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Penn doesn't want superficial students/people who only care about labels and status.
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That's a lovely thought. But whenever I take a stroll down Locust Walk, I don't get the feeling that I am among people who don't care about labels and status, at least insofar as their dress and personal presentation are concerned. While there is some standard collegiate schlumpfiness, there is also a whole lot of high-end labels on view.</p>
<p>I don't think they were referring to labels in that sense, I think labels = prestige.</p>
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schlumpfiness
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And that is the SAT word of the day ;)</p>
<p>As for FB lalaland, if you have any questions or concerns about Penn, I'll be happy to take the time to answer them.</p>
<p>As for the Penn student body (at least the part that is socially lacking enough to spend time hanging out on CC ;)), I'd say we are sarcastic, but certainly not belittling, unless talking to Princeton brats.</p>
<p>Penn needs to get their act together. It's extremely embarrassing for students here when most people have no idea Penn is an Ivy League school or assume it's the same as Penn State.</p>
<p>I would run for student government to try and change this, but alas...dual degrees</p>
<p>Astonmartin, frankly, why the hell is it so embarrassing?</p>
<p>This obsession with prestige is so damn ridiculous. Penn is a university. It has world class faculty, and the obscene amount of money it has allows it to fund a LOT of different projects which give students research opportunities. The only thing that the name gives students is increased access to OPPORTUNITIES.</p>
<p>Graduating with Penn on the diploma means NOTHING if you are unqualified and/or got poor grades in school. Perhaps -- PERHAPS -- you can start with a slightly higher salary, but eventually the more qualified will succeed and the less qualified will fail. </p>
<p>I unabashedly wear my Penn State sweatshirt and bleed BLUE AND WHITE during football season. I don't see anything wrong with that whatsoever. I'm at Penn because I liked its atmosphere when I came to visit senior year, because it's close to home, and because it has academic programs which suit my interests. </p>
<p>The prestige of Penn as an undergraduate institution is unbelievably inflated by students, applicants and parents. It is NOT inflated by employers. Plain and simple.</p>
<p>If we're talking about a Wharton MBA program, the Penn Law School, or the Penn Med School, that's a different story. Graduating from Penn Law is essentially equivalent to graduating top 10% from Villanova Law. But that is LAW school not UNDERGRADUATE.</p>
<p>ilovebagels, where have you been? The attitude on campus is very strongly elitist. It takes a lot of looking to find people who don't think they are better than other people simply because they go to Penn. I was lucky enough to find a group of friends who come from middle class backgrounds, so they don't look at Drexel/Temple/PSU students as second class citizens... but for every student who has a level head, there are two who, frankly, have sticks up their rear ends. Seriously. It's ridiculous and almost caused me to transfer out after spring of '08!</p>
<p>As for the "decline/stagnation in appicants," I don't think it's something to worry about. At all. ...like really... we're still talking about more than 10,000 applicants, which is a ton.</p>
<p>Oh, and for the record, to those who talk about PSU like it's crap, try applying to the Schreyer Honors College. Or try applying to main campus from out of state. When 100,000 people apply to Main each year, 93% aren't going to go there, and likely 87% aren't going to get in. And beyond that, how many connections do you think you get when you go to a school which has literally hundreds of thousands of graduates in the working world who have a deep love for the blue and white? Think about it..</p>
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so they don't look at Drexel/Temple/PSU students as second class citizens
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</p>
<p>I'd certainly hope not...</p>
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Or try applying to main campus from out of state.
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</p>
<p>They'd probably offer me a full ride. How's that Penn elitism for ya?</p>
<p>I applied to the University of Pennsylvania because it is a great school for an undergraduate education, not because it is a prestigious school.</p>
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How's that Penn elitism for ya?
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</p>
<p>The only thing worse than Penn elitism is State Penn elitism.</p>
<p>They knew I deserved a chance of actually getting in.</p>
<p>IMO, Penn's campus >>> all other campuses (campi? :cool:) except MAYBE Tech</p>
<p>
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ilovebagels, where have you been? The attitude on campus is very strongly elitist. It takes a lot of looking to find people who don't think they are better than other people simply because they go to Penn
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</p>
<p>Ahem. Some of my closest friends when I was at Penn were from Drexel. I worked with UArts, Drexel and Temple kids as an Apple Campus Rep and enjoyed them immensely. They have different talents and passions than I do, and some of them were wizards in fields I could scarcely comprehend.</p>
<p>Are there lots of elitist snobs? Yes. But no more than are at any other Ivy, and probably fewer than are at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.</p>
<p>There is only one school with kids I look down upon, and that's Princeton.</p>
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@crystalpineapple: why, university park, of course!
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heheh
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There is only one school with kids I look down upon, and that's Princeton.
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ditto</p>
<p>^^ why's that?</p>
<p>I guess I'm one of the few that received a viewbook without ever requesting for one...UPenn definitely suffers from less name recognition compared to the other ivys. I think it's probably because the word "Pennsylvania" is in the name, making it seem like a state school. And it doesn't help that many people confuse UPenn with Penn State U. The problem again, I guess, is the word Penn in the name. I didn't even know which was the ivy until near end of junior year.</p>
<p>Wharton, on the other hand, and like what others have said, seems to be much more recognized, usually deemed as the number one school for undergrad business. But I think this year, applicants went down for Wharton, or they didn't get the increase they expected (not sure if this is true, but I think it was apparently the case for ED admissions), most likely due to the economic crisis which is making many students reconsider going into a business career.</p>
<p>All said, what I think makes UPenn different from the rest of the ivys and other top schools is essentially Wharton and its Nursing schools as well as its unique accelerated/dual-degree programs.</p>
<p>Even if I did not care about the prestige, UPenn's lack of recognition hurts its endowment as well. There's no reason why we should have less money than Cornell. It could also hurt students trying to find job overseas where people might have heard of schools like Columbia or Berkeley but not UPenn.</p>
<p>Also, UPenn is not an easy school to get into, so it's only fair to the students that they get the same level of recognition as Brown, Cornell, and Columbia</p>
<p>I vote to change UPenn's name into something more snobby and elitist. Maybe we could just rename the whole institution Wharton. =)</p>
<p>My own long-held view is that Penn should change its name to "Franklin University." I'm no branding expert, but I really don't see the downside. Penn is a great school, and there's no reason to invite confusion with Joe Pa's joint. (Not that Penn State is inferior!)</p>
<p>"There's no reason why we should have less money than Cornell."</p>
<p>ummm, idk what's changed in the last few months, but according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers in 2006, 2007, and 2008, Penn had a larger endowment than Cornell, despite the fact that Cornell has more students and more alumni.</p>
<p>I actually like that Penn sounds like a state school, gives it character, and the appearance of less elitism :D</p>
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I vote to change UPenn's name into something more snobby and elitist. Maybe we could just rename the whole institution Wharton. =)
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</p>
<p>I proposed that years ago...Then we could just have Wharton Law, Wharton Med, Wharton College, you know, like the Big Boys do...</p>
<p>Also, yea, Penn endowment > Cornell endowment.</p>
<p>My bad, I guess wikipedia needs to be updated.</p>
<p>Anyways, I still think Penn's endowment could be a lot higher, or at least as high as Columbia's...=)</p>