Incoming Penn/Wharton Freshman Advice

Hey guys!

I was accepted ED to Penn/Wharton and was wondering if any of you had some advice for incoming freshman to college in general and/or Penn-specific. I have no idea what to expect for Quaker days in the Spring; how should I prepare? Is the admitted student Facebook group helpful? I heard some finance firms actually already host information tents for the incoming class at Quaker days which sounds pretty extraordinary, is this true?

Once I am officially a freshman on campus, how should I attempt to get involved in the social scene? Is Greek life important? I definitely want to be kept busy socially but academics (and sleep!) are a priority for me, and I have some concerns about fitting into the “Social Ivy” in that regard. I also hear people take clubs really seriously at Penn, and while I look forward to the plethora of extracurricular opportunities in college and I understand it is important to participate and do well in them, I don’t want to get into a situation where I feel stressed 24/7 on all fronts from academics to student clubs to the social scene. How should a freshman navigate student clubs, student life and the many competing demands?

I don’t come from a super wealthy or connected family, but from far away it would seem that Wharton students, even the freshman, have summer internships, connections in the finance world, and the like already lined up. What should I expect and how can I best leverage my chances to also score well with internships and opportunities?

Any and all advice is welcome! Happy Holidays!!

First off Welcome to Penn/Wharton! Congratulations on your acceptance!! I am a mom of a Wharton senior and I can share a few things I have learned from my son about his experience- re things that have helped him along the way. It has been an amazing experience for him, I’m sure it will be for you too!

Definitely join the admitted students facebook page and connect connect connect w fellow students in any way you can. My son is still friends w many people he met that way. There might be local meet ups in your area w fellow incoming freshmen, these are great ways to start meeting people - not to be missed. My son found the key to navigating Penn and the finance world was reaching out to fellow classmates esp upperclassmen for advice. I can’t stress this enough! There are so many opportunities available at Penn, but easy to miss if you aren’t on the look out or clued in by upperclassmen…

Not sure about quaker days as they had an ED Quaker day when son was a freshman that has been discontinued. I doubt finance firms host info tents (other than credit card co’s trying to sign you up lol) as most big banks no longer recruit on campus, instead they recruit straight from their websites. Recruiting timelines for finance changed substantially during his last 3 yrs and are continuing to change. You really need to be proactive and research this. The best place to find info out about finance recruiting is in the forums of a website called Wall Street Oasis. Google it and read everything you can.

The club scene was uber competitive. Penn has taken many steps to alleviate some of that- not sure if it worked or not?. Best advice is to persevere! If you don’t get into your dream club first semester, keep trying! Network, talk to people, reach out to upperclassmen etc… Some of the more competitive clubs take people w connections or people from their elite high schools first, but if you persevere you will succeed. Don’t fret though, there are many clubs and you will find a fit. If you identify as any part of a diversity group I can’t stress enough how important it is to join those groups. There are special recruiting programs and helpful advice found in these groups that was invaluable!

Not sure about the frats- son didn’t join any. It’s about 50-50 participation. They seem to be popular w freshmen and sophomores, not so much jr sr’s. Son knows guys that did and they seemed to enjoy the experience but it is very time consuming. That is one of the biggest things at Penn he said -so many things to do and be involved w, but not enough time in the days. Read up on and develop good time management skills will be key. There is a visible wealthy population and it is easy to get caught up in spending a lot of money on downtowns or social things. Come in w a budget if this applies to you and a game plan to stick w it.

Wishing you great success- It is an amazing school!

Congratulations on your acceptance to Penn! My daughter was admitted ED last year. We felt Quaker Days was useless for students admitted via ED as most of the programming focused on getting RD students to commit to Penn. There were information sessions about the benefits of attending Penn, available majors etc. that were already known to applicants for whom Penn was their first choice. My daughter did enjoy the closing session/pep rally because it heightened the excitement she already felt. Apparently, Dean Furda knows how to hype up a crowd.

Some clubs are more competitive to join than others, but there are many opportunities to get involved. There will be a club fair during the first week of classes where you can get information about the various clubs and requirements. Candidates for the class board began campaigning during the summer via social media so that is something to keep in mind if you are interested in student government. Most of my daughter’s socializing occurs within her club sport and residential program community.

My daughter has found the key to navigating the competing demands is setting limits and asking for help. She was very involved in high school (multiple sports, clubs, etc.) and Penn mirrors her high school in that way; everyone is doing a lot of activities and it’s easy to feel like you should be doing more. At one point, she was questioning whether she should add more activities to her already packed schedule. We had a serious talk about her tendency to take on too much and I’ll tell you what I told her: “This is your journey and it is fine to set limits. Life is not a competition.”

There are wealthy students at Penn, but students can have fun without spending a lot of money. There are many social and cultural opportunities available at no cost through the college houses. My daughter has friends from all economic classes and says no one discusses money.

Lastly, take time to build relationships. My daughter’s RAGAs (Residential Advisers and Graduate Associates) and House Fellows have been an invaluable resource. They have years of experience both as Penn students and faculty and have creative solutions to a myriad of issues.

Penn is a dynamic community of scholars; may you thrive and succeed there. Go Quakers!

Just wanted to say thank you for posting this. I was leaning toward having my son skip Quaker Days when I saw it was only one day of programming midweek, but I am happy to read this confirmation. It is not easy to fly from our mountain town to Philly, so he would have to spend two nights there. I will share the rest of the advice in this thread with him. Thanks to you and @runswimyoga for taking the time to post.