Penn vs. Princeton vs. Brown

<p>My impression from seeing all the campuses is that Penn is the perfect combination of calmness and community.</p>

<p>I don't know but I fell in love with the oppotunities, with the city within the city. It seems communal and supportive to me and not cut-throat. I feel like Penn wants you to think of the moment and do well in the present, while planning always for the future.</p>

<p>I also looked at requirements: Brown is really liberal, Penn is a good combination but it seems like all the requirements are really useful and serve to prepare you for any profession and future field, whereas Princeton's seemed rigid and not always applicable.</p>

<p>So, I think I'm going with Penn. Comment now or forever hold your peace. I want to let all my colleges know but I need to be sure that Penn is the idyllic dream that I perceived it to be.</p>

<p>I guess this is what people talk about when they use the world “fit,” as in “is it a good fit?” See, I know some people at Penn, as well as those who have been accepted but did not attend Penn, and they described it as the complete opposite that you did. VERY cut-throat, VERY unsupportive (“Yer on yer own, Kid”), VERY little sense of community. </p>

<p>Why did they go? Because they felt it had very strong departments in the areas they wanted to study, nothing more. But that’s what makes horse races… </p>

<p>Be well, do well, and much happiness.</p>

<p>Penn is super supportive- I didn’t even tell them I was coming and I already met with an advisor and am constantly in touch with the head of the department in which I will be majoring. They want you to take advantage of the graduate school like atmosphere, with research and work of your own not just from the pages of a textbook. That’s actually one of the reasons that I’m choosing UPenn, which lets you speak with advisors from any of their grad school programs as well.</p>

<p>As for cut-throat: I found out that in the Princeton Chinese dep’t, professors can no longer leave papers on their desks for students to pick up because some kid stole other kids papers because they got better grades than he did. To me, that’s cut-throat and competitive. </p>

<p>Brown doesn’t seem cut-throat but it’s a little too liberal and I need balance.</p>

<p>So, I’m happy with Penn and finally DECIDED.</p>

<p>Cool. If you discover the atmosphere there is changing for the better, trumpet it loudly. There are a lot of people walking around with negative vibes about the place. I, for one, wish no ill will on Penn nor anyone who goes there. Again, all the best.</p>

<p>All of my friends love it there so chances are I’ll feel the same way! I know it’s difficult because it’s pre-professional and you really have to think about career goals, but to me, that sounds great. Thanks for your input though. I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>lol, I really doubt that SusieBra got into Princeton. Everything she writes is a ■■■■■ post. Why else would a Penn student spend so much time justifying her “decision”. haha</p>

<p>Ummm…no. If I offended you, I’m sorry but I did the same thing with Brown and for a little while with Wellesley because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t making a mistake.</p>

<p>I didn’t do it for Harvard because I was unfortunately waitlisted to Harvard, which was my first choice school. Yes, yes now you’ll tell me it’s exclusive and so I’m a hypocrite but I really did want a city and the best school possible. </p>

<p>Now, you’ll wonder about Columbia and I didn’t apply because my mom’s from NY and has bad memories of the neighborhood. </p>

<p>So, that’s that.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

<p>@Susie: one anecdote does not make a trend. In my opinion, different departments attract different types of people. For whatever reason (probably because Chinese here is mad difficult), the kids in the Chinese department tend to be kinda anal and workaholics.</p>