<p>The humanities, including International Relations/Studies and Poly Sci, are not very competetive. There are no curves as far as I know. You do the work and you'll probably get an A. Science/Engineering courses on the other hand...</p>
<p>International Relations dept is excellent. It was in the top 5 in 2000 and I can only imagine it has improved since then. Penn has alumni in high places in the State Dept and some Penn alumni have been elected as leaders of foreign nations.</p>
<p>IR requires strong area studies programs and Penn's are excellent (at least their East Asian and South Asian ones are)</p>
<p>Looking at Brown's IR website, I see once more why Brown will remain second-rate.</p>
<p>Their intro to IR class "It focuses on realist, liberal, constructivist, feminist, and Marxist interpretations." </p>
<p>Feminist interpretations of IR? My IR prof at Penn (a female no less) mocked the notion and called it a waste of time.</p>
<p>Johnny, could you elaborate on the Penn IR department? How are the professors? Any ones I should be looking at specifically?</p>
<p>Because IR is so interdisciplinary, I've only had one course by the IR department to date (the intro to IR), taught by Elizabeth Bloodgood-Ames. Great professor, though she tends to talk uber-fast (she's got a lot to say I suppose)</p>
<p>So it's really about the PSCI, Econ, and Area studies professors. All of whom are excellent. Well I had one China professor whom I regarded as a bit curt when trying to see him, but his actual teaching was excellent.</p>
<p>Im particularly interested in the Middle East conflict and perhaps fulfilling the language requirement with Hebrew. Can you give me any input on classes in those subjects?</p>
<p>Penn has ample Hebrew programs thanks to the large Jewish student population (the white population is something like 3/5 Jewish--making me a minority!!)</p>
<p>As for the actual Middle East courses, I cannot comment too much, but they seem not to suffer from the same degree of anti-American/Semitic bent that plagues other middle eastern departments--particularly Columbia's now-infamous dept.</p>
<p>Language Requirement: The Language Requirement in Hebrew may be satisfied in the following ways:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>For students who have studied modern Hebrew language at Penn and have completed AMES 54, by passing the proficiency examination.</p></li>
<li><p>For students who have studied Hebrew at other institutions by achieving any of the following:</p></li>
</ol>
<p>a. a score of 650 or better on the SAT II in Modern Hebrew;</p>
<p>b. a score of 70 or better on the Jerusalem Exam Pt. 2; or</p>
<p>c. passing the Departmental Hebrew Placement Test at the appropriate level.</p>
<p>With regards to diversity - where the heck did you hear that Penn was not diverse?? It's probably one of the most diverse Ivies, and because you're in Philly you're exposed to so many people of different backgrounds and cultures in addition to the student body. I would venture to guess that Philadelphia is a lot more diverse than Providence...</p>
<p>About 30% of Penn is Greek, and yes, during freshmen year (for some just the first few weeks) your social life will include more greek affiliated parties. The great thing about Penn is that if you're not greek and you're into the greek scene then there's 70% of the student population who feels the same way. Also, because you're not in the middle of nowhere, you have a choice in what you want your social life to revolve around. There's so much going on on campus and in Philly that you don't need to go to anything greek to have a social life.</p>
<p>With regars to J-Crew... People at Penn dress in a huge array of stuff. Some people are preppy, fewer people pop their collars (which I hate) than I've seen at other schools, and I see more people in t-shirts or tank tops and shorts or jeans than anything else.</p>
<p>Great info, whartonalum. That's definitely steering me towards Penn.</p>
<p>In regards to why I was worried about a predominantly preppy student body...i had read something in the "Students Guide to Colleges." This is quoted directly from the book: "Friends of mine who have come to Penn from the artsy communities have been converted to J. Crew-wearing, resume-minded future i-banking consultants..."</p>
<p>Oh god you can't take that cr@p seriously.</p>
<p>Exactly why Im asking about it here :)</p>
<p>Thatr would be an impressive feat if Penn had that kind of mind-remolding power.</p>
<p>I've never owned a piece of JCrew (at least not to my knowledge)</p>
<p>I'd describe my own college style as "collegiate generic" with an infusion of humorous and/or novelty t-shirts</p>
<p>Now thats the kind of stuff I want to hear.</p>
<p>one of my favorite shirts is from Korea and says WET DREAMS. It has a picture of a beach so i think they took a dictionary and looked up words for water and dreams...oops</p>
<p>Gotta love ENGRISH shirts</p>
<p>I have seen some fellow students wearing Penn t-shirts that I can't seem to find.
One of them said: "Don't Hate Me Because I Go to Penn, Hate Me Because I'm Better Than You!"
the other one on the front said "PENN (see back)" and on the back it said, "NOT Penn State A**HOLE!!!"
Anyone know where these Penn novelty t-shirts come from?</p>
<p>You find those Penn fun on Locust Walk unpredictably for sale by some Penn students.</p>
<p>The location is reliable (Locust Walk) but the day they appear is completely unpredictable and they usually go fast.</p>
<p>Also you can go to <a href="http://www.notpennstate.com%5B/url%5D">www.notpennstate.com</a>.</p>
<p>Well, now that we are off topic, might as well ask...</p>
<p>How's the food at Penn? The girls?</p>
<p>On a college campus, dining is pretty much dining, so don't expect wonderfully delicious meals from the dining hall.</p>
<p>A few great things about food at Penn:
1) Food trucks: cheap, fast, and delicious and there are a TON of different varieties</p>
<p>2) University City: a lot of small ethnic restaurants as well as campus staples like White Dog, Mad4Mex, New Deck Tavern, etc.</p>
<p>3) Center City: GREAT restaurants, tons of different ethnic foods (some for super cheap)</p>
<p>So even if you aren't in love with dining, there are so many options on and around campus that you never have to worry.</p>