UPenn VS. UChicago for an international student

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I'm applying this year for undergraduate courses in the US, and I'm wondering how UChicago and Upenn differ in some aspects. I'm an international student from Argentina planning to major in Philosophy, or possibly Film or Theatre Studies.</p>

<p>I was wondering if you could help me with the following questions:</p>

<p>1) Is it true UChicago is known for its science courses and Upenn is known for business? </p>

<p>2) Which university do you think has a better Arts and Humanities Department/Faculty/School?</p>

<p>3) Which one is more diverse when it comes to international students? </p>

<p>4) Are the universities inclusive or are the international students secluded in their own clique? Which one has more open-minded students?</p>

<p>5) Which one do you think has students which are hard-working yet somewat laid back? I'm looking for an academically rigorous environment, yet I still want the University to have an interesting nightlife and social scene.</p>

<p>6) Do you think the weather will vary much between the two locations?</p>

<p>Thank you for your help!</p>

2

<p>This is a question you should be asking in April – if you’re choosing between to acceptances between Penn and Chicago. Statistically, you’ll likely be rejected at both. Are you in a situation where you can only apply to one? Then your financial picture makes it impossible to attend either.</p>

3

<p>I still want the University to have an interesting nightlife and social scene. --> Obvious divide here</p>

4

<p>I second what T26E4 said, but I’ll answer some anyway.</p>

<ol>
<li>Both universities are strong in most academic departments. The main academic difference between the two universities is that at the undergraduate level Chicago offers few or no “practical” majors, concentrating on theory, while Penn has a large number of students in fields like management, finance, marketing, nursing, engineering, architecture that don’t exist for undergraduates at Chicago. Chicago is more like Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences only, but all those other students (and the ability to take classes across Schools/Colleges at Penn) have a big impact on the general social environment of the university. About 25% of Penn undergraduates are in the Wharton School, which focuses on a business curriculum. Chicago has a very strong Economics department (one of the tops in the world), which is the most popular major in its college, but it is much, much less focused on practical business education than the Wharton program.</li>
</ol>

<p>In science, both are strong. Penn is really known for life sciences and chemistry, and chemical engineering. Chicago’s strongest science is probably physics. Chicago also has an especially famous and large Math department.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>In terms of academic resources, the two are probably about equal in humanities. There’s somewhat more focus on humanities at Chicago, because it has a Core Curriculum that every undergraduate must complete, and that has a significant humanities component. Penn has requirements, too, but they are not as extensive as Chicago’s, and they apply differently in the different schools. Both have pretty strong extracurricular theater organizations, if you are interested in that.</p></li>
<li><p>Both have lots of international students, around 10% of undergraduates, maybe a little higher at Penn. Penn has more, both because the Wharton School and the Engineering School attract lots of them, and because it has a larger student body, so a similar percentage of foreign students means a significantly larger absolute number of them. Both have large populations of graduate students, too, many of whom are international. </p></li>
<li><p>I can’t answer this. I don’t know if anyone really can. I am sure at both colleges some international students stick with their own clique and others are thoroughly integrated into the general student body.</p></li>
<li><p>Keep in mind that all stereotypes are wrong, and that universities are complex, variegated places, where different people live very different sorts of lives depending on their own preferences. That said: Chicago is widely known for academic intensity and a somewhat anemic social scene, which often consists of people kicking back, having a drink, and talking about their classes. Penn is known as a place where people take their studies seriously but also give serious attention to their social lives. Fraternities and sororities are far stronger and more important at Penn than at Chicago. The social scene at Chicago has gotten much better over the past decade or so, but there’s no question that if you were choosing between them based on which had better parties for more people, you would choose Penn.</p></li>
<li><p>Chicago is 10-20 degrees colder than Philadelphia during the late fall, winter, and early spring (i.e., most of the academic year), and a lot windier. You learn to live with it. Compared to Buenos Aires, say, both cities will feel cold, but Chicago is a lot colder. For example, during the winter it’s relatively rare in Philadelphia to go 24 hours where the temperature is never above the freezing mark, and it rarely gets below 25F. In Chicago, the average nighttime temperature in the winter is below 20F, and the average high just below freezing.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>As I write this, in early November, it’s actually about 4 F warmer in Chicago than in Philadelphia (62F vs. 58F), but in the next 10 days the daily high temperature in Chicago is predicted to go below the freezing mark several times, and some snow is predicted. It’s also supposed to get colder in Philadelphia, but the daily highs are never predicted to go below freezing, and mostly they will stay in the mid-40sF. No snow is predicted.</p>

