<p>Two kids got into Penn from my school, and today I heard someone say it's called "the social ivy". is that some sort of joke? that's like saying the smart idiot. It doesn't make sense. It's a contradiction, like in those Starburst commercials. I mean, let's be honest now - Ivies suck and aren't fun.</p>
<p>Let’s be honest - you’re wrong.</p>
<p>Yeah, you’re wrong. University City is an amazing neighborhood and Penn is a great school with really cool students. TONS of social and happy people go to Ivies. Stop stereotyping.</p>
<p>When I told my grandparents (Stanford grads) I was going to Penn, they said “Isn’t that the school for Harvard rejects?” </p>
<p>Thanks grandpa. </p>
<p>Not really on the whole social topic, but I feel like people think that because its social it is not as good academically.</p>
<p>Blurgh! I just wrote a massive post that was lost when the website automatically signed me out.</p>
<p>Here’s the summary: as recently as the mid '70s, Stanford, Penn and Columbia were among the perennial bottom-feeders of the “elite” college racket. The SAT average at Stanford and Penn was close to 1270, while Harvard and Bryn Mawr were closer to 1390. The most selective colleges were HYP and a few Seven Sisters schools (namely Bryn Mawr, Barnard and Wellesley - Radcliffe had already been swallowed by Harvard).</p>
<p>The three schools went through a massive resurgence, one that I chronicled more carefully in my unfortunately-lost post. The renaissance is impossible to overstate; these 3 undergraduate programs went from educating the bottom-ranked graduates of Philips Exeter and Harvard-Westlake and local scholarship cases, to attracting the best students internationally and ranking among the top-5 annually.</p>
<p>The point is, although Harvard still has a draw no other university can truly match, Penn is certainly not the school for rejects that your grandfather may remember just half a generation ago.</p>
<p>NOTE: I have documented evidence for all of this, both the SAT averages of 1974 as well as the meteoric rise of the above mentioned 3 schools vis-a-vis the progression of US News and World Report rankings. Penn and Columbia start out in the mid-teens before progressing into the top-10, and then top-5. Stanford’s trajectory is analogous, if slightly earlier, so the rankings don’t capture it as clearly.</p>
<p>I’m here right now studying for finals; Penn is very fun and social, but also academically intense. </p>
<p>In fact, it’s the academic intensity that makes me appreciate Penn’s social scene that much more; it’s a great balance (“work hard, play hard” definitely applies to this place!). All work and no play would be really frustrating (and this is coming from someone who dreamed of going to Yale).</p>
<p>^ Hi DoleWhip! I was recently accepted ED to Wharton and never thought I’d have second thoughts- I love Penn- before I started hearing more about Wharton’s super competitive atmosphere. Does the same level of competition that plagues the finance kids apply to non-finance concentrators, as well? And does the competitiveness affect your social life? Are you happy to have ended up at Wharton? Thanks!</p>
<p>travelbug, there is no way in hell he is happy he ended up at Wharton. Like I said before, Penn is a dry place that ain’t fun - even though it’s the social ivy. That’s like calling a bad looking girl “the prettiest ugly girl”.</p>
<p>If he tells you that the competitiveness does not affect the social life he is simply lying or joking.</p>
<p>presumably, if you’re Penn material, your definition of social differs from a state school frat boy’s idea of social college experience. Having said that, come visit Penn during spring fling and you won’t have any doubts about the “work hard play hard” mentality ;)</p>
<p>wow i was trying to be a ■■■■■…this is frustrating. why aren’t people getting mad??</p>
<p>^^ Thank you! </p>
<p>sic_infit- I’m not criticizing!- but I’m actually curious as to where all the Penn hate is coming from…? Where are you headed next year? </p>
<p>(It’s so hard not to sound judgmental online; you’re totally entitled to whatever opinion you have of Penn and the Ivies! I’m really just interested to see why your responses are so vehement. Wishing you the best!)</p>
<p>Ooh lol just ■■■■■■■■, then.</p>
