<p>So obviously, while Penn is amazing, we know that it isn't Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. But when compared to Brown, Dartmouth, and some other top schools, I find it difficult to come to an understanding of how the general population views UPenn. Some people, when I tell them that I am going to Penn, are extremely ecstatic and proud. Others are complete idiots and say, "Oh, like....Penn State!?!?" (which honestly is incredibly annoying). Finally, most people are kind of in the middle, and seem to either be unimpressed or perhaps do not understand its significance, and will give the same "Oh cool!" that they would have said for any other Joe college.</p>
<p>I know I shouldn't really give a poop about what others think, because those who possess at least somewhat of a brain know that UPenn is an amazing school...but doesn't anyone else feel that UPenn doesn't harbor the recognition that it deserves? Again, I realize that I shouldn't rely on the reactions of others to rank a college, because I myself know where it is ranked, but come on....you can't blame me for being slightly annoyed at the fact that I worked extremely hard for four years, got into my dream school, and leave several people unimpressed because they're too stupid to realize that Penn State and UPenn are not the same school.</p>
<p>Also, to other Ivy kids, how is someone from UPenn viewed? I know that Penn is sometimes considered the 'social Ivy', but can anyone offer any further insight?</p>
<p>“Also, to other Ivy kids, how is someone from UPenn viewed? I know that Penn is sometimes considered the ‘social Ivy’, but can anyone offer any further insight?”</p>
<p>I view Penn as an absolutely amazing school. I see no difference in terms of prestige between Dartmouth, Brown, Penn and Columbia students. I should add that I know 7 people from my community (and 3 from my high school) going to Harvard, and none of them got in off of pure academics (most were partial or full athletic recruits and two of them got in through connections). There is a girl in my class going to Penn and she has higher test scores than all of them. </p>
<p>If people are ignorant enough to think Penn is the same as Penn State, don’t be bothered with them. Cornell gets better name recognition by the general population (because there isn’t a “Cornell State” it can be confused with) than Penn, but Penn is slightly harder to get into these days (though probably on par with Cornell CAS) – so do not worry about what ignorant people think about Penn.</p>
<p>I went to UPENN, so I consider myself relatively unbiased.</p>
<p>It’s not HYP, but it’s viewed in the same category as Darthmouth, Cornell, etc.</p>
<p>That said, within certain circles, Wharton is viewed as the most selective school within UPENN, and if you intend to go into business it definitely is viewed in a different category than the rest of UPENN for the purposes of getting a job, networking, etc.</p>
<p>Not really a big deal given you can always dual-degree or transfer if you’re in CAS, Engineering or Nursing.</p>
<p>Congratulations for your acceptance into Penn! What an amazing school, truly. It is so well regarded.</p>
<p>It has wonderful professors and programs, and whether some person would say it is “higher” or “lower” than other individual IVYs is really besides the point. Anyone who would look down at you for attending an excellent school like Penn is certainly not worth your time or consideration.</p>
<p>I don’t know why you put Penn on a lower tier than HYP. Plenty of people choose Penn over HYP…they all provide different experiences, and I always find it funny when people are choosing between say, Yale and Penn, because they’re so completely different. I personally didn’t even apply to HP because I didn’t feel they had anything that differentiated them from other top schools besides the name brand.</p>
<p>Also, you’re not really going to get good answers from this on the Penn forum…it’s either Penn students speaking, which doesn’t give an accurate representation, rather our impression of other people’s impressions, or like…I’m just waiting for princetondreams to show up haha (basically a ■■■■■).</p>
<p>“those who possess at least somewhat of a brain know that UPenn is an amazing school”
“they’re too stupid to realize that Penn State and UPenn are not the same school”</p>
<p>No. Just…no. Sure, it’s fine to be annoyed at the situation, but don’t go around insulting people’s intelligence just because they don’t recognize the school you go to/give you the praise you expected for getting into an Ivy.</p>
<p>I loved Penn because of its flexibility in majors. I hated Princeton, so I didn’t apply. I didn’t like Yale’s pre1980 science equipment. I only liked Harvard for the name; I didn’t like the campus at all. Penn was perfect for me. The people who matter, who are recruiting know that UPenn is University of Pennsylvania. Princeton is having budget cuts this year and Penn raised 3.3 billion dollars. LOL</p>
<p>Sigh… EVERY year, there’s a post along the lines of this thread. </p>
<p>Every Penn students learn something once they get here. It doesn’t matter what the hell it is that the foolish think of Penn (oh, Penn State! How nice! And I hear this from U.S. Customs ALL THE TIME). Who cares what they think? You’re going to a Top 5 school in the nation. Be proud, blow yourself up, whatever. Do something to cherish and celebrate that you are going to Penn rather than worry about some fools that will get you nowhere.</p>
<p>Putting Penn on “same league” as so and so shows how little people know about Penn.
Penn is a pre-professional school with the exception of CAS. All the other Ivies except for Cornell stick to the liberal arts. Comparing liberal arts education to pre-professional education is like comparing a tarantula to a cobra. You can’t.</p>
<p>Uh, no it isn’t. Sure, you could argue that it’s “pre-professional” because it supposedly prepares you for a professional position. Eh, no. That’s the medical school, not CAS. </p>
<p>People in CAS complain all the time because of all the College liberal arts crap that they are forced to take. </p>
<p>There’s a reason why a ton of people who do pre-med go Bioengineering.</p>
<p>^ However, 45% of Princeton’s operating budget is dependent on endowment income, compared to only 10% of Penn’s operating budget. Additionally, Penn’s endowment losses during the recent finanical crisis were proportionately much lower than those of other Ivies, including Princeton. Accordingly, Princeton’s operating budget was much harder hit by the financial crisis than was Penn’s:</p>
<p>^ Penn CAS doesn’t have a core–just distribution requirements. You get to pick the courses you use to satisfy those requirements. With Columbia’s core, everyone is required to take the exact same set of courses for that portion of the curriculum.</p>
<p>^ To be more accurate, the majority of Penn’s class is not accepted ED–slightly less than half is. ;)</p>
<p>Doing two minors is definitely feasible. The answers to virtually all of your questions about CAS distribution requirements, majors, minors, etc., can be found here:</p>
Is Penn’s core just as rigid, and useless?</p>