<p>Hi guys!
Congrats on being the Class of 2014! I'm a rising sophomore doing an independent dual degree from The College (in either economics or psychology) and in Wharton (Finance, BPUB). If you have any questions about Penn, academics, student life, parties, whatever--feel free to ask me, and I will do my best to answer!
-Anju</p>
<p>Thank you! Perfect timing 
- How difficult was the academic transition? I come from a crappy high school (most kids go to Community college) so I’ve probably had to work a little less than some of these kids for a good GPA. The last girl who went to Penn from my school had a huge academic shock, got pretty depressed, and did terribly her first semester >_<.</p>
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<li><p>How is the dating scene? Do people do mostly random hookups, are the guys attractive, are most dates found at parties? :P</p></li>
<li><p>How easy it to make friends? Do people make friends quickly or does it happen gradually over the first semester?</p></li>
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<p>Sorry for all of the questions and thanks in advanced :D!</p>
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<li>How difficult was the academic transition? </li>
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<p>It really does depend on the person, because obviously some people excel while others take a while to get adjusted. But I think the most important thing when coming to a school with so many smart people is to be prepared to get Bs, Cs, and Ds first year. Dont expect to get the grades you got in high school! That said, try your best and dont be scared to get help. There are tons of tutors, writing center, math centers etc so if you ever have trouble, get help ASAP. Its not like in high school where only the stupid kids go to tutors. Here, the people who excel are the ones who get help early on. You do have to work hard, but if you do, you will do well. </p>
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<li>How is the dating scene? </li>
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<p>Well, from what I have seen, most freshman just want to hook-up (especially guys) and are not looking for a relationship. So the hooking-up scene is definitely at frat parties. I do have one friend ended up going out with a guy she hooked up with, but that’s pretty rare freshman year. However, there is a dating scene once people become upperclassmen. I came from a a really tiny high school with a pathetic selection of guys, so I would say that there are a lot of attractive guys at Penn 
Since its a pretty big school you will definitely find some guys you find attractive. </p>
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<li>How easy it to make friends? Do people make friends quickly or does it happen gradually over the first semester?</li>
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<p>QUICKLY! Almost everyone makes friends during NSO (new student orientation). Make your friends fast then, because after that, people become more private arent as open to making friends because they have found their group. Penn isnt very clique-y so you will probably have many friends in many different circles, but you should try to find the people you click with during NSO when everyone is looking for friends.</p>
<p>can you tell me about the core/intro classes? what kind of curves do they have like for Calc 104, chem 015, etc…</p>
<p>Core intro classes:
Most intro classes are large lectures with 100~200 people. It depends on the professor whether the class is curved or not. E.g. Psyc001 (great class btw) taught by Prof Ali is curved only if it helps you (so 90%+ is a guaranteed A-), whereas some other classes like Math 104 have a curve so that only about 30% of the people get an A. I’m not sure about chem, but I think it would be the same as Math 104.</p>
<p>Most courses are curved either on a 30-30-30-10 scale or on just a general grade scale. For example, MATH104 and 114 are both 30-30-30-10; ECON001 and 002 are on grade scales based on the median scores in the class, but the professors take into account improvement over the course of the semester when giving final grades (if you do SIGNIFICANTLY better on Midterm II than on Midterm I, you will probably be able to count Midterm II more heavily than Midterm I and thus have a higher grade). </p>
<p>The curve is generally very forgiving.</p>
<p>Also, intro classes tend to be, as anjuved said, large lectures with 150+ people in them; you have recitations which could be pointless or could be very helpful. Some are very interesting, others are terrible; it depends on the professor you get, really. Also, I would highly recommend taking at least two courses with fewer than 100 people your first semester. Do a writing seminar and either another seminar or a smaller lecture (PHIL002 is a great course for those interested in humanities and social science)</p>
<p>Econ 002 was curved on a 30-30-40 scale last year, though I’m sure there will be a new professor this year.</p>
<p>Curves really depends on the professor at times.</p>
<p>In Math 240 this past spring semester, Ziller put the B/A cutoff at the average final graded. Thus, half of the kids got As in that class (he refused to give out +s or -s)</p>
<p>hey what does it mean to have a “30-30-30-10” scale? I don’t really know anything about the curve system, but it sounds like something to worry about. Does having a curve mean that say if you have a 91% average but this is the lowest score in the class, you won’t get an A?