<p>@sic_infit: As a longtime resident of the internet, I’m going to have to say that it’s because your ■■■■■■■■ was too obvious—wait…Penn’s a fun school? Darn, and here I was looking forward to going to a school where no one laughs or smiles, a school where the workload is insane and crushing and I’ll graduate in four years as a soulless husk of my old self, stumbling out of Penn with a haunted expression and fifty years later I’ll be sitting on my rocking chair staring out the window with twenty cats. (I’m kidding, I love Penn)</p>
<p>“The three schools went through a massive resurgence, one that I chronicled more carefully in my unfortunately-lost post. The renaissance is impossible to overstate; these 3 undergraduate programs went from educating the bottom-ranked graduates of Philips Exeter and Harvard-Westlake and local scholarship cases, to attracting the best students internationally and ranking among the top-5 annually”.</p>
<p>My first post so I hate to come across like a super elitist, but…</p>
<p>I hope nobody on the west coast has the impression that Harvard-Westlake is widely considered a peer school of Phillips Exeter. Sorry. Ouch. That was really painful to admit btw as I am an Andover/Stanford grad from San Diego :). My nutty west coast friends and their silly delusions. I suppose they may be similiar in ivy matriculation as I often hear that point made when some folks compare quality secondary schools. The problem is most east coast prep schools kids now are preferring top LACS as well as Stanford,MIT,Cal Tech over IVY’s. They are widely held to provide a better undergrad education by counselor’s,students and even some old school parents. Princeton and PENN might be comparable to LACS and the others schools I mentioned but certainly not the rest of the IVY’s that have great grad schools but overrated undergrad (see Harvard etc.)</p>
<p>Sorry, ivyrow. Harvard-Westlake is widely considered a peer school of Phillips Exeter (and Andover). At least by people who have any idea what those schools are. And after you adjust for the day/boarding difference. Now, I have massive respect for Exeter, and I think it’s probably the top secondary school in the country. So in that sense maybe nothing is a “peer school”. But if you are going to admit that Exeter does have peers, H-W clearly belongs among them.</p>
<p>And which college or university gets the highest number of out-of-state Harvard-Westlake applications?</p>
<p>Here’s a hint: it’s in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>See pages 62-65:</p>
<p><a href=“http://students.hw.com/Portals/44/Handbook.pdf[/url]”>http://students.hw.com/Portals/44/Handbook.pdf</a></p>
<p>And which college or university–in or out of California–is second only to USC in the number of Harvard-Westlake grads who’ve enrolled there over the past 5 years?</p>
<p>Here’s another hint: it’s in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>See page 4:</p>
<p><a href=“http://students.hw.com/Portals/44/Profile20102011.pdf[/url]”>http://students.hw.com/Portals/44/Profile20102011.pdf</a></p>
<p>That spreadsheet is ample evidence of the Ivy League’s absurd love affair with prep schools. Columbia and Penn each accept 1/3 of all applicants (it is true that most come from the very top of the class). But that’s a little ridiculous.</p>
<p>^ Stanford’s not far behind, having accepted more than 28%.</p>
<p>Penn is the social ivy, and I cannot wait to be a part of such a wonderful community in the fall.</p>
<p>It is truly a great social environment in that there is a place for everyone. I, along with many of my friends, never went out in high school, but here if you manage your time well it’s completely possible to go out on weekends and still take care of all of your responsibilities. There are all types of people here, there are some kids who seem to go out 3 or more nights a week, there are kids who are not into the party scene and prefer to stay in and hang out at the dorms, and then there are kids (probably the majority), who really live by the motto “work hard, play hard”. They’ll choose to stay in some nights but will go out moderately when they have free time. Apart from that there’s also a lot of great activities to get involved in that help you meet people.</p>
<p>Geniuses aren’t necessarily antisocial, OP.</p>