FOR? (besides smart haha.)</p>

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<p>I’ve seen these same questions in every single Ivy forum. Why not do some research in the old threads of the forums?</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>The answer is “yes” to every single one, depending on which classes you choose!</p></li>
<li><p>It ain’t USC, but between a decent cinema studies department, the Digital Media Design program, and the commercial prowess of wharton, you will certainly get a foot in the door. Also check out DuelingTampons.com (the name stems from a particularly hideous piece of public art on the western end of the Penn campus). It’s a “Penn enthusiasts” (Pennthusiasts?) blog with a strong focus on the Los Angeles area and the hollywood industry. You can see what alumni are up to in the area.</p></li>
<li><p>I can’t speak for everyone else but as a straight dude I mingled freely with people of all sexual orientations. More power to 'em!</p></li>
<li><p>Joining clubs is a great thing to do at Penn. There are lots of them and they serve as a great base from which to make friends. Some will involve drinking but plenty others won’t. When you have a major city at your disposal, there is a lot more to do than sit around and get stoned.</p></li>
<li><p>pretty good, from what I hear</p></li>
<li><p>I think Penn expects you to take the SAT II math. If you could do well on that they would likely overlook that you didn’t formally take calculus. Also Penn judges you based on the context of what was offered at your school…if you went to a school with no AP classes they wouldn’t hold it against you that you didn’t have any compared to someone from a larger/wealthier school that did.</p></li>
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