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Not for KCECH.</p>
<p>Heh… wharton doesn’t make you competitive so much as it pricks your behind every now and then to get you running. The experience probably does make you more cynical though the true ***holes are few in number (but certainly exist)</p>
<p>PS - every wharton course is curved to a B average for first/second year. Upper level courses with fewer people may choose not to curve but the material is usually harder.</p>
<p>Any inside scoop on when Early Decisions will be announced? Also wanted to know if they email you or do the post your decision on the Penn Portal? Thanks so much for all of your help.</p>
<p>How’s the Penn Band?</p>
<p>Hill is probably the rowdiest of the dorms. Let’s be real here.</p>
<p>As for a cappella, many groups make a big deal about having 75 people audition for three or four slots, but of those 75, 50 can’t hold a pitch, so if you can match pitch, you’ll likely get a callback. If you look on the lists of the a cappella groups who post their callbacks, you’ll see the same ten names six times since it’s pretty common to audition for 5-10 groups in a cycle. Realistically, if you’re decent, groups will fight over you.</p>
<p>As for school spirit, there really isn’t school spirit in the form of camaraderie. People like Penn and they like going to Penn, but we aren’t like a Division I-A school who can sell out a 100,000 person football stadium every week (Beaver Stadium at Penn State becomes the third largest city in Pennsylvania on home weekends… Franklin Field… ehh… not so much). People don’t usually know the fight songs or really show up at stuff… camaraderie really comes in the form of the groups you join. I LOVE the Penn Glee Club, as I also love my fraternity and the Newman Center, and alumni are very dedicated to the groups they joined at Penn, so that is where the real school spirit shows itself.</p>
<p>penn band is very fun but don’t expect something super serious</p>
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nah we know as much as you do about early decision. The decisions will be posted on penn portal. No problem and Good luck :)</p>
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I dont really know much about the penn band because I dont really know anybody in it, but from the looks of it, its not one the the huge bands that you see at calvacades with the elaborate shows, enormous color guard, etc (Marching band kid in high school :P). They sound decent though, except when they come marching into hill and play before a game when I’m trying to sleep. </p>
<p>And I agree with chrisw on where the school spirit really lies, for example at my show this weekend, the alum literally filled half of the room. People are very passionate about their extracurriculars at penn, and people do come back from all over the country to support.</p>
<p>I’m an alum who regularly attends Penn student performing arts events. :)</p>
<p>Saw Penn Players’ “Into The Woods” last weekend–PHENOMENAL.</p>
<p>@45 Percenter</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that theatre isn’t lacking!
At my current college/residential high school program, our theatre is pretty sketchy, even though I am the director. XD</p>
<p>^ This coming weekend, I’m going to see the Penn Theatre Arts Program (home of the Theatre Arts major) production of “Urinetown”–looking forward to that!</p>
<p>Considering that the Theatre Arts Program puts on 3-4 productions a year (casting open to non-majors, by the way), and that there are also at least 10 or so student groups on campus that each present 2 or more theatrical productions a year, there really is an incredible wealth of theatre opportunities on the Penn campus. Especially for a school that isn’t widely known for its theatre program, unlike, e.g., Northwestern.</p>
<p>And LOTS of Broadway, Hollywood, and other entertainment industry movers and shakers have come out of Penn (producers, directors, studio heads, foundation and industry association heads, and even a few actors!).</p>
<p>^ Yeah! I talked about being in performances with Penn Theatre, and also auditioning for the Improv group, Without A Net, in my Why Penn Essay. Have you had a chance to see them before?</p>
<p>Both my parents went to Northwestern, so it’s an attractive option for me, but I’d love to explore the opportunities at Penn.</p>
<p>^ Haven’t seen Without A Net, yet.</p>
<p>With regard to Northwestern, just keep in mind that the place is overrun by theatre types, relative to a place like Penn, and the ratio of performance/directing/etc. opportunities to interested students is generally going to be significantly higher at Penn. Both schools have their advantages, of course, but that’s something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Also, most of the productions and theatre groups at Penn are student-run and student-directed (with a few exceptions like Penn Players, which always hires professional directors), so someone interested in hands-on experience in running a production or group has lots of opportunities at Penn. I recently attended a Penn alumni forum presented by a group of alums who are Broadway producers, theatre heads, national theatre foundation heads, etc., and they emphasized that their participation in the hands-on theatre opportunities at Penn really helped to prepare them for their careers. And they also indicated that they probably wouldn’t have had as many such opportunities at a school dominated by a larger academic theatre program (e.g., Northwestern).</p>