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<p>… But for philosophy, film and theatre studies Penn is hardly a strong choice. Nor for that matter is University of Chicago.</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Depends on what you mean. At the undergraduate level, both of these schools can easily hold their own in philosophy. In graduate program rankings, Penn’s Philosophy Department consistently ranks among the top 20 or 30 in the country, while Chicago’s ranks among the top 10 or so. Using those rankings as surrogates for the quality of the undergraduate major and courses, I’d say these are fairly strong choices for an undergraduate liberal arts student (especially given that the major constitutes, at most, only a third or so of an undergraduate’s course load).</p>

<p>Also, while I can’t speak about Chicago on this, Penn does have quite vibrant and vigorous programs in Theatre Arts and Cinema Studies as undergraduate liberal arts programs–as opposed to conservatory-style theatre, acting, and film-making programs–and Cinema Studies, in particular, is a fairly popular major at Penn. In fact, the faculty are fairly well-connected in the film industry, and regularly bring to campus nationally prominent film scholars, producers, directors, and even actors. Not to mention that there are a significant number of Penn alumni in prominent positions in the entertainment industry (e.g., studio heads and executives, producers, directors, etc.), a lineage that goes back to the likes of legendary Broadway producer Harold Prince (<a href=“Harold Prince - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Prince&lt;/a&gt;) and the TV creative team of Levinson & Link (<a href=“Levinson & Link - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levinson_%26_Link&lt;/a&gt;), and continues to this day with actor/producers like Elizabeth Banks, Whitney Cummings, and Melissa Fitzgerald, current studio heads and execs, current successful Broadway producers (I can think of three off the top of my head), and film and TV series writers and creators (such as Dick Wolf, creator of the “Law and Order” franchise). And many of these folks return to Penn’s campus to share their wisdom and experience with students, and to hire interns.</p>

<p>Additionally, Penn’s student-run performing arts community is second to none in terms of its breadth and depth and level of accomplishment, and the level of resources and coordination devoted to it. For example, there are easily 10 or more different theatre groups that each mount 2-4 productions a year, and the Platt Student Performing Arts House (funded by Penn alum and “Wicked” and “Legally Blonde” producer Marc Platt) provides a prominent physical headquarters for many of these groups. In fact, there’s even a dedicated scenery shop for these groups located right off Penn’s campus. It really is an amazing extra-curricular program that, combined with Penn’s academic programs in Theatre Arts and Cinema Studies, has served as a launching pad for many Penn alums who have gone into “the biz,” while also providing a creative outlet for many a future Wall Streeter, doctor, lawyer, scientist, etc.</p>

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<p>@T26E4‌ – wow, pretty harsh. OP didn’t mention his or her stats so how you can possibly predict that he or she will be rejected by both? If you only respond to questions based on the probability of the poster being accepted you wouldn’t have 17,098 posts. The OP is trying to learn more about the schools he or she is interested in, not be judged on the validity of his or her questions. </p>

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@T26E4 There is nothing wrong in acknowledging the kid especially when the kid hasn’t mentioned his or her stats. Being a senior member u should be encouraging rather than passing out comments without much evidence to support your ‘hypothesis’.

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@T26E4 I never asked for that kind of advice. If you’re unable to answer my straightforward questions please don’t comment. To be honest, I don’t even think your advice is valid. Why not ask questions like mine before applying? Finding out if a university is a good fit or not is always important. I never got to tour those schools, so I relied on College Confidential and other forums. Even if the chances of getting rejected are big, I wasn’t willing to waste time, effort, and money on applying to a school that could not cater to my interests or priorities. Not that’s it’s any of your business, but you’re right in guessing applying to a great amount of universities was a financial concern for me. However, you are not right in assuming that makes it impossible to attend a top university. I will be attending Yale this fall, with a scholarship.

Also, thanks to everyone who did provide insight. In the end, I decided not to apply to either one of these schools. They just didn’t seem like the right fit. I greatly appreciate your help, honestly!

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Since this thread has reached its conclusion, I am closing.