negatives of life at penn

<p>Read the "no loans for families under 60,000" thing closer. It says for families with incomes under 60,000 who "demonstrate high financial need". This gives them free reign to make the policy useless, and I've seen it done. They told me I didn't qualify because my family has a house. Doesn't matter what kind of house, or how much is paid off, but if you live in a house and not an apartment, you don't qualify automatically. I had to fight with other reasons to get the loan replaced with a grant.</p>

<p>oh, ***** ***** *****. Penn's endowment is peanuts compared to its peers. That it can do as well as it does is nothing short of extraordinary.</p>

<p>^ It will be interesting to see what Penn can do with several billion more.</p>

<p>Penn has the 8th largest endowment in the US, 5th in the Ivy League after HYPC. It's already $400 million shy of the ENTIRE 10-school UC system. Still, it looks like the richest uni's are getting richer faster. (harvard&yale's endowments grew by $3B from 2005 to 2006, while penn grew $1B in the same time). </p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._colleges_and_universities_by_endowment%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._colleges_and_universities_by_endowment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>i def agree, penn has done amazing with the amount of money that it has (especially when it has a larger student body to divide this endowment than schools like MIT or Princeton). just a guess, but is it because penn is returning a larger fraction of its endowment back to facilities/faculty/students/research/etc than the "richer" schools?</p>

<p>

You have to look at the rate of growth, and not just the absolute number. Penn's endowment grew by a signifcantly higher rate during that period than did Harvard's and Yale's. Of course, Harvard and Yale STARTED with much, much higher numbers, so in absolute terms their endowments grew more. (By the way, Penn's endowment has continued to grow at a high rate, and is now at about $6.3 billion.)</p>

<p>Of course, Penn's endowment won't be coming anywhere close to catching the endowments of Harvard or Yale anytime soon. But the point is that Penn historically has been working with one of the smallest endowments--if not THE smallest--among its peers, and still has been able to get to where it is today. Now, for the first time, its endowment is on par with, e.g., Columbia's, and in the next few years it should almost double (to at least $10 billion). With the upward trajectory Penn's already on, and a SUBSTANTIALLY increased endowment, who knows what Penn will be able to accomplish?</p>

<p>The eastward expansion will be a nice addition to the university. That will cost a shiny dime, nonetheless Penn is making strides and keeping up with its peer institutions.</p>

<p>The food in and around campus isn't too good. Look elsewhere to excite your tastebuds.</p>

<p>About 20 billion shiny dimes, to be precise ;)</p>

<p>(estimated cost $1.95 billion, spread out over the next few decades)</p>

<p>Honestly...Penn campus situation isnt nearly as bad as people make it out to be...it's gated for one thing, and crime rates have been going down (i do recall a student getting shot at a grocery store though). </p>

<p>p.s.- I go to Penn-Wharton</p>

<p>uh, gated?</p>

<p>only quad has a gate running around its whole length...</p>

<p>No gates - where did you get that idea? Lots of cops and cameras but no gates. Have no illusions - Penn is an urban college that is totally a part of the fabric of the city for better and for worse. It's more "campusy" than it was in the past because many of the city streets that used to run right thru the middle of the campus (Woodland Ave. with trolley cars used to run directly in front of College Hall) have been closed off to cars, but pedestrians can walk right in. Personally I think you get back more from this (being part of a lively city with all sorts of restaurants and shops, etc.) than you lose (from being a potential crime victim). But if you want gates, look somewhere else.</p>

<p>6 shootings yesterday in Philly including two @ 60th & Spruce, which is maybe a mile from campus. Summer is always the worst because more people are hanging out on the street. But (unless you are a crack dealer) students are unlikely to be affected by this type of crime.</p>

<p>8th highest for total endowment size, but if you look at endowment in per student figures, Penn drops down a LOT.</p>

<p>don't confuse Penn for Columbia :p</p>

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uh, gated?

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<p>Yeah, living in Philadelphia, I've grown up around Penn and I'm so used to it. I was surprised to hear it was Ivy League a long while ago just because when someone says Ivy League you have this picture running through your head. Penn doesn't fit that picture. In fact, it doesn't fit how I picture college in general. It blends in too much with the city and with the other colleges around it.</p>

<p>And one of the things I hear gets to Penn students is being mistaken for Penn State students. I think it's hilarious, when it happens though, because after seeing their reactions and even a t-shirt tht says "Not Penn State" a lot of the snooty kids deserve it.</p>

<p>I turned down Penn, because I wanted to get out of the city, but all in all it probably has as much negatives as any other college. So you're not in for a horrible experience. Just don't expect a perfect one.</p>

<p>
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And one of the things I hear gets to Penn students is being mistaken for Penn State students. I think it's hilarious, when it happens though, because after seeing their reactions and even a t-shirt tht says "Not Penn State" a lot of the snooty kids deserve it.

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<p>LMAO- i go to penn state. The people who matter know the difference though so those kids are pretty insecure if they want everyone to know they go to an ivy and not 'some state school.'</p>

<p>Yeah, that's why it's funny. But of course everyone has to know racnna. Once the initial novelty of getting into a brand name school runs out, you've got to keep it alive somehow.</p>

<p>this might be a stupid question, but what does racnna mean? i googled it but it's not clear.</p>

<p>Racnna was the person's name who posted before me. Lol.</p>

<p>Lmao......w<em>t</em>f?</p>

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But (unless you are a crack dealer) students are unlikely to be affected by this type of crime.

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<p>Yeah, we've had a rough time at the wharton crack society this summer...</p>