<p>As a prospective student, I visited Penn a few years ago and really loved the campus and also really loved Philly but I've been reading all the threads recently and it seemed like there's been nothing but haters posting stuff that makes Penn seem like a preppy trash dump.</p>
<p>I would really like to hear from people who are students (or know enough to be useful) and tell me insider information, like student quality (ambitious? smart? do they take initiative?) and other stuff like food quality. And off-campus housing/prices. And about the feasibility of actually participating in programs like Wharton Leadership Ventures or WEP? </p>
<p>The number of “haters” who have been posting over the past few days can be counted on the fingers of one hand . . . and not even on all of 5 of those. ;)</p>
<p>Sure, you can have the admission office answer your questions. They have plenty of members here on CC. :)</p>
<p>Take my advice: Penn is a dump. But, you can grow to somewhat like this dump if you get lucky, which about half of the student body does, by making great friends, enjoying what you do etc. The other half thinks about transferring out the first chance they get. Trust me. </p>
<p>Penn, at the end of the day, is the most unforgiving Ivy. It is a business. A huge bureaucracy that couldn’t care less about its students. If you’re cool with all that though, and still like Penn, then by all means come here. It is an Ivy.</p>
<p>Also, please understand how much Philly screws us students over. There is literally nothing to do here (who wants to go see the Kimmell institute? Are you serious?!) and it’s so dangerous that they encourage us to take Penn walk, a service where police guide you to your college house from campus (the college houses are slightly separate from the main campus). Imagine studying one late night till 4am and having to think twice about simply walking back to your dorm. That’s Penn for you. </p>
<p>I’m here to give the other perspective. The true perspective. You can take it or leave it. I really don’t care. But I am a student here, and I really care about not letting others make the same decision I did, with the limited information that I had.</p>
<p>^Full disclosure: he has been a student at Penn for about 5 days, and has huge negative bias even before arriving at the campus as a freshmen. Same can be said for Columbia or Yale with campuses very closed to a not so safe part of the city. In all fairness, shouldn’t you be there for at least a few months before making such comments about a school? I am sure you are sincere in your own way about how you feel but let’s be clear, self proclaimed true perspective is way over the top.</p>
Hard to trust you on that when Penn has among the highest freshmen retention, 4-year-graduation, and 6-year-graduation rates in the nation (and among top schools):</p>
<p>Come to think of it, it’s hard to trust you about ANYTHING, since your overwhelming negativity about Penn and Philly in the face of your obvious and utter ignorance about both, is quite stunning. Good luck getting ahead in life with THAT attitude.</p>
<p>And no, I do NOT work for the Penn Admissions Office–or any other part of Penn, for that matter. I just know a helluva lot more about Penn and Philly than you do which, quite frankly, doesn’t require much knowledge. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>HafsaRox, I read your post and honestly I don’t know whether I trust you or not. You seem to really hate Penn and, as a fellow human being, I know it’s not altogether realistic to accuse you of making it all up. But I love Kimmel Center! (if that’s the place you’re referring to) and I’ve seen Penn cops. I remember there was a massive dude on a bike at every corner of campus so I can’t really imagine there’d be a safety issue. And there certainly are statistics that prove Penn is a school where students want to return to.</p>
<p>I don’t really know though, I’ve heard all the opposing viewpoints too. Apparently Penn food is abominable? And the dorms are awful? Haha I’ll visit soon but until then I really want to know whether or not it’s a love-or-hate-it place or just a hate-it place.</p>
<p>I just came back from Philadelphia last Sunday. I don’t have time to write detailed info about Philly. I enjoyed my trip and I found the following wiki info is good to read:</p>
<p>@ridgway: Food is horrible at every campus. I visited my sister at Yale in March and, trust me, the food was awful. About the dorms, it depends. If you like cleanliness, the High-Rises are amazing. If you like community, the Quad is amazing. But you’re not going to get both in any dorm at Penn.</p>
