Obviously UPenn is an Ivy so it is a very good school, but do current students feel overwhelmed by the work and feel like they can’t have fun?
@stressedsenior99 I think you will find that if you ask them during an exam week, students are pretty stressed. However, Penn is the social Ivy for a reason. There is a good amount of fun being had.
My son is currently a freshman and can verify firsthand Penn is known as the social ivy for good reason! He said the “work hard play hard” motto is truly legit at Penn…
He has indicated to me that he has never studied this much in his entire life… BUT … he has never had the social life that he has now either… so I don’t think you’ll have to worry about a lack of social life.
My son loves Penn! He has been inspired by great professors, met truly interesting and inspiring fellow students, and been the recipient of incredible opportunities (he was recently given an all expenses paid trip to Japan for spring break!)
As a parent I can see he has grown enormously both academically and socially this year… but during an exam week he is stressed. 
@stressedsenior Quite the contrary. Penn is known as the social ivy. Students work very hard but also know how to balance academics with social life and they know how to have fun! Work hard play hard is the unofficial school motto haha.
Can you deconstruct a bit the term 'social ivy '?
Penn, The Social Ivy
I think the Social Ivy label has impacted student decisions to attend. Students who value the social aspects of college are more likely to attend Penn. To some extent, it has become self-fulfilling.
Also, Penn is more pre-professional and practically focused than other Ivies. That tends to mean more hands-on group projects which put a premium on social skills, teamwork, and the ability to get things done in that environment. In business, engineering, and nursing, social skills are important.
My son will be going to Quaker Days - he is accepted to Penn SEAS - interested in electrical engineering and computer science - does programming, robotics, builds automated, programmable gadgets - prefers more hands on stuff to strictly theoretical. Wants to be an inventor. We hope to learn how the courses are (class sizes, interactive, hands on or more theoretical), and if the eng. students are fairly collaborative, whether profs. are engaging, accessible and helpful etc. Clearly they have very strong programs and all students to explore interests outside their major. And the Pennovation Works center looks pretty amazing too. Thoughts & feedback from those who know Penn are welcome.
It would mostly depend on the student. Stress is such a personal thing. I am sure kids at the local CC are stressed out also.
All classes at selective colleges are stressful somewhat.
I think when trying to measure overall stress levels at a school, you have to look at a few things:
- The most popular majors at a school. STEM majors, especially probably CS and Engineering majors, require a ton of work. And the more the work, and the tighter your personal schedule, (for most people...) the greater the stress. So I imagine schools with a high percentage of STEM majors may have higher overall stress levels.
- The overall academic vibe of a school can affect stress: higher rigor means more stress, while less rigor means less stress.
- Competition level among students. The higher the level of competition among students -- versus collaboration -- the higher the level of stress.
- Social/party scene -- the more developed a school's social/party scene, the more outlets a student has to vent steam... to "de-stress".
Regarding Penn, I don’t see a ton of STEM majors relative to other schools – more than some, less than others.
I’m not really sure about rigor, but when people make lists of the most rigorous schools, you usually hear names like Chicago, Swat, Reed, Columbia, Cornell, MIT; not usually Penn.
Most people say that Penn’s is a collaborative environment.
And Penn’s social reputation is well established.
So overall, Penn’s overall stress level is probably less than at many, if not most, schools.
In the Ivy League, I would think stress levels are highest at Cornell and Columbia, lowest at Penn/Brown/Dartmouth, and HYP are in the middle.
I would put HYP at the lowest stress level. It is a cliche that the hardest thing at HYP is to get in. It is very easy to get A as majority of class get that. A lot of classes at Penn using curve, there is a fixed set of A grade even if everyone deserves an A.
@f2000sa I agree for Harvard and Yale. At Princeton grading is harder.
I feel the lowest stress level are Harvard, Yale, Brown
Then Penn, Princeton in the middle
And finally Cornell seems to have the highest stress level.
I don’t know much about Dartmouth, but i would guess it would be in either of the first two groups.
Dartmouth has the big party/Greek scene and not a ton of Engineering or CS majors. I figured both would contribute to a fairly low-stress vibe.
One thing to mention about Princeton is the senior thesis – extra work tacked onto every (right?) student’s work load.