<p>I was surprised to learn that Stanford was suddenly an option- which would be cool because it’s in Ca.- except for the fact that I LOVE PENN. I don’t know what happend, but for whatever reason- the opportunities, the environment, everything just clicked and I had no interest in the other schools to which I was accepted. But, since I want to make an informed decision, and since Ca. is not easy to turn down for an east coast person, I’m wondering if anyone can tell me anything bad about Penn because as of yet, I’ve found nothing I haven’t loved. I don’t want to go into this blindly, so any comments would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>You just got off the stanford waitlist? (congrats) but if you love Penn, go for Penn. Don’t go to Stanford just ‘because.’ You’re already in love with Penn, so stick with it. Impressions are <em>really</em> important. And it’s very personal (like my decision would probably be very different than yours, or other people’s) so try not to let others influence you too much. (If Stanford was your first choice, well then…but try not to agonize over it)</p>
<p>I just want to know what the negatives are to Penn. I don’t want to go in thinking that it’s perfect and then be shocked. Please, anyone, there must be something inherently wrong with it that will make me love it even more…</p>
<p>Um…Locust Walk has a tendency to flood when it rains a lot? I mean honestly dealing with the administration (e.g. International Student Office) can be frustrating at times but you’re going to encounter that anywhere. Ultimately it all comes down to fit. I love it here at Penn, and wouldn’t trade this place for anything. At the same time, I have some friends (at other schools) who probably wouldn’t like it here for various reasons. It’s a big school, which can be good or bad depending on what you’re looking for. Some people might find it lacks the feel of a small tight-knit community and that it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.</p>
<p>About how many students on average have been in each of your classes??
Depends on the class. Seminars and language classes tend to be around 10-20. Lectures, anywhere from 50-300 (typically closer to 100) This past semester I had 4 classes with fewer than 30 people and only 1 big lecture (math). Next semester though I’ll have more lectures since I’m taking more intro-type courses.</p>
<p>I would say that the administrative staff in almost any department is awful. One of my relatives went to Penn for grad school and said the administrative staff was awful in the sense that they tend to have bad attitudes, try to avoid doing work and prefer chatting with each other and drinking coffee, and they love to refer you to someone else to get anything done and you end up going in circles. This is true with everything from housing to billing to transcript issues. etc. You will likely have to deal with an endless cycles of frustration when it comes to Penn administration, but the education is great and that’s all that really matters. Yeah, they tend to think they can treat you badly because they’re so great, but what can you do? Just suck it up and deal with it for four years because your degree at the end of it all is worth it. Oh, and the UPenn website is terrible, not user friendly, jumbled, and sends you running in circles to get any info just like the administrative staff does. There is no centralized Penn website for students to take care of everything like schedules, financial issues, etc. It’s a pain, buy hey, they can have that crappy system because they’re Penn! I’m going there next year, and I’ve already come across some issues with administrative staff and the website. It would be so much easier if they had an Intro to Penn website for freshman with everything we need to know. Or at least a centralized website for all of our account-related stuff. Oh well. All I know is that I haven’t heard of such problems with other schools and I don’t understand why they can’t handle simple administrative tasks or website issues.</p>
<p>quick question: do we have free time during the Int’l Student Orientation or normal freshmen orientation to open bank accounts, get credit cards, buy cell phones/furniture…etc? Do you think its a good idea to arrive at Philly a few days before the orientation? thanks :)</p>
<p>I have to register for Math 104 or Math 114 (depending on my Calc BC scores) and I wanted to know who the best profs were. I want a prof that isn’t dead boring, happy to take questions, give help after class, and just nice overall. </p>
<p>Also, do you know on average how many classes you should take related to your perspective major in your freshman year? I plan to be an Econ major, but I don’t have to take Intro Econ because of AP credits, and I can"t take Intermediate Econ classes because they require Math 114 as a prerequisite, so I can only take Econ courses AFTER I’m done with all these courses, which means I might not even be able to take a singe Econ course as a freshman! Is that correct, or is there still a way to take econ courses if I haven"t taken the basic, Intermediate Econ courses?</p>
<p>If you are going to open a new bank account, use PNC. ATMs in dorm rooms, Wawa, and everywhere else on campus. If you’re like me and there are no PNCs close to home, WAchovia is fine. There are ATMs at 40th and Chesnut and 34th and Chesnut. Not as convenient, but Wach has lots of location downtown too.</p>
<p>You have time during orientation to get settled in and do all that stuff. If you have a lot of errands to run, getting in a day or two early could be a good idea, but not necessary.</p>
<p>There are “secret” societies. Everyone knows about them. There are “secret” frats that are just frats that got kicked off campus and formed their own “secret” society. OWLs used to be castle, OZ is Old ZBT, Theos is The Old Sammy. Theos and OZ are on the more social side and have more NY/LA kids, but aren’t official frats and you lose some of the benefits of an official frat’s alumni and national networks.</p>
<p>Greek life is what you make of it. There are lots of frats and a handful of sororities. I think 1/3 of students at Penn are greek. If you find a frat or sorority that interests you, join. If not, there are plenty of people who aren’t greek to have fun. Many people are in clubs and performing groups that are almost like frats in some ways in terms of community and binge drinking. Greek life is big for most freshman who want to party. Lots of frat parties first semester and most of the non greeks there are freshmen. You tend to stop going to frat parties, unless you have friends at the house, as you get older because you are able to get your own alcohol or go clubbing.</p>
<p>Look at Penn Course Review (google it). It gives professor ratings. Look at a prof’s ratings for Math 104-241 as all of them are fairly large lecture classes. I think the best 114 prof is Storm this fall, but I really wouldn’t know. If you get a 4 on BC but think you don’t want to retake 104 (don’t view it as an easy give me A becuase it’s not) you can just enroll in 114 and so long as you get above a C, you will get retroactive credit for 104.</p>
<p>You can take Econ 101 while you take 114. It only requires knowledge of partial derivatives, though some professors might want you to know how to do a lagrange multiplier (ask on the first day of class). If you decide to take 114 first semester and also want to take Econ 101, email Lynn Costello and ask her if you can enroll. Worst case, you will have to go into the econ department and talk to them during NSO and then they will let you enroll in 114. You need econ 101 to take all upper level econ courses. You can take some lower level econ courses that don’t count for credit in the econ major (count towards minor and PPE) but you might as well fulfill other requirements and explore other subjects.</p>
<p>What’s the closest mall to Penn? I’m probably gonna go to Philly early so I can buy all my furniture, toiletries and clothes and stuff.</p>
<p>The King of Prussia Mall is about a half hour from Penn (literally if you get on the Schuylkill Expressway, I-76 Westbound at 30th Street, you drive straight and you’ll see the signs for the KoP Mall). It boasts the most retail space of any mall in the United States. If you want it, you can get it.</p>
<p>Why is Storm not in Penn Course Review? And why do you think he’s better than the others? I’m between Storm (because you recommended him) and Haglund because he has higher ratings than the other two.</p>
<p>@llewis999: Not all professors are currently in the Penn Course Review. Some professors are new and have just started teaching, so they’re not in the system just yet.</p>