<p>I just got back from my first trip to Penn as a prospective student. I am currently a Junior, if that matters. Yesterday I attended a Wharton information session, I plan on applying ED to Wharton next year. I went to the info session at an awkward time, no seniors were there because the ones who applied ED had already sent in their applications and it's early for juniors to be looking at Wharton now. Also, it was on a Friday and the only reason I was there was because I was off from school because of the snow storm. So the info session consisted of me, my dad, the info session leader (a senior) and 3 shadows (people who are training to lead the sessions). I was amazed at how nice Wharton is. That was partially because it was the first business school I've toured, and one of the first schools I've toured at all. The Wharton info session was great because it was a 4:1 student to me ratio (lol). The students all stressed that in the essay they talked about how they had different, and had unique interests. They also stressed that you didn't need to be trading stocks since you were 10 to get in (which is a relief!). </p>
<p>Today I did the general info session and campus tour. The info sessions was good, but nothing particularly special. After a few info sessions they all sound the same :p. That said, they did stress one thing that I haven't heard too often. They said as long as you have good grades and a strong course rigor, your academics aren't a large part of the decision process. However, they said that they are trying to make Penn as diverse as possible. Not diverse in race, ethnicity, etc. but diverse in interests. The admissions guy said that it's ok if you aren't a completely well rounded student. If you have certain interests and pursue them it will look outstanding. It seems that they don't care if you have a 4.0 (uw) and a 2400 SAT or a 3.8 (uw) and a 2200 SAT. As long as you can handle the work and are challenging yourself, it seems as if they essentially "check off the academic box" on your application. I got the impression that they take your EC's, recs, and essays into huge consideration. Please feel free to refute anything I just said if you know better.</p>
<p>Then came the campus tour. It was home coming so there were tents everywhere with alums chilling out and enjoying themselves, loud music and student groups EVERYWHERE. I like the structure of Penn, within the city but not "part of the city", but that's just my opinion. We never went in the dorms, which I hear are pretty bad. I think Wharton was the only school we went inside of, which looked amazing, but I had seen it the day before. The campus tour wasn't anything special, but it did give me a good view of the campus. </p>
<p>After the tour, my dad, who's an alum, and I went to Penn park to check it out. IT IS AWESOME! Everything there looks great, I heard it's a huge improvement from what used to be there. After that we went to the football game so my dad could have a moment of nostalgia. Penn was beating up on Princeton, it was like 30-9 when we left in the beginning of the 4th quarter. We saw the toast to Penn, which was hilarious! If you don't know what that is, check it out here Penn</a> Alumni: Penn Traditions</p>
<p>I forgot to mention it before, but during the campus tour, our tour got "hi jacked" by some Princeton band members. We were walking near Franklin Field and the Princeton band was walking next to us. Two of their guys came up and "kidnapped" our tour guide, they walked him over to the side of the path so he was out of the way. In the meantime a Princeton band member came over and started leading our tour! She was hilarious and was running the tour just as if it was in Princeton. She pointed out "Princeton buildings" left and right as we walked through Locust walk for three minutes. Then they let go of our tour guide and ran away. It was actually really funny, not something you see at every campus tour. </p>
<p>Sorry for taking so long to explain my experience! If you have any comments or questions or anything please post, thanks!</p>