<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>Congratulations to the newest members of the Penn Class of 2016! I'm a current freshman at Penn, and would like to answer any and all questions about the institution/Philadelphia. Please ask away below, and I'll be sure to answer quickly.</p>
<p>Hurrah!</p>
<p>How strong is the political science department? Also, how hard is the courseload there? Is it difficult to maintain a high-end GPA in order to get into law school?</p>
<p>Do find philly really large and distracting? I’ve never visited Penn (i will for preview days), but i visited Columbia and hated it because i felt like the campus was claustrophobically surrounded by tall buildings and skyscrapers. I hope that PHilly’s new englandy/colonial feel will be different.</p>
<p>Also, how engaging and personable are the professors? Are they very open to undergraduates researching with them?</p>
<p>I was waitlisted. 
Do you know anyone that was waitlisted? If so, any tips on how to get off of it and into Penn? I regret not sending in an art supplement earlier(my major is bio but my awards were mainly photography based)… will it hurt or help to do it now?</p>
<p>@King48: Well, I’m a prospective PSCI major, and I can tell you that the department here is outstanding. The professors are great–Avery Goldstein is one of my favorites. I can tell you a lot more if you let me know what exactly you are interested in within poly sci! Professors are also EXTREMELY accessible and often meet with kids on a regular basis, even within huge intro courses. Researching with professors is often easy to do as long as students show the will, the ethic, and the skills expected for their level. Pairing with a prof. early is the best way to get into research, but I started research my first week here!</p>
<p>@koolkat12, Philly is large, but not at all distracting. Penn is in West Philly, which is slightly (but only slightly) detached from the city itself. Most of the crazy nightlife is in Old City (2nd street or so). You HAVE to go down there at some point during your visit here–it’s home to some of the city’s best restaurants (google Stephen Starr if you don’t already know who that is). Penn doesn’t feel at all claustrophobic. There is plenty of space and the taller buildings are downtown, clustered near 15th and Market streets. That being said, Philly is NOT entirely colonial. That’s pretty much the business of Old City (east Philly) and places like Elfreth’s Alley (go if you haven’t!). West Philly is definitely more urbanized, and is largely dominated by Penn and Drexel, so most communities here are academically based.</p>
<p>@neorobie I know a few students that were waitlisted. As a part of the Kite & Key Society at Penn (the outreach branch of the admissions office), I can’t tell you anything regarding your chances of admission. Keep up the hard work and send in information you think is pertinent to admissions–they will be happy to take a look at your growing portfolio as it best represents you.</p>
<p>Please ask more!</p>
<p>maserrano: for the email of interest, should the letter be an attachment or can it be copy and pasted into the body of the email?</p>
<p>and I just looked up the Kite & Key Society and I would love to be a high school outreach volunteer! When I say Penn, people at my school think about the football scandal of Penn State, that it is a public safety school… that mindset needs to change!</p>
<p>Do you generally stick to one program or is it doing a little of everything?</p>
<p>When they say that the Benjamin Franklin Scholars are chosen based on academic merit, does that mean they look strictly at your marks? I’ve found it odd, especially if they want to foster debate and intellectual discussions in the liberals, that perhaps marks and test scores aren’t the best indicators of that.</p>
<p>Which house in the quad is the best? Fisher, Ware, or Riepe? </p>
<p>Sent from my ADR6350 using CC</p>
<p>@neorobie: If you’re going to write a letter of interest, either is fine. Generally it’s just one (you apply into each program independently), though it’s pretty exchangeable with the other programs. </p>
<p>@nebbalish: BFS is based on a lot–I can’t speak to it specifically though I do know that grades have a great influence on it. I can speak A LOT more to BFS if you private message me, I know a lot about the program.</p>
<p>@mandypandy–I’ll get back to you tomorrow! Too much to say to that for 4am, and I just finished a large essay on European Self-Determination. Stay tuned!</p>
<p>Sorry, I have 2 questions!
The first is what do you think of the socil life at Penn? I know it’s called the social ivy, but is it true that it’s really dominated by drinking/partying atmosphere? I’ve heard that it’s really hard to find your niche if you’re not a partier.
