I'm running out of reasons to convince myself; maybe yours will

<p>if you don't mind telling us, where did you decide? :)</p>

<p>I didn't want to disappoint those who expected a different result. So I hoped this question wouldn't come up. I knew it was foolish of me to hope so, but definitely worth a try. Anyway, if you must know, I have officially declined a full ride to Rice University, the Thomas Eliot Scholarship to Washington University, and University of Pennsylvania (from whom I haven't found out about F.Aid) to accept Brown's offer of admission and its fairly competitive scholarship. At Brown I think I'll have more opportunities to become well-rounded, to develop more diverse interests, and to grow into a unique individual. As a person who would like to take risks and get out of his shell to explore other parts of the world, I decided to leave Texas - my comfort zone - for a place I've never been to. My family are supportive of my decision, and that's important. But mostly it's my support I was seeking. Again, thank you very much for your help.</p>

<p>i'm not disappointed, tien...but i will miss meeting you at Penn! :p</p>

<p>i'm delighted that you have made a decision with which you are happy and i wish you the best of luck at brown! :)</p>

<p>Damn I was hoping you'd come to Penn, you seem like a cool dude. Good luck at Brown</p>

<p>I always thought I was nerdy. But hey, thanks for calling me cool. I think I'm ready for my Mustang, nose piercing, and a mohawk now. Just kidding. I'm very sorry that I can't attend Penn with you guys. However, I'll consider U Penn Med School as one of my choices, if that helps you feel any better. Good luck with your experiences at Penn, guys.</p>

<p>Sorry, guys. But this is really bothering me, so I have to ask for some opinions. For those of you who wanted to me attend Penn, you might be glad to hear that there is a possibility that I'll be there in the fall. I chose Brown and refused Penn and Rice. However, Penn came back with a full ride offer and thus made me reconsider my decision. Anyway, I just wanna ask for some honest opinions about the school to once again make a close-cut decision. How scary is West Philly? Is Penn a bubble like some of the student reviews say? How large is the percentage of the students that are rice, superficial, and snobby at Penn? And if I don't like the frat/sor social life, will I have a problem at Penn?</p>

<p>I meant to say "rich" not "rice"</p>

<p>First,"if you are interested in joinging one of the choral groups when you apply, do you have to specify on the application? and would it help ur admission chance? thx"</p>

<p>No, you do not have to specify, and as far as I remember, there isn't a place to put it. HOWEVER, if there is a certain a capella or choral (or ANY) group on campus you know you are interested in joining, THAT is exactly what you should put in your "Why I want to come to Penn/What can I bring to the table" essay. That's what they want to hear. I want to join this group, because I think my assets & interests, blah blah blah. But well phrased (and without the blahs)</p>

<p>1) "How Scary is West Philly?" Not scary at all, if you aren't a moron. ;) But seriously, if you aren't walking alone at night drunk at 3AM, it's not really any less scary than most other places. Yeah, Providence is tiny enough that I did walk back to my dorm (summer program) from downtown at 3AM (sober) alone, and all I got was one guy yelling at me from his car. Penn suffers a lot from a well-deserved reputation from the 70s. In the last 10 years there have been leaps and bounds in security around the school. 898-RIDE/WALK are awesome. People will tell you not to go past 40th street because it's an old rule of thumb. I live on 42nd, most of the people around me are penn students.</p>

<p>2) "Is Penn a bubble like some of the student reviews say?"
Yes and No. It's kinda up to you and your personality. If you want to spend 4 years and never leave campus, I know a lot of kids who seem to do that. However, you will also get a great introduction to Philly from your House Deans & RA/GA, they'll take you to stuff. I also know a lot of kids who are going out every weekend, going to the zoo, ball games, South Street, clubs, rock concerts, movies, parks, restaurants, (philly has amazing food. The joke is that we get all the great chefs who can't afford to open a restaurant in NYC), community service projects, etc, etc, etc. The City is there, but you have to want to enjoy it.
IMHO, you're just as likely to end up staying in a Bubble at Brown, as it seems like most of the avant garde area is on that one street which runs adjascent to campus... How often are you going to want to walk up that hill? I traveled, but I got bored of the city after a month. </p>

<ol>
<li>"How large is the percentage of the students that are [rich], superficial, and snobby at Penn?"
Not one person larger than any other $40,000 a year school. At least you know most of them are technically supposed to be smart. My best friend goes to Psyracuse and says all the kids there are the rich kids who weren't smart enough to get into an IVY. It's a fact of life, some people are snobby rich losers. You'll get that at any school, no matter where. Of course, there are also smart, cool, fun rich people who will pay for your drinks and/or who you won't know are rich until you read in the papers they have a trust fund which includes their own company. Those are the best kind. I'd say more Penn kids are down to earth than Brown kids, but that has a lot to do with the fact that I hate Brown's Basketball Fans because they're fairweather fans and throw stuff at us. </li>
</ol>

<p>4."And if I don't like the frat/sor social life, will I have a problem at Penn?"
Um... maybe, but probably not? 30% of Penn is Greek, which means 70% of Penn is NOT Greek. That said, a lot of kids who aren't greek like to take advantage of Frat/Sorority parties, as they're typically free <em>unless they're off campus</em>. Not everyone does though. Most freshmen end up at at least one party during NSO, but you don't have to drink, and you don't have to even go. I went to one, for about 10 minutes, and didn't go to another frat for the next probably 8 months. Your hall freshmen year, and any student group you join, will become your friend circle, so you guys can dictate what= fun to you. And honestly, most of Penn's frats/Sororities are the least uptight people ever. Two of my roommates are Greek, and they're not at all the kind of people you'd think would be.</p>

<p>Wow. That was long.</p>

<p>
[quote]
How large is the percentage of the students that are rice, superficial, and snobby at Penn? And if I don't like the frat/sor social life, will I have a problem at Penn?

