<p>My recently admitted daughter is not a partier or drinker and would be described as a sweet girl. I’m concerned that she will feel isolated at Penn, because of the “work hard, party hard” reputation that Penn students seem to cultivate. Am I being too protective?</p>
<p>Hi dad2011, I think it's natural for parents to feel this way, especially if your impression of Penn is opposite that of your daughter. However, keep in mind that the "work hard, party hard" reputation is merely a reputation, not fact. Truth be told, I don't drink and I don't party...the two just never appealed to me, and probably never will. But I am very very happy at Penn. Perhaps this will come off as cliche, but nonetheless, Penn is a fairly "large" school, all things considered. So if your daughter doesn't party/drink, there'll be plenty of others like her...perhaps not of the majority, but they definitely do exist :).</p>
<p>Penn is a fairly big school - almost 10,000 undergrads. So even if 10% of undergrads are not the "party" type (and really the number is much higher) , than would mean that there were 1000 undergrads doing something else every Sat. night, so your daughter will have lots of company. </p>
<p>The scores for admitted students keep getting higher and higher - you don't get 2300+ SATs by doing nothing but party, so in some ways the reputation is a big lie. Penn students are only party types by the very nerdy standards of say Harvard where there are even more overachievers. Also the appearances can be deceptive - 500 kids at a frat party looks like an enormous crowd. 500 kids each in their room listening to music and talking w/friends or going to different movies, plays, etc. spread out across Phila are invisible. So the "party" crowd appears to be bigger than it really is.</p>
<p>And, maybe your daughter is not as sweet as you think, or won't be by the time she is done w/ Penn?</p>
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Penn students are only party types by the very nerdy standards of say Harvard where there are even more overachievers.
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<p>So true. And actually I've heard bad things about Harvard and Princeton--Penn kids are known to be a lot more cool and calm about partying than those kids.</p>