The second is applied and got into the College of Arts and Sciences, but I’ve been thinking lately that I may be more interested in business, ie going into Wharton. Is it really hard to get into Wharton as a sophmore? I know there’s an econ major in the college, but I worry that any business graduate school won’t get passed the fact that I went to Penn but didn’t go to Wharton.
Thank you!</p>
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<p>I graduated in December, 2010 with a political science degree, and I loved every minute of it. The PSCI department is not as highly ranked as some of Penn’s other undergraduate departments, but over the past ten years the department has picked up several high profile professors and more than doubled in size. It is broken up into four concentration areas - International Relations, American Politics, Comparative Politics and Political Theory. Each concentration area is completely unique and offers its own opportunities. As it turned out for me, I got a political theory concentration (by accident!) and wound up doing some serious research in the American concentration.</p>
<p>After my junior year, a professor actually reached out to me to do some research for him (paid!), and that became my senior year campus job… really fascinating stuff.</p>
<p>The courseload is difficult for some and not for others. Most intro courses have exams with at least some objective questions, but the majority of courses assess students based on critical reasoning ability - i.e. can you make and defend an argument? Upper level courses hardly ever have exams; the assessments are almost exclusively papers. Law school is the most common post-graduate course of study for polisci majors, so if you work hard, you will be fine.</p>
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<p>As others have said, Penn is in the West Philadelphia section of the city. There are no skyscrapers in the vicinity of Penn; Penn offers a pretty unique combination of city and suburban campus feel. From Market to Walnut Streets, you will find busy commuter roads as well as many retail establishments (restaurants, bars, stores, etc) interspersed with Penn buildings. From Walnut Street south to the Schuylkill River, 33rd to 40th Streets, is the core of campus. Only Spruce Street, 33rd Street and 34th Street allow vehicular traffic; all other streets are exclusively pedestrian walkways. This creates a suburban feel; while the campus is open to the public, it is absolutely dominated by students and staff. </p>
<p>The heart of Philadelphia is east of the Schuylkill River - Rittenhouse around 19th and Walnut (super ritzy area), Penn Center / City Hall area around Broad and Market (Philadelphia’s business/government center), Old City east of 4th (so many bars and restaurants!). You can walk the entirety of the Center City district in an afternoon!</p>
<p>@mandypandy</p>
<p>So, as for your question regarding the College Houses…</p>
<p>The Quad, as you know, is comprised of three houses. From east to west (36th St to 38th St), these are Riepe, Ware, and Fisher-Hassenfeld. Each house is very different for the other, despite the three all being within the Quad. </p>
<p>So, if you don’t know, the quad is actually a collection of over 40 (I think…) self-standing buildings that are all interconnected. These buildings are grouped into the three houses. For example, Ware College House is comprised of Rodney, Coxe, EF Smith, Wilson, Morgan, Bodine, Speakman, and Butcher, along with the Memorial Tower, as seen here: <a href=“Penn: Page not found”>Penn: Page not found; . </p>
<p>Now, as for differences:</p>
<p>Riepe: Riepe is the second smallest house, with around 450 residents in 2011. It’s comprised of mainly old wood floors and most rooms are a good size. Specific to Riepe is the “baby quad”, which is a small, enclosed green within Riepe. It’s really pretty, and has two arches that exit out onto the lower quad green. </p>
<p>Ware: Ware has wood floors on the north side, carpet (not ugly, don’t worry) on most rooms in the middle (Bodine/Morris) section, and is tile on the south side (Speakman, Butcher, with the exception of Chesnut). Rooms are also quite nice, and the House has singles, doubles, and triples from which to choose, but no suites. The lounges are really nice, and Ware is home to the only library in the quad–4th floor Memorial Tower. It’s a very pretty library with about 4,000 books donated from professors at Penn.</p>
<p>F-H: Fisher-Hassenfeld is mainly wood flooring with the exception of Class of 1928 (tile). Fisher’s lounges are aplenty, and the “nipple” (western tip) is a popular hangout spot. A limited number of suites are available within the house.</p>
<p>Oh, crapo. I just realized that I signed into the wrong nickname. maserrano = pochaco…lol…sorry!!!</p>