<p>Do you know anything about the Vegolos Program in Molecular Life Sciences. I’m interested in it, and just wanted to know how difficult it is to get in to the program, and how it is, in general.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>What’s the first week like? I know a lot of universities hold certain activities during the first few days so that newcomers can get to know each other. </p>
<p>Also, how would you rate the roommate system? (As in, how do you and your friends feel about what you/they wanted in a roommate and what you/they ended up with.)</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>@shockprops</p>
<p>NSO week is pretty amazing. I think the school ends up spendiong ~$1 million a year on it and highlights includes reserving the Philadelphia Museum of Arts /w catered food for the night, a mosh pit at Van Pelt, etc… Also, all the frats and such have a ton of parties and such due to the influx of freshman. </p>
<p>The roommate system is hit or miss. Its essentially random so roommates fall anywhere from mortal enemies to functional friendships to best friends.</p>
<p>@brownman23</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore in Vagelos MLS. (You are talking about MLS, not LSM right, lol…) Anyways, the program is by invite only. Essentially, the admissions office sends a stack of students that have been accepted to the program’s director for him to look at. I think maybe a little bit over 100 invitations are sent out every year and incoming classes are in the 30s and 40s. Attrition is high, graduation average is ~13. The program is by no means easy, it along with M&T are probably the hardest academic programs at Penn. That is why the dropout rate is so ridiculously high, but we do have quite a few perks. Anyways, you can message me or something if you want more details.</p>
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Tevash could help you more on this question, as I dont know anyone in vagelos. Sorry ):</p>
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</p>
<p>The first week was AMAZING! There are many scheduled activities and events to go to, you meet SO many random people, and the nights are so fun. There are tons of frat parties, but if you arent a drinker or dont like that scene, there are many scheduled ‘late night’ activities through the school, like marshmellows on college green, game nights, pancake events, ikea trip, toga party, etc. I bounced between scheduled activites and frat parties, and spent two nights just hanging out with friends talking and watching movies. NSO is what you make of it, you can go all out or do absolutely nothing (trust me, I know people who sat in their rooms the whole time). </p>
<p>Roommates are done randomly unless you pick a roommate prior. The roommate survey is two vauge questions long, which I’m pretty sure were ‘are you a morning or night person’ and ‘are you a smoker’. I was lucky and ended up with a roommate who I LOVE, but I know some who dont really like theirs. One of my friends has a roommate who is a complete slob, and my bf and his roommate rarely talk. Hopefully you’re lucky, and if not, make the best of it and room with a friend sophomore year :)</p>
<p>hey rainbowdazzle, I live in hill too…lol maybe we know each other? anyway, I just wanted to say that it was really nice of you to take the time to answer all of these questions.</p>
<p>@phwool</p>
<p>My roommate is a freshman in the penn band and he loves it. They are a tight group of people and they travel to each of the Ivies every weekend to play at the football game. I know they have band-kids only parties one day most weeks and the kids in it are really cool. I am friends with 3 kids on my floor in hill and they all love it. The band parties are really drink however much you want. My friends learned that the hard way when he went to the hospital after getting too drunk at the first party haha.</p>
<p>How hard is it to maintain a strong GPA (3.7+) as a Biochem major? Are the curves pretty harsh since all the kids at Penn are smart?</p>
<p>How did you guys study for tests, etc?</p>
<p>RE: What’s the first week like?</p>
<p>NSO is the best week you will ever have, apart from Spring Flings. It’s a great time, and you meet a ton of people (to be fair, you meet so many people that you will never again speak to 90% of them.) To give you some perspective, for the PMA Party Penn rents out one of the best and largest art museums in the country, hires a well known chef to cater (for those of you who are culinary inclined, it was Stephen Starr this year) and throws a party for its freshmen. This is obviously the most glamorous of the events, but its part of a generally awesome weekend.</p>
<p>I know some people in Vagelos LSM, its a lot of work and you need to enjoy the material to really survive, if you’re doing it for the sake of going pre-med but don’t have interest in the topics I would suggest avoiding it.</p>
<p>Biochem majors have to work hard, I don’t know about more specific GPA questions though, sorry.</p>
<p>And as far as roommates, most of my friends have positive interactions. Your roommate may or may not be your best friend on campus, but in most cases you can make it work. Just don’t go in expecting to mesh perfectly (it could happen) but more likely you’re going to have to put a little effort in to make it work.</p>
<p>How are the females?
And how does the whole having sex thing work out with a roommate present? just wondering</p>