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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120185/inside-americas-number-1-party-school-university-pennsylvania

Lots of posters seem to be right on the money when it comes to what penn is about. [/quote]

Highlights for people who don't want to read the whole article:

[quote]A particular kind of status anxiety pervades even the party-going at Penn, turning a night out into a series of achievements: been to this party, seen that person. Penn fosters a specific kind of insecurity—borne of a combination of ambition and inferiority complex—and it permeates all aspects of life at the college.[/quote]

[quote]many students have a chip on their shoulder.[/quote]

[quote]“The most important thing at Penn, by far, is to get a high-paying job.”[/quote]

[quote]We’re not a trade school,” he tells the high schoolers gathered at the College Hall. But it’s hard to imagine a dean at any other Ivy needing to make this kind of disclaimer. There’s an undeniable aura of pre-professionalism in the air at Penn. The most obvious reason for this is the businesss school, Wharton. Though it enrolls less than one-fifth of all undergrads, Wharton “casts a shadow over everything,” says a recent grad who majored in English. When Dean Furda asked a random applicant at the info session what websites he visits for fun, he answered: ESPN and Investor’s Business Daily. Anyone who enters the campus bookstore is confronted by a prominent business section, just behind the new arrivals: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street, Creativity Inc, Eight Keys to Making Change Work.[/quote]

[quote]“If you don’t decide to do finance or something investment-bank related, you’re kind of an outcast,” says a junior urban studies major. “It’s looked down on not to go into finance or consulting,” says a senior girl who’s studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). (Pre-law and pre-med students are okay.) She tells me the pressure of the job search is “ten times worse” than college applications. The big firms come to recruit juniors and seniors, but students begin preparing long before. “There’s a girl in my year reading the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews,” says a sophomore. “Yeah, everyone reads that,” says a knowing junior. The senior explains how students can twist any major to sound appealing to recruiters. A history major can focus on economic history. A sociology student might bill herself as a quantitative sociologist. “The most important thing at Penn, by far, is to get a high-paying job,” she says. “I don’t think there’s one person who would put social life over job search.”[/quote]

[quote]"Your frat basically plans your social life for you,” says a junior, explaining his decision to pledge. “You don’t have to worry, like, ‘What am I gonna do tonight?’” The same impulse is driving his career plans. “I’m gonna go into finance because I don’t know what else to do,” he says. But he knows what he’s going to do tonight. His frat has planned it for him. 
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