<p>is it more convenient to drive or take public transportation? I applied ED and if I get in, I'll most likely drive my car over or ship it over since it's a lease and it's going to go to waste otherwise.</p>
<p>for just about all your needs public transport should be sufficient...</p>
<p>parking is either really expensive or hard to find, and most people don't have time / a need to go anywhere that septa can't take them...</p>
<p>get philly carshare</p>
<p>^^Agreed. I walk almost everywhere, and I use SEPTA/taxis to get anywhere else.</p>
<p>what about the frat scene? (I'm used to Dartmouth, where the frats are where it's at 3 nights a week)
is it a big part of the social scene at all? is there a wide variety of houses (ie not just the white preppy rich ones)?</p>
<p>For me at least, the frats are a HUGE part of the party scene. There are 15+ different fraternities on (and off) campus, and a good number of them throw sick parties with no cover charge. (NB: there are registered and unregistered parties...you can advertise all over the place for registered, but they have to give you a 21+ wristband. This can usually be circumvented though. Both types are fun, but the registered parties are usually more extravagant). From what I've gathered, it seems that for underclassmen (or those w/o good fake ids) the frats are largely where its at. However, the scene shifts to bars and clubs for upperclassmen.</p>
<p>I'm considering joining a fraternity...not sure which one yet, but so far I like DKE (b/c I play sprint football), Sig Ep, Beta, Pi Kapp, and Sigma Chi. Rush isn't until 2nd semester though, so you have time to find out which frats you really like.</p>
<p>hahaha do the wristbands at penn frats actually make a difference?
at dartmouth they're kinda just kept in boxes at the door and nobody really cares...</p>
<p>oh and what is the beer of choice?
keystone light?</p>
<p>ahhh you guys have yeungling down there too dontcha....lucky bastards</p>
<p>Haha, it depends on the frat, but they really don't make that much of a difference.</p>
<p>Beer of Choice: Nattie/Keystone, BEAST, Yeungling (good ****), and the occational PBR (yuck!)</p>
<p>Wait are you a freshman at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>Does it feel like there's a lot of "weird" kids at Penn? Like while I've just got average SAT's (2170, most points lost on math), same with ACT's (32 composite), mediocre GPA (3.7 unweighted but all honors/AP's), high leadership in the usual EC's (NHS, quiz bowl, Tri-M, newspaper, literary mag) and a legacy I've got a bit of strange stuff about me. </p>
<p>Like I'm an Asian/African who skipped a grade, plays harmonica/turntable (fronted several blues/hip-hop bands before), programs computer games (one's got like 40,000 downloads right now), started a parkour club, won a couple dozen writing contests, and has the sickest afro ever. You know a lot of kids like that?</p>
<p>Believe me man...with 9000+ undergrads, your bound to find kids to chill with. Also another thing...its funny but once you get to college, all your resume stuff doesn't matter anymore...at least with finding your group of friends.</p>
<p>It's not like highschool where the high achievers sat together, the jocks, the nerds, w/e. You can be whoever you want to be. I suggest being yourself haha. And again, things will fall into place. As long as you are willing to meet people, there will be people willing to meet you.</p>
<p>As to directly answer your question, you could say I'm weird :P. I play sprint football, but I'm also in the breakdancing club, freaks of the beat. I play guitar and piano. I'm considering double majoring in math and history and minoring in nutrition. I wouldn't call it weird man, i would call it diverse. There are many diverse kids here, in all senses of the word. I love it! Hell, I did hookah the other day with a Jewish kid, a kid from Bangladesh, and a kid from Uganda.</p>
<p>Was it easy to make new friends?</p>
<p>im procrastinating studying for finals so ill give more answers...</p>
<p>(im a freshman, p.s.)</p>
<p>the arrogant wharton attitude is really just like a stereotype that has become a joke. Im in the college and i never feel like a lesser person because of it. almost everyone here is pretty brilliant. they just happen to (think they) know what they want to do with your lives. i think nursing gets the most criticism, though the program is supposedly very difficult.</p>
<p>im a girl so its difficult for me to judge the hotness of us, but i think...on average its not THAT impressive, but there is a minority of girls who are very attractive. and most girls do a good job with what they have...i.e. dress well, etc. the biggest complaint ive heard is that girls, especially the attractive ones, are too materialistic.</p>
<p>penn is SICK. haha. i really do feel like almost everyone here loves it though.</p>
<p>housing and food very a lot. everything from the quad and high rises to hill, and great off campus restaurants to the dining halls.</p>
<p>the academics are challenging but doable. if you went to a good high school, the transition should be fine. i think for most people the biggest issue is time management- it can be difficult to choose to study rather than go out. math, science, and wharton classes are generally curved pretty harshly, while language courses and writing seminars are know for being a breeze.</p>
<p>the guys here are a lot more attractive than i expected. it depends on what youre looking for. if youre into preppy guys or jewish guys, you'll be happy. someone said something about guys being attractive for reasons other than looks and thats true too. theyre generally very intelligent, well-dressed, well-off, confident..and you know theyll be successful in the future.</p>
<p>you should NOT bring a car here, that would be ridiculous. walk, take cabs, take septa..it'll be infinitely cheaper and much less of a hassle. </p>
<p>the frat scene is decent. actually for the academic quality of the school its very good. theyre usually some stuff going on thursday and friday, while saturday is a big frat night. most upperclassmen and very social freshmen go to bars during the week and just to frats on saturday because theyre not as fun. but the alcohol is free and theyre usually pretty packed. and there is definitely a variety of houses. a lot of them are jewish. and a lot of them are pretty..nerdy?</p>
<p>most people here are really interesting, random facts about themselves, but i wouldnt say the student body is "weird" in an artsy, quirky way. people seem fairly normal, but then you find out they like..own multiple companies or are violin prodigies or something like that.</p>
<p>i think its VERY easy to make friends. since its a private school, people are coming from all over and dont have set groups of friends when they get here. most of the students are pretty friendly and social. i like almost everyone ive met here.</p>
<p>How's dorm life? Do you ever find yourself bored?</p>
<p>no i just go to high school in the same town</p>
<p>edit: that was @ matt</p>