<p>I'm a transfer deciding between Penn and Vanderbilt. I love both schools, but I think I'm leaning towards Penn. It was my top choice when I began applying, especially because of the art history department- I'm an art history major, anthro minor. However, when I visited Vanderbilt I fell in love with the school and Nashville. I'm a bit conflicted. I love Penn but I'm a bit worried it'll be very similar to where I go to school now (NYU) in the sense that it's a large city school. NYU is very amalgamated with New York and I felt I wasn't getting a "true college experience." Vanderbilt seems to be the opposite (small campus, vibrant on-campus social scene, on-campus events, manageable student body size, etc.) but I still have my reservations about it (far away, very heavily Greek, etc.). Is Penn's social scene accessible? Does the campus feel cohesive? I guess I'm essentially asking if you can have a "classic college experience" at Penn (whatever that means) and if it'll feel different from living in New York, where it felt I was just attending classes at NYU and not really going to a college with a bunch of other undergrads, if that makes any sense. I don't want to commit to Penn and then end up somewhere very similar to the school I transferred out of! So, why Penn? Any help, comments, and thoughts at all would be totally appreciated! Thanks!</p>
<p>I didn’t attend either school, but my son visited both campuses. I felt that Penn was a great institution, and I certainly did not get the feel that it was just a school in the city. In fact, I felt it was a very vibrant campus. It seems very separate from the rest of Philadelphia. I think that you might actually do better at Penn given the fact that your major seems to be better suited at that school.</p>
<p>Penn DEFINITELY has a strong campus identity and social life–helped by its physically cohesive campus of 300 acres–and while Penn undergrads certainly take advantage of the great culture and nightlife that the nearby Center City and surrounding University City neighborhoods have to offer, there is a pronounced sense of campus life to which they are predominantly oriented. In other words, Penn is significantly different from NYU–and even Columbia–in that regard.</p>
<p>Penn definitely does not feel like a large city school; on campus, it doesn’t feel like it’s located in a city at all. It’s only when you step one or two blocks off campus that you’re reminded you’re in Philadelphia. This makes the city incredible accessible yet unobtrusive. </p>
<p>As for the social scene, I just completed my freshman year (which included pledging a fraternity) and from my perspective, it seemed to revolve very strongly around Greek life freshman year at least. It is to my knowledge that Greek life becomes less and less relevant every year, but as a transfer student, you might find yourself frequenting such social scenes even as a junior. </p>
<p>In most respects, Penn is a very classic college experience: a beautiful, vibrant (and green!) campus, a relatively strong Greek presence (and with it, frequent and well-stocked parties), and academically serious students (though I’m sure NYU was similar). The way I like to put it is, Penn brings together people from the most unlikely backgrounds to become the most unlikely friends that for sure only share one thing, their love for the school. I can assure you that Penn is culturally incredibly different than NYU and only slightly different than Vandy (with a less prominant Greek scene).</p>
<p>I disagree that Penn and Vandy are similar. I have a sibling at Vandy and it definitely has a much more southern vibe than at Penn. It is also much less urban. People at Penn vary quite a bit on the social scale. There are some people who go out a ton and are very social, and some who really don’t go out much at all with most people in between. To me Vanderbilt sounds like its definitely slanted toward the social side, even for people who would consider themselves very social.</p>