<p>hey guys! I noticed other threads like these being completely bombarded with questions, so I thought to help out :) I remember last year, being incredibly stressed about everything.. so I hope to be a help to at least some of you!
I'm a current Penn freshman; I got accepted into ED last year, so I'm open to questions mostly about Penn in general, but you can also ask me about the college process (though keep in mind that I might not know too much about regular decision) ...</p>
<p>did u send a midyear report after being accepted ED? </p>
<p>Where did you dorm and how was it? </p>
<p>Vegeterian foods aplenty?</p>
<p>Tell us your experience of the first week(NSO, orientation, etc.)</p>
<p>yes, I did send a midyear report after being accepted ED, as well as a final report… I think as long as your grades don’t fall significantly, it should be fine.</p>
<p>I live in Hill, and in my opinion, I think Hill is amazing. The rooms are small, but you bond really well with your floor (a lot of my friends who live in the Quad say they don’t know their hallmates very well) and it becomes very close-knit.</p>
<p>I’ve actually recently turned vegetarian, and yes, there are a lot of vegetarian options… other than the salad bar, there are always a few options in the hot line that are vegetarian. also, there are some food carts around Penn (not part of the dining plan; you just pay with money) that are vegetarian, and some are quite popular.</p>
<p>for the first week, I feel that it really varies between person to person… for me, my NSO week was comparatively low-key. I know most freshmen just partied at frats all throughout NSO, and especially since it’s the first week of college, kids just go all-out. there were several events going on that were organized by the school (shopping at IKEA, casino night, etc.) … I did a combination of both, and I also hung out in my dorm and played games with people from different floors.</p>
<p>and, of course, like all schools, the orientations were rather boring… I do recommend going to the freshman shows put on by groups/clubs at Penn… that was really fun and you get to watch/listen to a bunch of performances, and you can decide which to try out for, etc.</p>
<p>What do you think of Philadelphia? Most the people around here that I have talked to are concerned that it is a pretty dangerous city - or that Penn is too close to West Philly (which is notoriously dangerous).</p>
<p>I’m not a freshman but I live in Philly
I would like to say that for one, Penn is IN west philly. University City is a neighborhood in West Philly.
And honestly I feel that Penn is in a very safe part of West Philly. Penn police and drexel police are everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. Not too mention there are city police everywhere. They care a lot about Penn students safety.
Additionally, I think as a freshman you’ll learn where not to go. Its funny because whenever I see Penn students past 40th street, especially on Market street, I’m like woahhh they must really wanna explore aha.<br>
That’s just my opinion as a philly native. The OP can give you another insight.</p>
<p>Know anyone doing HSOC and also doing pre-med? What’s it like for them?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Is there anything you wish you would have known about Penn (good or bad) before you applied and decided to go there? Thanks!</p>
<p>Personally, I love Philly. It’s really a great college city, because it’s not as fast-paced as New York, but it still is a big city where you can eat good food, go to concerts, plays, museums… just anything, really. West Philly does have that reputation of being very dangerous, but like hopeful201 said, Penn and Drexel security is everywhere and they’re very good at their jobs.</p>
<p>Once you pass–perhaps 41st street?–you might feel a little uneasy. There’s a lot of off-campus housing around 40th street, though, so I think the students that hopeful201 saw were people who actually live there…</p>
<p>It’s funny, though, because Penn students always laugh at freshmen because they’re especially paranoid about going more towards the west… I would say as long as you’re with someone, you shouldn’t be too worried. And honestly, you can’t live in a bubble all your life (well, you can, I guess) … and the little edge that Philly has kind of applies for most of the world out there.</p>
<p>I actually know a lot of HSOC majors–I was very surprised. I’m actually thinking of exploring that area as well (I’m an undecided major). Since there are a bunch of concentrations within the HSOC major, you can choose what direction you want to go, which is why HSOC majors seem to really like what they learn… you can look on the website, but there’s one business-y concentration that lets you take health care management classes at Wharton… HSOC classes are more humanities-based (so you read and write a lot of papers) as opposed to doing labs, problem sets, etc. for the actual science classes. No but really, HSOC majors I’ve met just love what they learn.</p>
