I was admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences at Penn (major: communications) , and the College at Georgetown (major: social sciences with a minor in film and media studies). As for my future aspirations, I am leaning towards film/media. I am torn between these two schools. What specifically attracts me to Georgetown is the city, I love D.C. and all the great opportunities it has to offer. As for Penn, it offers the major I am currently most interested in…But I am worried that it is going to be too cut-throat and I’m also concerned about frats and sororities dominating the campus…I don’t really mind Greek life but I don’t want my social life to revolve around frat parties.
Please help me decide
Hi There- congrats! These are both outstanding schools and you definitely can’t go wrong in choosing either one. I chose Penn over Georgetown back in the day even though I also really like DC.
First of all, the most important part of college is the education. If Penn has your major and Georgetown doesn’t, that’s something to definitely keep in mind. Also consider the incomparable strength of Penn’s communications degree. You will be working closely with Penn’s Annenberg School for Communications, one of the best Comm schools in the world. Penn ranks at or near the top of pretty much every Comm ranking and the scholarship coming out of the school is extremely well regarded. Additionally, if you change your mind about your Comm major, Penn has similar programs to your other areas of interest as well.
I would not say Penn is a particularly cutthroat place. It has the reputation of being very intense but I wouldn’t say that manifests in a negative way. Peers are constantly pushing one another to excel but they’re supportive of one another. Students are always eager to form study groups and share notes. And if you choose to focus on Political Communications, I know for a fact your fellow students will form a pretty tight bond over your four years as those students routinely work very closely with one another and with outstanding faculty members like Professor Eisenhower (Dwight Eisenhower’s grandson). Penn is definitely high intensity in the same way Georgetown would be, but I don’t think it has an extra edge of competition that you wouldn’t find anywhere else.
Only 25% of Penn undergraduates join a fraternity or sorority. The vast majority of students find their social lives revolve around extracurricular activities, their College Houses, the library and more. You are also within walking distance of the heart of Philadelphia. I love Washington D.C. and I genuinely think it’s one of the best places to live. At the same time, however, I think Philly is the perfect place to go to college. Penn’s campus is big enough and self contained enough to give you the traditional, ivy league experience while Philly is exciting enough to encourage kids to ‘leave the penn bubble’ and get into center city. Having spent a lot of time in both cities, I can tell you that DC is cleaner but philly is more fun. Both have great art, architecture, and public parks. Philly has way better food and a significantly more laid back, relaxed vibe. In general, however, you’ll spend most of your time with friends on campus doing the things that work with your personality. Georgetown is also kind of removed from the heart of DC and transportation to the area is intentionally not great. But there is a bus you can take and I think georgetown runs shuttles as well. But Penn is far more integrated with Philly and Philly is far more accessible to Penn students. The College Houses all host events for their residents and friends of their residents, and extracurricular clubs all host parties and have fun events. One of my favorite memories from freshman year was attending a BBQ with a cultural group on Penn’s campus to which I had no affiliation. It was open to the whole undergraduate student body and the food was incredible. These experiences are what will make up the majority of your social life if you aren’t looking to be involved in Greek Life at all. And even if you don’t join a fraternity or sorority, you can still attend their parties and get invited to their Formals. At Penn there are enough students with enough varied interests that you will definitely be able to find your group. Maybe that’s in a cultural center, or student government, or a varsity sports team, or a music ensemble, or the Philomathean Society, or among tutors in West Philly-- the possibilities are endless.
If you have any questions about Penn, please feel free to ask. I general, I chose Penn because I felt it had the best combination of incredible academics, a beautiful urban campus, an incredible, world class city, and a social, laid back atmosphere in which I felt supported and encouraged to do my best. I think visiting both campuses will help. Good luck with your decision. I hope you choose Penn!
Son is an incoming freshman to Penn just researched housing- take a look at the college house called Gregory it looks like its a living learning program that features film study … they have an in dorm cinema and watch/ discuss multiple films per week… I think you could live there all 4 yrs if you choose to for a non greek option…
^That’s all true- students LOVE the Gregory and do tend to stay all 4 years. It gets less attention because it isn’t as big and beautiful as the quad but it is a great place to live. Gregory and Van Pelt (which is like Gregory’s sister dorm for lack of a better term) are being renovated right now as well. They’re apparently going to have really awesome interiors. Their exteriors are typical boring brick but they have this great lawn that students like to lay out on during the warmer months.
