<p>^ By "no one" Im referring to people not knowing that there are good universities in the US other than HYP and Stanford.</p>
<p>Penn is the official nickname. </p>
<p>However, UPenn is occasionally used in sub-formal situations.</p>
<p>so upenn is less formal than penn?</p>
<p>I'm completely serious. I'm not in Wharton, nor would I want to be. But the name is better known and less confused with state schools. And in this superficial world, names matter. A lot.</p>
<p>When I talk to my parents or close friends (and obviously in the application essays and to my interviewer), I say Penn. That's what everyone at Penn calls it (see Stetson's comment) and it just sounds better to me.</p>
<p>But when I'm talking to relatives or other adults, I say UPenn, which they usually recognize as Ivy League.</p>
<p>Either way, if I were to get in, I'd probably buy a hat from IvySport with the little shield that says Ivy on the side to prevent ambiguities.</p>
<p>"so upenn is less formal than penn?"</p>
<p>No exactlly. I'm just saying that "UPenn" is not an acceptable term in formal usage. </p>
<p>"The school should really just change its name to Wharton University. It would save a lot of hassle."</p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with the name "University of Pennsylvania." The problem is with the name "UPenn." The university should take a step in eradicating the UPenn name, but the problem is that the website is called upenn.edu.</p>
<p>I heard that a while ago, they were thinking of changing the college's name from University of Pennsylvania to Benjamin Franklin university, because he founded it. </p>
<p>(Just some food for thought.)</p>
<p>While the idea that the university was considering a name change encourages me in that they would be more open to the possibility of a name change to Wharton, Ben Franklin U wouldn't be good as it would engender confusion with Franklin & Marshall College (also founded by Ben Franklin).</p>
<p>Also, Franklin sounds too saxon and not enough Anglo for a properly snooty Ivy. Wharton oooozes Ivy and fits right in with Harvard, Yale, Princeton</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Wharton, Princeton. <--see?</p>
<p>Aurelies is right...you can't call people who call it "UPenn" misinformed, and you can't claim the entire school calls is "Penn." The damn website is UPENN.EDU! If that isn't endorsement of calling it whatever the heck you want, I don't know what is.</p>
<p>Actually, <a href="http://www.penn.edu%5B/url%5D">http://www.penn.edu</a> is also owned by the university. They just haven't switched it because then a hundred thousand emails would have to change. However, it's possible that they will move from upenn.edu to penn.edu. </p>
<p>"upenn" as the website name is supposed to be an ABBREVIATION, not a nickname. Unfortunately, people can't differentiate the difference between abberviations and nicknames.</p>
<p>This should have been obvious, but apparently it wasn’t. Other schools have run into the same issue as Penn, namely, how they are to be identified on the Internet. The nickname of the University of Pennsylvania was, is, and always will be “Penn.” (My entiire birth family, including myself, consists of Penn graduates.) However, in order to be identified correctly in e-mail and on the Internet generally, “upenn” had to be used. This is explained somewhere on the Penn website, but anyway that’s the reason for the confusion. If you’re not sending e-mail to someone at Penn or going to a Penn website, there is no issue.</p>
<p>I currently study at Penn…and no, UPenn doesn’t distinguish from Penn State…that’s what this is for: [University</a> of Pennsylvania Bookstore - Champion Tee Shirt](<a href=“http://upenn.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Champion_Tee_Shirt/ProductDisplay?parentCatId=&categoryId=&catalogId=10001&storeId=10056&langId=-1&productId=400000067709&topCatId=40000]University”>http://upenn.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Champion_Tee_Shirt/ProductDisplay?parentCatId=&categoryId=&catalogId=10001&storeId=10056&langId=-1&productId=400000067709&topCatId=40000)</p>
<p>Whenever a prospective student calls it ‘UPenn,’ I automatically think “This person doesn’t know anything about the school.” I know it’s an irrational though, but that’s how I’m wired.</p>
<p>I still call it UPenn sometimes, especially when people ask me where I’ve applied. I always say Penn to people who know about the school, though.</p>
<p>My gov teacher asked me something and Penn came up. I called it Penn and the teacher and some other students assumed I meant PSU. From now on I’m going to call it UPenn to those who don’t know me too well or will assume I mean PSU, but with my smarter friends or more knowledgeable people I will call it Penn. Saying UPenn to someone who knows what they’re talking about just sounds weird.</p>
<p>Common phrase around here is quite funny: “Those who need to know, know Penn.” If I ever really have to distinguish, I’ll just say the University of Pennsylvania…UPenn irks me. No particular reason other than I don’t like the way it sounds, I guess.</p>
<p>In response to 27:</p>
<p>I will date myself:</p>
<p>The headline on the DP for the joke issue a number of year’s ago was “University to Change Name to Benjamin Franklin University” </p>
<p>The sub headline read - University to be Referred to as “FU”</p>
<p>Everyone here calls the school Penn.</p>