<p>There are a lot of students who start off as pre-med but end up dropping it in the end… as long as you love the sciences, you can pull through. I think that at any school, the pre-med track is rather difficult. I haven’t taken a science class at Penn yet, but they’re said to be very intensive. Science classes take up a lot of time on your schedule, since there’s the lecture, the recitation, and a lab… a bunch of people do pre-med while majoring in HSOC–is that what you’re thinking of doing?</p>
<p>Stuff good to know:</p>
<p>the city–a lot of things to do, and it’s hard to get bored</p>
<p>the diversity of people–I don’t think there’s any big stereotype of Penn students, just because there are people from all over the place.</p>
<p>the social scene, for the Ivy Leagues, is great. but relative to other universities, it obviously isn’t very good. I know a few people who decided to come to Penn because of its social scene, which is kind of silly. Honestly, if you want to go to a school with a good party scene, go to University of Georgia or someplace. NSO and Spring Fling, on the other hand… now that’s a good time ;)</p>
<p>Penn Nursing. Although it has the reputation for being… well, the Hufflepuff of Penn, it’s the best nursing school in the U.S. for a reason. Look up nurse practitioner–you may be interested, or you may not. But it’s good to keep your options open.</p>
<p>The writing seminars… it’s required to take a writing seminar to fulfill the writing requirement. Advice: TAKE IT YOUR FIRST SEMESTER.</p>
<p>You can minor and double-major, and dual major… it’s great. Of course, depending on what majors, it might take careful planning and work. But one reason why I applied to Penn was for this reason… I know at Harvard (I think…?)… as well as other universities… it’s difficult to double major at all, so people end up choosing only 1. </p>
<p>dorms: choose HILL! Honestly, the quad is overrated… although they do say that most of the freshmen live there, it’s close to the frats, etc., Hill has one of the better dining halls (def the best breakfast), you get really tight with your floormates (so you travel together to go to parties anyway)… and yes, the rooms are small, but you get used to it, and it’s pretty much guaranteed that your room will be better the next year.</p>
<p>Do you know anyone who applied for a dual degree in Wharton? If so was it really difficult?</p>
<p>Can you elaborate more on Hill? I mean it sounds fun but I don’t exactly feel comfortable putting it as my first choice as opposed to the Quad.</p>
<p>Hey heart.greywolf - thanks for doing this. It’s really interesting to read all of this and know what I’m in for this fall. My question is are there a lot of musical theatre types at penn? And how is the musical theatre scene there?</p>
<p>Many people get “stuck” in Hill, meaning that they never even applied to it but still got placed there. Deciding whether or not Hill will be your first choice is your call, but know that the dorm won’t fill up fast.</p>
<p>Also, Harrison is amazing.</p>
<p>do you have to start fulfilling the core requirements of the College starting from freshman year? </p>
<p>For instance, if I was thinking about transferring to the engineering school, where you need 5 social studies and humanities courses for all 4 years, could I just start taking all of those freshman year, or do you need to have a balance every year?</p>
<p>You can do whatever you like. Most pre-major advisors in the College will tell you to choose classes that interest you during your Freshman year regardless if they fulfill any requirements or not.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on the Harrison Fresh. Ex. Program? I’ve heard some people say that it’s really fun, but others have said that freshmen in Harrison & the other high rises are isolated, and that there’s not much communication among hall members. I want to have a fun social life at Penn, but the apartment style living sounds awesome. Would I have to put a lot of effort into seeking out friends if I chose Harrison? Any thoughts would be appreciated! And if I were to definitely choose a high rise, would the Fresh. Ex. program in Harrison be the way to go, or are there other high rises that would be better? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I’m a Fresh Ex. alum and am completely biased because I loved it.</p>
<p>The Fresh Ex. Program is amazing. Those who say that the freshman are isolated and that there’s not much communication among hall members probably don’t know what they are talking about because that definitely wasn’t true for my floor. There are three floors of Freshman all put together, you get the best rooms on campus, the best RA/GAs on campus, the best program coordinator on campus, and overall a fantastic experience. You will make friends on your hall, but you will also probably make tons of friends outside of your dorm. Making friends is pretty simple at Penn. </p>
<p>Harnwell is Harrison minus the residential program. It’s worth it to write the essay.</p>