<p>I'm currently debating between Penn, Columbia, and Chicago. </p>
<p>The extent of a school's intellectual atmosphere (or lack thereof) is probably my number one factor in choosing between schools after academics. The obvious choice would seem to be Chicago. However, I received several thousand dollars more per year in financial aid from Penn, and after visiting both schools I think Penn has the slight edge on a lot of the secondary factors (location, dorms, clubs etc.). It's hard to make a decision.</p>
<p>Is the pre-professional atmosphere at Penn really that prevalent? Or out of the 5,000-6,000 students in the College, would one easily be able to find other types of students (particularly if majoring in the humanities)? </p>
<p>Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>There are about 6,400 students in the College, many of whom are majoring in the humanities. For example, there are about 400 English majors:</p>
<p>[University</a> of Pennsylvania | Department of English](<a href=“http://www.english.upenn.edu/]University”>http://www.english.upenn.edu/)</p>
<p>And Penn has top-ten or top-twenty departments in the humanities departments of English, Art History, Classics, French, German, Spanish, Linguistics, Music, and Religion, as well as the social and behavioral science departments of History (some may classify this as one of the humanities), Economics, Sociology, Psychology, and Anthropolgy. And each of these has its fair share of majors. </p>
<p>Plenty of intellectual discussion and atmosphere to go around.</p>
<p>It depends on what you mean by intellectual atmosphere. If you want people having philosophical debates at the dining halls, then I don’t think you’d get that here. If you want people who are knowledgeable and curious about the world and enjoy discussing interesting topics, Penn will do.</p>
<p>And there are plenty of student groups where you can be with intellectually curious people if you want. Philomathean Society comes to mind. </p>
<p>I like the vibe at Penn. It feels like I’m around ordinary people, but most of them happen to be extremely smart.</p>
<p>Hmm…I would say dining hall and 2 a.m. dorm chats would be included, things like that.</p>
<p>And the Philomathean Society was one of the best clubs I found in the whole admissions process. :)</p>
<p>if ur looking for that atmosphere… i think chicago would be your best bet… thats what ive been hearing from ppl about the ppl there…</p>
<p>More about Penn’s Philomathean Society (oldest continuously-existing literary society in the US):</p>
<p>[Philomathean</a> Society - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomathean_Society]Philomathean”>Philomathean Society - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[The</a> Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania](<a href=“Philomathean Society”>http://www.philomathean.org/)</p>
<p>You might also want to check out the Penn Humanities Forum:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.phf.upenn.edu/[/url]”>Wolf Humanities Center;
<p>While the pre-professional atmosphere is very prevalent (especially because I’m in Wharton AND in a business frat, it’s basically forced down my throat), I have several friends who have no cares in the world about what they’re going to end up doing and are just studying something fun. If you liked all the “secondary” things about Penn more (plus they gave you more money), I would say go with Penn. You can definitely find the intellectual atmosphere here, and it is definitely possible to ‘avoid’ the pre-professional vibe, though avoiding it all together might take some effort.</p>
<p>And you can even find non pre-professional students in Wharton =D (I can’t say a third person wouldn’t see me as having a pre-professional bent, but I’m an intellectual at heart! I mean, I’m adding an English minor haha…can’t get any less pre-professional than that, right?)</p>
<p>My son loved Philo and in combination with Parli Debate was able to meet heaps of kids to argue with, among other things. His friends were from all the schools at Penn and all are doing exactly what they wanted to be doing 2 years after graduation. Penn is a big enough school, there is something for everyone.</p>