<p>I am not trying to mislead you. I have no reason to. I am a student here. I was accepted here. I decided to accept the offer without hearing the opposing view-points because none were available at that time, and I regret that. Again, everyone can have their opinion, but I’m not lying here: the majority of the freshman class is pretty miserable right now. It seems like we all had higher expectations.</p>
<p>Also, I do not “hate” Penn. I love Penn. I hate Princeton (;)), as every proud Quaker should. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t notice its obvious defects. I want these things to be brought out into the open so at least a debate can be started on this. Penn’s incredibly bureaucratic though, so I don’t see that happening anytime soon. -.-</p>
<p>As a parent I’ve been on this board for about 6 months (changed my login 2 months ago after DS chose Penn) and have read posts on a lot of boards as well as posted. </p>
<p>Hafsarrox has done nothing but complain and bad mouth Penn. I wish she/he had gone to another school. She/he is all of 18 and has been at Penn for what…5 days? I think she/he would have been unhappy no matter where she/he went. Looking forward to she/he transferring.</p>
<p>She/he likes to make lots of negative statements about Penn with no facts. </p>
<p>Thank goodness my DS is having a wonderful time at NSO…and no, he didn’t do all the activities.</p>
<p>^ Judging a major research university and a major city after barely 5 days there–if that many–before 3/4 of the student body has even arrived back on campus, and without having ANY chance whatsoever to thoroughly explore what the school and city have to offer, and making sweeping pronouncements about the worst administration in the Ivy League, the worst city in the country, the majority of the kids (over 1,250 freshmen, presumably) who purportedly are unhappy and want to transfer . . . . . well, it kinda speaks for itself.</p>
<p>If you’re trying to be helpful, you aren’t. With no real facts or experience on which to base your “opinions,” you’re anything but.</p>
<p>^ Seriously, doesn’t admissions have something better to do? No one cares about the opinion of an “alum” (good joke) who graduated before they were even born. So, who’s more relevant here, me or you?</p>
<p>It’s what you make of it, the advice I’ve been given, which I plan to follow is to use most of my time but not all of my time to study/academics, work-study job or other on campus employment, research/extracurriculars, and too also relax and hang out with friends you make, you have to be wise with your decision making.</p>
<p>“the majority of the freshman class is pretty miserable right now”</p>
<p>Sorry. This does not include my daughter. She moved in on Wednesday. She went out with new friends for breakfast, lunch, dinner on Thursday. I have not heard any complaint from her. Similarly I have not heard any complaint from my son about MIT dorm in the last two years although his room at MIT is old and has little space. The room at my daugther’s drom is much larger and in a better condition.</p>
<p>I wonder how you get the statistics to get to the conclusion “the majority” while you said on the other thread that you have not made many friends yet.</p>
<p>When did I say I haven’t made any friends yet? I’ve made plenty; most are international but that’s because ISO was smaller than NSO, and I got to know the people better. I’ve also found my house mates to be pleasant.</p>
<p>Like he said, you have to make the most of the situation. Penn is a deeply imperfect school. Possibly the biggest mess in the Ivy League right now. But, Penn students are strong, and they look past it and make the best of it anyways.</p>
<p>Honest opinion? I really like Penn. I’m glad I chose it over Cornell and my other offers. I too had a miserable time when I was first adjusting but instead of advising people not to come here I decided to be a big boy and just wait it out like everyone does. </p>
<p>Penn is not a dump, far from it, and anyone who says that is clearly a fool. As for using Penn walk it’s in place for the whiny, bratty people who complain about how bad Philly is. I’ve never been accosted or threatened, nor have any of my friends. </p>
<p>The quality of student life is high. There are lots of spoiled people who don’t like _____ but there are few things here that are mediocre. The dining plan is too expensive and living off campus is very appealing especially in a city like Philly. The advisers sometimes suck, a lot. It’s a very good school and a majority of the students like it here (contrary to what others would have you believe).</p>