Are the actual percentage scores one needs to get a certain grade variable or fixed (i.e. say 94 for A or something)?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have advice on Biol 121 (in terms of quality, grading, curves)?</p>
<p>What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your school? </p>
<p>How is the campus safety?</p>
<p>Thanks a ton for doing this!</p>
<p>30-30-30-10 etc. means that 30% get As, 30% get Bs, 30% get Cs, and 10% get the rest. </p>
<p>Here’s a post about security from a couple months ago:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/837877-safety-penn.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/837877-safety-penn.html</a></p>
<p>When you say 30% get As, does that include A-s?</p>
<p>yes…</p>
<p>What’s something that entering frosh should know about the school (that commonly isn’t known)?</p>
<p>Any advice you’d give not stated already?</p>
<p>@panky14: Relax and enjoy the ride There’s tons of things to do here, so take advantage of all your opportunities and don’t stress over the little things.</p>
<p>For Biol121, do your readings and take advantage of the weekly review sessions. It’s a lot of material, but it should be manageable.</p>
<p>Usually curves will only help you, not hurt you.</p>
<p>@panky14: Don’t touch the Benjamin Franklin that is sitting on the bench on 37th street. Just don’t. If you are superstitious, don’t step on the compass or else you will fail your midterms and your entire life (proven fact). I personally love the squirrels, but they will kill for food, so always be aware of them. </p>
<p>Pretty much, as CDN_dancer said, have fun and enjoy what will be the best time of your life!</p>
<p>Hey! I have a few questions and I’d really appreciate some input. :)</p>
<p>1.I’m going dorm shopping soon and I’m wondering if you can give any tips as to what to bring/not to bring. Is there anything I should bring that people often forget? Or anything people bring too much of? My room seems fairly small and I’m not sure how roomy the closets are. I’ll definitely want to get bed risers for more storage space but I don’t really want to overpack.</p>
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<li><p>Also, I feel like everyone on campus seems to have a “passion”–or several. I feel like so many people already know exactly which clubs they’ll join and how they’ll get involved and they’re so excited. I’m worried I won’t find my “niche” as easily and I’ve heard that this is the way most people make friends. Is this true? I’ll probably join some clubs and organizations down the line but is doing so really one of the main way people make friends?</p></li>
<li><p>Could someone talk a little about greek life? I’m thinking of joining a sorority and think it would be a ton of fun and I think the feeling of being in a community would be great but I’m really not interested in doing so if hazing is a huge deal. I like to party and have a good time but I don’t want to join if sororities are super cliquey or exclusive or if I should expect hardcore hazing.</p></li>
<li><p>Also, are parties hard to find on campus? I’ve visited older friends at their schools and at some colleges it seems most frat parties are open to all and at other schools they seem really exclusive and you have to know the right people. What’s the deal at Penn?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks so much! :)</p>
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<li><p>Look on the Penn Housing website… it really does have a lot of good information for you. Try to be as reasonable as you can when planning. How much clothing do you actually need? What appliances do you actually use? stuff like that</p></li>
<li><p>I would argue that the majority of students don’t know their true passions when they come into Penn. At the end of NSO, there is an activities fair sponsored by the Student Activities Council (SAC), and you can sign up for as many clubs and groups as you want. You’ll get emails and what not inviting you to meetings, rehearsals, practices, etc. Over the course of the first few weeks, you can go to all sorts of things, and eventually you’ll fall into something that you really like. For example, when I got to Penn, I was on the email list of the Daily Pennsylvanian, Club Swimming, Penn Libertarians, Civic House, the Penn Newman Center, the Glee Club, several a cappella groups, the Penn Band and several other clubs/groups. I wound up going to a meeting of the DP, a couple swim practices and a bunch of auditions, and I wound up falling into the Glee Club as my big commitment on campus. I did an a cappella group for a little while but quit after a semester… now I’m involved heavily with the Glee Club, the Newman Center, my fraternity and a job. Most people don’t do as much since they like having more time to relax, but also most people do the same kind of “shopping” with regard to clubs and groups. I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you!</p></li>
<li><p>Hazing isn’t bad for sororities, from what I hear. The officially sanctioned ones are very large, and they don’t like to haze their sisters. You’ll have a full semester to get a taste of what the sororities are like, since you aren’t allowed to rush until spring semester.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are having trouble finding parties at Penn, you’re doing something wrong. It’s typical for freshmen to travel in enormous packs (i.e. your entire hall in your dorm… up to 25 people) during NSO, and during that week there are parties going on literally all of the time. Once school starts, people tend to tone it down, and there are usually only parties Thursday, Friday and Saturday (though sororities often have crush parties downtown… if I’m not mistaken, though, freshmen women cannot attend said crush parties due to OFSA rules). The takeaway is that parties at Penn occur really often.</p></li>
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<p>Hm. Could I ask for your input on three types of courses at Penn (just anything you might have heard about them):</p>
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<li><p>Architecture: I’m a likely Visual Studies or Archi major, and I’d just like to know a little more about the reputation that Arch classes have at Penn. Super hard? Graded on the professor or TA’s whim? </p></li>
<li><p>Cinema Studies courses (multiple choice/essays? slack-off classes? watch movies in class? loaded with too many technical/foreign terms? how hard overall? will people/professors scoff when they see Cinema courses on your transcript? Specifically the two intro courses for Cinema Studies, CINE 101 and CINE 102)</p></li>
<li><p>Music courses (there seem to be some basic music survey courses like MUSC 050 and MUSC 021 that are rated pretty well on PennCourseReview, but I know that music classes can have a danger of being very ambiguously graded or just hard to study, since it’s hard to study how to listen to something and pick up on every little detail. how hard, etc?)</p></li>
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<p>thanks for all help!</p>
<p>I’ve got a few freshman questions too:
- What did you find was the best way to take notes for classes - typing up notes on a laptop or writing in notebooks? For me, I’m more comfortable typing up notes cause my hand likes to cramp up like there’s not tomorrow, but I don’t want to have to spend a lot of money on printing paper and ink since I also like to review my notes with them in hand. And maybe it depends on the specific classes I’m taking, but just wondering what anyone might suggest for Econ001, Math104, Geol100 and a freshman seminar?
- Also, how does a girl get their laundry done??? dumb question, but i have yet to figure it out and i’d like to know my clothes won’t be stanky all day every day!
- Just out of curiosity: does anyone have more details on how/how difficult it is to transfer to wharton from the college?</p>