<p>I truly think it's just the name itself. A lot of the "surprise" comes from psychological factors</p>
<p>"Haha kissing, agreed. I assume that the people picking Penn over Stanford are going to Wharton. At least I hope."</p>
<p>Nope. College for me. Sorry to disapppoint.</p>
<p>JohnnyK what's your reasoning?</p>
<p>Well, as an east coaster, I found the whole Cali 'cool' thing to be a myth.</p>
<p>Everybody was only pretending to be laid back, and I didn't like the disingenuousness of it. There's some analogy about this involving ducks, but I forget how it goes. I felt nobody at Penn pretended not work hard (either they worked hard and *****ed about it or just didn't work ;-). I was right)</p>
<p>I didn't like the look of Stanford's campus. Yes, it was very attractive in its own way, but as a northeastern elitist bastard, the clay tiles and the 'Spanish mission' style didn't appeal to me in the same way that Collegiate gothic (mixed with 60s schlock) of Penn did. Columbia's neoclassical was also acceptable.</p>
<p>I like winter.</p>
<p>While I am fundamentally opposed to the idea of an undergraduate education focused on business (i.e. I'd abolish Wharton undergrad if I could), I still take some Wharton classes because I find basic business skills to be incredibly useful. Since the business of the world is business, any job short of being a tenured college professor will involve some exposure to the business world. Learning to balance academic pursuits with "the real world" and the business folk who run it felt like a unique opportunity to me.</p>
<p>Also, Penn is in a city itself and gives me access to a bunch of great clubs, shops, and museums. Additionally, it is located right along the Northeast Corridor, smack dab in the middle of NYC and DC, two amazing economic, cultural, and political hubs for America and the world.</p>
<p>Penn also has a better international relations program than Stanford, and in general any differences in the quality of liberal arts education at Stanford vs Penn are negligible at best.</p>
<p>So there you have it. Partly for legitimate reasons, and partly for my being an east coaster to the bone, Penn was a better school for me than Stanford.</p>
<p>johnny, i couldn't agree with you more</p>
<p>On a side note, what else do you know about penn's IR program? I turned down another school that was know for IR, but if what your saying is true, maybe it isnt sudch a big loss after all.</p>
<p>UPenn over Florida State</p>
<p>I know that it's very good and I'm in it. A lot of Penn people are in high state department positions and are/were leaders of random third world countries.</p>
<p>Penn's emphasis on practicality over abstract theorizing (not that they don't theorize too ;-)) gives us applicable knowledge and ready for action right out of the box.</p>
<p>No it ain't the SFS, but the school attached to it is much better overall :)</p>
<p>Duke, Macalester, Rice. Got waitlisted at Harvard, Brown, Pomona. I think I'll go to Penn even if I get off the waitlist(s) though.</p>
<p>Umich, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, UT Austin, and Tufts.</p>
<p>It was a tough choice b/c I applied for SEAS, and visiting it was an amazing experience; but I chose Columbia over Upenn. good luck to the waitlisted.</p>
<p>I chose Penn (the College) over University of Pittsburgh, University of Edinburgh, and NYU Stern (choosing between Stern and Penn was sooooo hare, but I¨m glad I chose Penn).</p>
<p>I turned down Penn for Stanford. As an international, Penn was one of the few schools I was able to visit. I really liked the school's atmosphere but I didn't think it had the academic rigour or reputation of some of the other top colleges.</p>
<p>you were wrong!</p>
<p>Was he? You should be proud that Upenn gives you time for a social life unlike Cornell, MIT, etc.</p>
<p>However, Penn is just as prestigous as its peers, despite what the Harvard ppl told you. lol</p>
<p>HAHAHA Academic rigor at Stanford? Are you kidding me? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>people in cornell and mit don't have social lives?</p>
<p>Let's not kid ourselves. Stanford has academic rigor (it wouldn't be the best school on the West Coast if it didn't), and MIT and Cornell students do in fact have social lives.</p>
<p>And I am awesome.</p>
<p>MIT has a lot of "Don't Commit Suicide" posters up...</p>
<p>Does it really?</p>
<p>haha, Penn has posters urging people to drink less in one night...</p>
<p>Then again, Penn also has OHE (office of health education) posters that say "Sleep." and "Wash your hands." So maybe we're retarded.</p>
<p>It certainly does.</p>
<p>It's propaganda to promote Penn as the "Social Ivy" :P</p>