<p>I am interested in hearing from alums who worked hard to get into their dream school.
Was it ultimately worth it and did it live up to your expecations and if so how and if not why was it a let down?</p>
<p>My dad went to Penn and he said it was the best 4 years of his life :).</p>
<p>Penn was not my dream school because I had no dream school. I was on the fence, considering Penn, Penn State and Boston University. A confluence of factors shaped my decision, and four years later I am satisfied.</p>
<p>I do not have great pride in my university; there is no real camaraderie among students beyond the groups they join. My best friends are from the groups I joined, and I believe they will be lifelong friends, but I will never be incredibly proud of the university itself (unlike my friends at Penn State, who are still proud of their university, even in the face of brutal scandal).</p>
<p>My expectations were that Penn would be a stuffy Ivy league school with an overabundance of privileged children who had no idea how the world worked, who loved to study, who were socially awkward and didn’t like to go out on weekends. Granted, you could find every aspect of what I just stated if you look hard enough, and you could also find the OPPOSITE of every aspect of what I just stated if you look hard enough. My point is that Penn is very diverse, and that was something I didn’t expect.</p>
<p>College is inevitably a radical change from high school. Living away from home was a shock, and it took awhile to get used to it. I really hated Penn second semester of freshman year, but it has since grown on me.</p>
<p>Overall, I look at the whole four years.</p>
<p>Freshman year, first semester was exciting; I met new friends, developed a new personality, realized this new personality was garbage, went back to my real personality, had to basically reintroduce myself to my friends, had a miserable second semester and wanted to transfer. Also Hill College House was awful (for anyone who matriculated after 2007, you don’t even KNOW what that place was like)
Sophomore year I moved off campus, developed a core group of friends, found my niche and started to enjoy myself, but I worked myself to death with classes.
By Junior year I had gotten most of my hard courses out of the way, so I was able to take four classes a semester for three semesters to graduate early, which was pretty sweet. I got much more involved outside of class, and I really truly enjoyed myself.
Senior year, fall was awful because there was some serious pressure to find a job before the spring, but once I found said full time, career job, I was able to kick back and basically have fun with friends for most of the time.</p>
<p>After four years, I’ve developed phenomenal friends (read: a bed to sleep on in almost every city worth visiting in the United States!), a terrific professional network, a very interesting and fun job and a far greater understanding of the connectedness of the world (it helps that after being in the United States and Canada prior to going to college, I was able to travel to seven countries, using my own money entirely due to alumni support, during my time at Penn). So yeah, it was worth it. :)</p>
<p>My dad went to Penn back in the seventies. Although he isn’t proud of his alma mater in a “rah rah rah” sense, he enjoyed his education there. He doesn’t wear a Penn sweatshirt or have a Penn sticker on his car, but he has reaped the advantages of having gone to an Ivy League university–not to mention graduating in three years summa cum laude. Of course it has changed a lot since my dad’s college years, but I just thought I would provide some insight. Hope this helps!</p>
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<p>Yep. It’s gotten significantly better–in terms of the campus, surrounding neighborhood, facilities, undergraduate activities and student life, national and international prestige, etc. ;)</p>