This article does a good job of capturing the sentiments of 12 students. Take it with a BIG grain of salt (these are all opinionated students who write for the school newspaper), but it’s a good way to get lots of student views quickly.
The biggest issues that came up? Mental health concerns and criticism about the competitive/cutthroat environment (not students competing AGAINST one another, but a place where everyone is trying to succeed at so many things, which leads to an overall feeling of stress and competition).
It’s a nice look at a freshman’s schedule. Also, about 9 minutes in, the student speaks very thoughtfully and reflectively about Penn’s pre-professional atmosphere:
“I didn’t really know how ambitious Penn students would be… it hit me how pre-professional this school is, and how driven every single student is. You come here and almost all the students know what they want to do, what they want to major in, it’s such a big shock… but it’s not a bad shock, because it drives me to find exactly what I want to do.”
A thoughtful young man! And, for @Penn95 and @PennCAS2014 - my standard disclaimer, take this video with a BIG grain of salt, it’s just the perspective of ONE student.
On this thread, though, you now have insight from 13 current students - so not a bad aggregation of perspectives!
@Cue7 i dont see anything inaccurate with either account. Especially the video summarizes Penn quite well. Penn is pre-professional in the sense that most people either know from very early on what they want to do or they are very conscious that they need to start figuring out what they want to do in life very soon, whether that is grad school, academia, government. industry, non-profit or finance/consulting.
Penn is definitely not for everyone and people should make sure they research the school, but a lot of people are attracted to these aspects of the school, the most recent evidence being the 20%+ increase in ED apps.
@Penn95 - I’d be careful not to use application increases as a sign of popularity, because we only know half the story. What’s is UPenn’s marketing budget and travel budget, and what has their messaging been like here? Have they been stressing early more? I believe they stress this heavily with legacies, but what about other groups?
For the past several years, Penn’s has signaled that it loves early decision - and the market has responded. I think the early apps have been increasing at a rate faster than the RD apps, no?
This year, thankfully, for the first time in maybe a decade, they are taking LESS early applicants.
Definitely, Penn has been signaling that they really value ED applicants and I bet this has had an effect. However, ED is binding which is why i think it also has to do with popularity. I highly doubt that a very competitive applicant is going to commit to Penn ED unless it is one of their top 3 or so choices. Yes I imagine a good number of very competitive ED people might have a (slight) preference for one or more HYPSM schools but choose to do Penn ED to boost their chances. But i doubt they would choose to do Penn ED unless Penn was very high up on their list.
Re: fewer early applicants. I am not sure if they are aiming at a smaller class size because they have been slightly over-admitting for the past few years or if they are actually going to decrease the % of the class filled early.
@Penn95 - ED is binding, so getting lots of ED applicants is nice, but don’t underestimate how admissions offices can manage their workflow. Remember, while UPenn’s Ed apps have been increasing, other schools have been getting more and more competitive, this just follows the general trend.
If the rest of the schools had stagnancy and Penn’s Ed apps were increasing, you may be on to something. But early is getting more popular everywhere, as applicants realize it really is their best choice. And schools have gotten better with fin aid, so it’s not as big a risk as it once was.
Also, we’ll never know the full picture unless we learn of the admissions budget, internal strategies, etc. there’s a ton here that we don’t know, and number of apps is not telling without this other vital info.
As a current student at Penn, these are pretty much spot on. CAPS is now seeing over 3,000 students and doesn’t have any more room to expand its services. I’ve been going for a year (MUCH longer than what other students get, btw), and I suspect I will be referred out soon.
Also the mentions of how Penn deals with issues of inequality really resonated with me. I feel as if maybe 1/4 of the people I know/come into contact with are legacies.