Thoughts on UPenn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

PP you're quoting - I mean it 100% worked for me. I was 100% about upward mobility, resume, etc. so it was my place exactly. I'm just saying there ARE people who value learning for learning sake and if that's your kid, they won't find the same home at Penn that they may at Dartmouth or Brown.

Well I don’t think Dartmouth is a place known to produce intellectuals either

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

You think learning a critical language is “useless”?

[Anonymous]

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

PP you're quoting - I mean it 100% worked for me. I was 100% about upward mobility, resume, etc. so it was my place exactly. I'm just saying there ARE people who value learning for learning sake and if that's your kid, they won't find the same home at Penn that they may at Dartmouth or Brown.

Well I don’t think Dartmouth is a place known to produce intellectuals either

Dartmouth has less strivers and happier students and happier alums

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

Ha ha ha ha.

--art history major with dream job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Penn is pretty middling top school outside of its crown jewel Wharton

yup

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

PP you're quoting - I mean it 100% worked for me. I was 100% about upward mobility, resume, etc. so it was my place exactly. I'm just saying there ARE people who value learning for learning sake and if that's your kid, they won't find the same home at Penn that they may at Dartmouth or Brown.

Well I don’t think Dartmouth is a place known to produce intellectuals either

Dartmouth has less strivers and happier students and happier alums

DP. What a gem of a sentence—a true model of clarity.

[Anonymous]

Penn alum from the 1990s. Not really understanding the responses from the other alums.

I didn’t find the school overly competitive with a great social scene. The beauty of Wharton is that it is not that difficult (no business program is that difficult)…but the recruiting was great and alumni network has been great.

I also found Philly to be a great college town.

Also, none of the people that I knew wished they had gone to HYP (Stanford and MIT absolutely not).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

PP you're quoting - I mean it 100% worked for me. I was 100% about upward mobility, resume, etc. so it was my place exactly. I'm just saying there ARE people who value learning for learning sake and if that's your kid, they won't find the same home at Penn that they may at Dartmouth or Brown.

Well I don’t think Dartmouth is a place known to produce intellectuals either

Dartmouth has less strivers and happier students and happier alums

this ^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn alum from the 1990s. Not really understanding the responses from the other alums.

I didn’t find the school overly competitive with a great social scene. The beauty of Wharton is that it is not that difficult (no business program is that difficult)…but the recruiting was great and alumni network has been great.

I also found Philly to be a great college town.

Also, none of the people that I knew wished they had gone to HYP (Stanford and MIT absolutely not).

Another Penn alum from the 90s. Loved my four years there—wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else. Incredible opportunities (research, academics, activities) for those who chose to take advantage, and a social scene that suits everyone. Not understanding the hate on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn alum from ~10 years ago here. It’s an intensely cutthroat, competitive place. Very pre-professional; little to no learning for the sake of learning. Studying and going to class was rarely for the sake of learning new material but instead to boost your GPA for corporate recruiting or med/law school. Socially very stratified, with a large emphasis on “work hard play hard.”

I was miserable and would’ve been much happier at Brown or a SLAC. For a competitive, intense, and pre-professional kid, it’s a great place.

Penn alum also - more like 20 yrs ago and the alum above says it best. It’s a great school for the right kid. But don’t target Penn for your kid if they’re not the right type simply bc it’s an Ivy; at best they’ll hate it, at worst it’ll cause mental health issues.

I was there for a span of time where suicides were a non stop problem. The school was hiring all kinds of counselors etc but from what I understand, the culture didn’t change. So when we say pressure cooker - we aren’t kidding.

Is there no longer any Quaker influence?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

Ha ha ha ha.

--art history major with dream job

You're an outlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

Ha ha ha ha.

--art history major with dream job

You're an outlier.

Exactly, they probably have very well connected parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the other alums who've posted - also an alum - only think I'll add is it is NOT a learning for learning sake kind of school. I only went to Penn so IDK how the other ivys are but it's my impression that at other ivys people take art history or sociology or whatever because they WANT TO. At Penn you really don't do that. I mean sure there are people who'll major in art history or sociology or whatever, but the majority of the school is very pre professional so you think a lot about what you're taking/how it looks on a transcript/how it advances your resume.

I took exactly 2 liberal arts classes my entire time there - art history and sociology - because I was required to; otherwise as a finance major coming in with AP credit, I used all the APs to get out of languages, science etc and for my other required liberal arts classes, I'd take economics (which falls in SAS not Wharton). But eventually there comes a time where not ALL your required arts classes can be from one department so I had to pick something else.

At the time I did not care - as pre professional as they come. Now at age 50 it's like WTF, when else but college can you take that arabic class just bc you want to try it for one semester!?

I don’t see what’s wrong with this. The purpose of college is upward mobility — not to take useless BS classes like Arabic or Art History.

PP you're quoting - I mean it 100% worked for me. I was 100% about upward mobility, resume, etc. so it was my place exactly. I'm just saying there ARE people who value learning for learning sake and if that's your kid, they won't find the same home at Penn that they may at Dartmouth or Brown.

Well I don’t think Dartmouth is a place known to produce intellectuals either

Dartmouth has less strivers and happier students and happier alums

Let’s face it: all the Ivies, whether it’s Penn or Dartmouth or Brown or Harvard, are full of strivers.

[Anonymous]

Penn provides incredible opportunities after graduating, so that alone makes it worthwhile to look at. However, as many others have stated here, the culture is not for everyone and many won't thrive in it. If your kid is very smart but doesn't want to be in a 100% pressure cooker environment, the closest comparison is Duke. Similar great outcomes but has school spirit and many avenues to avoid burnout and mental health issues. If your kid is type A and thrives under high stress and pressure, Penn is hard to beat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn provides incredible opportunities after graduating, so that alone makes it worthwhile to look at. However, as many others have stated here, the culture is not for everyone and many won't thrive in it. If your kid is very smart but doesn't want to be in a 100% pressure cooker environment, the closest comparison is Duke. Similar great outcomes but has school spirit and many avenues to avoid burnout and mental health issues. If your kid is type A and thrives under high stress and pressure, Penn is hard to beat.

Wow another Duke booster??