[/quote]

ok, i definitely can't be as thorough as muppetcoat, but this is what i learned from two days on campus...
there are so many ppl at penn, that you're bound to find ppl who fit your personality and with whom you can make friends...my host described it as being at a school "where everyone doesn't know what you did last night"...but it's not so big that you get lost...just walking down locust walk w/my host, she found like 5-6 people she knew but hadn't seen in a really long time
i'm from louisiana and was considering penn and a southern school to make my final decision, but i didn't want to lose the wonderful southern hospitality by going to philly...philly, though, is like a southern city transposed to the north...even though it is in the northeast, i found the people there to be a lot more open and friendly than those at the southern school i was looking at
my host agreed about the frat/sor scene</p>

<p>maybe it was a bad group, but i heard a Penn a capella group at Penn's Model UN conference, and my high school group was better. however, considering that my HS group qualified for a national competition, i may have high standards.</p>

<p>but, if you got about half tuition from Brown, I would think you would get the same from Penn, because ivies don't do merit aid. In that case, go to Penn. But brown and penn are very different. penn is very career-driven, and contains more students who like big, urban crowds, etc (meaning they like to party more). but brown offers more flexibility and is more liberal (personally i wouldn't discriminate according to political leanings, because it's good to hear all sides of the issues).</p>

<p>Location-wise, Philly is an exciting place to be...and near enough to NYC, DC
and Baltimore for day trips. You would get a good feel for the northeast.</p>

<p>Are not ivy league schools not supposed to offer merit-based scholarships?</p>

<p>I'll throw my 2 cents in on this..</p>

<p>West Philly:
It's really not nearly as bad as its reputation. Like muppetcoat said, you wouldn't go out walking alone on 44th street at 3am on a tuesday night.. but you wouldn't do that in ANY city (or at least I hope you wouldn't..). There are Penn Police (Penn has it's own police force, one of only 3 accredited university police forces in the country) absolutley everywhere, especially at night. They also patrol off campus a bit too. Honestly, i've never felt unsafe at Penn and I walk around in the dark by myself..</p>

<p>Being in a Bubble:
like muppetcoat said, it is what you make it. My friends and I tried to go into the city a lot (it's a 10 minute walk to center city) and I think it definitely added to my experience. I also had friends (who were seniors..) who barely ever went off campus.. </p>

<p>Rich, snobby kids:
Of course there are some, there will be at any incredibly expensive school. But with 10,000 undergrads, you're certain to find a group of people to hang out with. And some of the uber rich people can turn out to be amazing people.. A girl that lived across the hall from me was a multi-millionare (lived on the beach in Newport Beach, CA, etc), had no concept of money, but was an absolutely amazing person.. and brilliant. For the most part, I've found most people to be very down to earth (more so than I was expecting when I first started..) and you will certainly find a group of friends pretty quickly and won't bother with the "rich, snobby" type.</p>

<p>Greek Life:
Greek life is a large part of the social scene, if you allow it to be. Most freshmen go to the frat parties on the weekend, but there are really soo many other options.. and again, you'll be able to find a group of people who have similar interests.. There are soo many bars/clubs, museums, movie theaters, restraunts, bowling allies, etc, etc, that you could go out every single weekend to a different place and probably never repeat.. It's the best thing about living in a true city as opposed to a college town.</p>

<p>Hope this helps! Good luck with your decision!</p>

<p>I have to ask something because I am really curious:</p>

<ol>
<li>Are you a transfer or a regular freshman? </li>
<li>How did you get a full ride at Penn? Because Penn doesn't offer full rides...</li>
</ol>

<p>FULL RIDE AT PENN?!?!?!?!</p>

<p>take PENN without question. they are usually not that generous, you must be in real need of aid. :/</p>

<p>Sorry that I got everyone confused or roused up about my financial situation. It was not a merit-based scholarship. I assumed everyone in here knew that Ivies don't offer merit-based scholarships. But to confirm, I come from a poor single-parent family; therefore, my scholarships from Brown and Penn no doubt are need-based. However, there is a big difference in the amount each school gives, so I don't know what the deal with that is.</p>

<p>I got 43,800 in grant aid which leaves a difference of about $1,000. I come from pretty much the same situation but I was lucky enough to live in Philadelphia and get a mayor's scholarship which guarantees no loan component in the aid package for all four years.</p>

<p>I don't get anywhere close to that at Cornell. So like tienthangtuan said, there is a big difference in the amount each school gives.</p>

<p>How are the dorm assignments at Penn? On average, are Penn students happy with the residential halls on campus? Is it true that some dorm (I think it was Hill) does not have air conditioning?</p>

<p>So housing is far from perfect at Penn, but it works out.. Hill does not have AC but honesty, you're in Philly, not texas. You only need AC for the first two weeks, if that.. And plus, they turn it off after about 4 weeks and don't turn it back on till the last 2 or 3 in the dorms that do have it! The dorms aren't anything spectacular but they serve their purpose.. and there are soo many things going on all the time, why would you ever want to be in your dorm anyway? :-D</p>