@ysa1998 greek life is prominent at Penn but more often than not they are not your typical frat parties, frats have classy downtowns and coll events. Also if greek life is not your thing there are more stuff going on socially. not everyone is on a frat at Penn. Penn is way more diverse than Georgetown in terms of types of people, backgrounds, interests etc.
Yes, Penn is probably going to be a bit more competitive than penn, but especially for your major i wouldnt say it is cuttthroat. I think the academic opportunities for your field of interest will be much better at Penn. and of course the whole ivy league brand etc also you could get an internship in DC, many many Penn students do that.
Penn is in a crappy part of Philly, and Georgetown is in awesome Georgetown! It would be tough for Philly to top the year-round internship opportunities in DC.
Actually Penn is not in a crappy part of philly. It’s in probably the wealthiest part of Philly by a lot. University city is tons of fun and incredibly safe. Penn, Drexel and the other universities in the area have invested literally billions of dollars to turn University City (and the rest of philly) into the increasingly thriving metropolis that it is quickly becoming. And University City is significantly more affordable and accessible than Georgetown. And frankly, it’s not tough for philly to top the year-round internship opportunities in DC, Philly offers a variety of opportunities from involvement in think tanks, financial services firms, and city government during the semesters and you can easily work in DC during the summer as many, many Penn students do. That’s why Penn students consistently get jobs in DC in the most prestigious federal offices, lobbying firms, congressional offices, NGOs, non profits, and more.
Penn is not a cutthroat place. Everyone is way too stressed about their own work to worry about other people in that regard. Frats do dominate the social culture but they have a lot of fun, inclusive events, formals, charity drives etc. Also Gregory has a residential program for film and I hear great things about it. Penn is also ranked much better academically, which you may or may not consider to be an important factor.
Also echoing the last post, Penn students consistently land DC internships. I know a lot of people going down there this summer.
Congrats on your acceptances! I’m a current Penn student who had the tough choice between Penn and Georgetown (International Relations at Penn or SFS at Georgetown). Ultimately I chose Penn and I’m very happy with my decision. If you’re looking to do anything media or film related I would definitely recommend Penn. Not only are the academic programs in the communication strong, but there are a lot of extracurricular activities (Gregory Film House, student clubs, screening groups) you can join. I know lots of students here interested in media in different ways, and Penn has provided them with great opportunities to explore their interests.
I wouldn’t say Penn is cutthroat. It’s not an easy place, but the reason a lot of people are stressed out here is because they’re doing way more than what’s required for them. Apart from my first-year calculus class (which doesn’t seem like you would have to take anyways), all the students I’ve been around are highly collaborative and helpful, just busy. Also, Penn is a really large school and Greek life only has to dominate your social life if you want it to. Otherwise, there’s so many students you can get involved with whatever you really like. Personally, I went to a frat party once, decided I wasn’t interested, and never encountered another one anyways because there are already so many social activities to participate in.
Also, Philadelphia will be a great city if you’re interested in the arts! There’s so many different forms of arts you can explore here, and they’re much more affordable compared to DC. There’s the orchestra, with highly discounted memberships for students, the International House, plenty of concerns venues, film festivals, local artists. Honestly there’s so many things I can’t think of them all.
As for opportunities, Penn has many, especially for internships in DC. Personally I’ve gotten to go abroad 3 times because of Penn. If you want to do something, Penn will likely have a program or an advisor that will help you do it. Also, DC isn’t terribly far away from Philly, and if you want to visit there, it’s a pretty inexpensive bus ride (as is NYC).
I hope some of this helped answer your questions about Penn. Good luck deciding between the two!
Short answer: Penn
- Honestly, it’s more prestigious (it’s an Ivy League, harder to get in, etc).
- You will find your people and have a great time regardless of the “scene”
“Penn is in a crappy part of Philly.”
In my experience, many of these statements come from people who have not spent much time at Penn recently. I walked all over Penn and the surrounding blocks. It seems very safe. I probably would not walk several blocks west of campus alone in the middle of the night, but that is just common sense.
Greek life is present, but not exclusive at all. You certainly don’t need to do it. At Penn, Greek life can actually be a big support system though. D1 is in a sorority, and she was not interested initially either. It may be much different from what you assume or have seen at other schools.
^ totally agree. Also the biggest part of Greek life at Penn is much more sophisticated than that at most colleges. Greek life at Penn can serve as a huge support system and outlet, a source of really close friends while at Penn and for the rest of your life and also as a very strong networking platform that can potentially help you for the rest of your life.
I imagine the OP had to decide by 5/1.