<p>@martineze47: Penn is definitely a social place. Studying is very much a social event, as is eating…etc. You know, the norms. Yes, drinking does take place on this campus. About 30% of the campus population is involved in Greek life, and there are other groups that drink socially (aka not to get drunk). It is NOT dominated by partying. Yes, a substantial amount of people party, but this is where the college house system comes in. Plenty of people gather in the lounges to play music, play pool, and to study. This is where I’ve found my niche to be. I’ve been to some parties, but I am not a partier–simply, I don’t have time to waste on that anymore, and I am plenty happy with many friends.</p>
<p>There are a few ways to handle your situation regarding Wharton. Transferring into Wharton is difficult; though only a 3.40 GPA is required (this is still hard to maintain), you need one higher if you wish to be competitive. That being said, you can still transfer. Even with that, you can pursue a dual-degree between Wharton and the College. See the information at [url=<a href=“http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/ugrprogram/advising/internaltransfer_dualdegree/index.cfm]Overview[/url”>http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/ugrprogram/advising/internaltransfer_dualdegree/index.cfm]Overview[/url</a>] . And trust me, having a name like Wharton behind you in business is great, but no employer will balk at a CAS student. I have a friend who is graduating with an international relations degree. He has a remarkably high GPA, and has received offers from both the University of Cambridge and to work at Bain (which are both amazing opportunities and are both extremely selective). If you have the grades, you can do just about whatever you’d like. Also remember that Penn has a “one university” policy. You need not be in Wharton to take Wharton courses.</p>
<p>Hi masserano,</p>
<p>I got into Penn!!! (Maybe that’s self explanatory, since I’m posting here)
I had a few questions.</p>
<p>Study-abroad: How competitive is it? How feasible would it be to study abroad twice, or maybe even three times (including summers)? How is it funded if you got a super genersou financial aid package? Can frosh study abroad?</p>
<p>Research: How is it funded? I’m leaning away from scientific research and more toward anthropology, history, society…etc.</p>
<p>Misc: I, like a thousand other people, was invited to some scholar preview days, which span over three days. From what I understand, this event is students-only and oriented around academics (i.e. future Quakers stay in dorms, take classes, etc). Is it worth going to? I’ve already missed a bit of school…is this event is life-changing or particularly insightul?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hey Americansushi, congratulations on getting in!</p>
<p>Study abroad is usually done for a semester or a year during your third year. It is entirely feasible to study abroad twice if you do so over a summer, but I have a feeling that you will find you want to study abroad junior year and be at Penn the rest of the time… many people come in with similar plans and wind up finding it too difficult to leave campus for more than a semester!</p>
<p>Research is funded in several possible ways. Most common is that you as an undergraduate get taken under the wing of a professor getting plenty of funding from wherever. Also very common is using CURF (look it up!) - make your case and you can potentially get funding. But in the social sciences, your best bet is going to be finding professors with similar interests. Like I said in an earlier post, I got picked up by a professor whose interests aligned with mine after he taught me two classes, and my research senior year actually paid well enough that I quit my other campus job.</p>
<p>As for preview days, meh… I didn’t think they were anything exciting. If you haven’t been to Penn’s campus, it is a good chance to take a look before you sign the papers, but otherwise, I don’t see it as a big deal. For what it’s worth, two of my friends met each other during preview days and wound up becoming best friends over the course of the past five years!</p>
<p>Which housing/meal plan do you recommend and why? Obviously there’s no black and white answer but any insight would be appreciated</p>
<p>I’d recommend getting whatever plan has the most dining dollars and fewest meals; my freshman year, that meant 125 meals per semesters, and it took a truly concerted effort to get anywhere CLOSE to that (i.e. first semester I used 60 meals and second semester, when I REALLY tried, I used 110 meals). Dining dollars give you more flexibility to use your plan to buy at retail establishments</p>
<p>Thanks chrisw!</p>
