What's it like?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hi,
I'm a senior from RI, female, adopted from China, and I'm considering UPenn. I was wondering if anyone out there has visited, because I didn't have the chance (if of course by some stretch of the imagination, I got in, I would definitely visit). I don't think I really have the chance, but I happen to think that UPenn would be the only Ivy to which I'd apply. </p>

<p>Quick stats (YOU DON'T have to chance me, but I thought background info would be helpful:)):
-Unweighted GPA 93/100
-SAT I 2030 not superscored
-SAT II chem 680 math 670 spanish 720
-AP chem 4, spanish 4, english 4.
-Current courseload (AP government, AP computer science, AP physics, AP english, AP calc BC [quick note: my school only allows that we take 8 APs throughout all 4 years, so I have taken the most difficult courseload, although I wish it was more so:(].
-My school is a private, catholic school (1,500 students), that sends lots of kids to top schools every year (last year, MIT, UPenn, 7 to Brown, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, etc.)</p>

<p>Ask me if you want to know anything else! Thanks guys!</p>

2

<p>bumpppbumppp??</p>

3

<p>Check out the website and take the virtual tour. It’s not very detailed, but you can see a few pictures and get an idea. I have to say though that I don’t think many of the pictures do the campus justice. I think some of them make the campus look a little gloomy–which is not at ALL how I remember Penn looking. You could also check out college p rowler: <a href=“http://collegep”>http://collegep</a> rowler.com/university-of-pennsylvania/<a href=“remove%20the%20space%20between%20p%20and%20rowler%20though,%20CC%20won’t%20let%20me%20type%20the%20word%20p%20rowler%20as%20one%20ha”>/url</a></p>

<p>I’ve only visited three times, and I’m not yet a student so I can’t give you the best review, but each time I visited I was just amazed by the energy on campus. It sounds cliche, but there are always people walking around (and lots of them) everywhere on campus and at all times of day. Locust walk is covered with people handing out flyers and inviting students to all sorts of events. I don’t know if you visited Columbia, but I found the energy sort of comparable, but things even felt more lively to me at Penn. It seemed like most people were truly happy there. </p>

<p>I also loved the fact that Penn is in Philadelphia but the campus is still very separate. It’s gorgeous, and there’s tons of grass and amazing architecture and trees… etc. etc. (you feel like you are on a real college campus, and not so much in a city), but then you can just step off campus and find yourself in bustling Philadelphia. It’s a really cool experience. </p>

<p>The other thing I found cool is that even though the campus is distinct from the city and I kind of described it as a “traditional” campus, the buildings were all, to me, pretty eclectic. I don’t know where else you have visited, but if you have visited Johns Hopkins or similarly laid out campuses, the Penn campus is pretty much the opposite. It’s not laid out perfectly with everything square and exact and pristine (however, everything is still up-to-date and clean and gorgeous!).</p>

4

<p>omg this is super helpful, i visited JHU, so I know what you’re talking about. i’ll check it out, thanks!!</p>

5

<p>Don’t worry about your school limiting your amount of AP classes. My school limits AP classes too, and we are only allowed to take 6 AP classes maximum by the end of senior year - even though my school offers more than 6 types of APs. </p>

<p>I’ll continue on from Hopeful_Underdog. Despite Penn being in a huge city, it still has a great vibe of being a campus/college community. I agree with the eclectic layout of the buildings across the campus. More towards the center of the Penn campus, there are just huge, huge blocks (or perhaps, just one big block) with many buildings all scattered within the block - that would mainly be the buildings around Locust Walk area. But as you stray from the center of the campus, the building layouts become more regulated and standard in a grid pattern that is normal to Center City Philadelphia. (Number streets are vertical, Tree named streets go horizontal) And of course, all of the buildings are very clean, and some of them look really nice internally and externally. </p>

<p>Because Penn is in the city, there are also a number of non-Penn students/staff who wander around University City. A number of them are Drexel & USP students, but some may just be other people in the city who’ve come to shop or eat. Penn has TONS of places to eat varying from food courts, food chain stores, food carts, fast restaurants, and fancier restaurants - all of them are within reasonable price. There are also some stores to shop like Penn Bookstore, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, etc. Here’s a link to a list of stores and a few eateries in University City that are not affiliated with Penn: [University</a> Square | Food, Fashion, Fun, And More | On the Penn Campus.](<a href=“http://www.universitycity.org/usquare]University”>http://www.universitycity.org/usquare)</p>

<p>It’s important to keep in mind that Penn is not IN Center City, it is about one mile off from there since it’s across the Schuylkill River. But you can easily travel to Center City through subway, trolley, bus, or car. But parking in Center City is pretty expensive, so I’d recommend going by public transportation. Center City has TONS of things for you to do that I don’t even need to explain - you can google that yourself. :stuck_out_tongue: There are also great places to enjoy in South Philly near South Street and the Italian Market/Vietnamese store areas. There’s also the places up Northeast Philly but that’s a farther subway ride up. </p>

<p>I live in Philly (northeast, south and west before) and attended a Penn med program for a month before. But I know more about Philly than Penn. Hope this helped somewhat.</p>

6

<p>wow, thanks!! i feel like i never get a good insight of the surrounding area, but philly sounds nice!! thanks.</p>