There’s no denying that everyone is working overtime at a school like Penn. Between classes, sports, jobs, friends and clubs we hardly have time to think, let alone sleep, eat or breathe. There never seems to be enough time in a day, and we constantly push our own limitations. In such a competitive environment, we choose to forgo anything that isn’t necessary for our success.

I subscribe to the belief that organization is a virtue and that competition fuels ambition. If you go to Penn, you get it. When you have two midterms, an essay, and a BYO you can’t (read: won’t) miss and a birthday party after that, you get shit done. And that’s mostly a good thing. Now let’s talk drawbacks. I’m going to skip the part about stress and pressure because, let’s be honest, that conversation is a little played out. We work like the word’s got the letter “e” in it, we make plans, and we bitch the whole way through. Our decisions are purposeful and most can go on a resume. Old news.

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

many students have a chip on their shoulder.

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

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.

“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.”

"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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDhf9qwiA34

That is the typical penn student.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/fashion/sex-on-campus-she-can-play-that-game-too.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

typical penn culture.

Penn is a great fit for the right type of student, for as many penn lovers there are, there are just as many who hated or were indifferent about their experience there and would've picked a different school.

I just think that if you aren't dead set on certain jobs/industries, there are schools with much better atmospheres that offer better a better lifestyle with similar exit opportunities.

This is a great article. Not just Penn students but happening at many colleges. The attitude is work hard, play hard and not let anyone get in their way. A culture of pure narcissism. It is like women have become lax bros. The only smart girl in the article was the one from the underprivileged background who looked at her classmates that were getting drunk and hooking up as immature. Human beings don't exsist to be used by other humans. The college culture is crazy. Having relationships and getting to know someone is part of maturing and growing up. This generation thinking attaining a bunch of ivy degrees and money and using people for sex they don't care about is just pathetic. Do they think the perfect mate will just show up when they are almost too old to have children. This article should be posted on it's own. I also liked the comments to the article. Women think they are empowering themselves by giving away the milk for free and acting like men. But really they have set the bar so low at college that immature college guys don't have to even try to impress women. They just get them drunk and hookup. So sad. College women need to get smarter about relationships and a good start would be to stop drinking alcohol.

Anonymous wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDhf9qwiA34

That is the typical penn student.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/fashion/sex-on-campus-she-can-play-that-game-too.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

typical penn culture.

Penn is a great fit for the right type of student, for as many penn lovers there are, there are just as many who hated or were indifferent about their experience there and would've picked a different school.

I just think that if you aren't dead set on certain jobs/industries, there are schools with much better atmospheres that offer better a better lifestyle with similar exit opportunities.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's mostly for Jewish and Asian kids who can't get into HYP and have to pretend all they ever really wanted was to become a hedge fund analyst or a bond trader. There are some liberal arts kids who want to be in an urban environment, but they are on the fringes now. Wharton completely sets the tone.

Hope you get your knickers unknotted soon. They seem to be causing perceptual damage.

I've been surprised in recent years by some of the kids I've seen turned down by Penn, including valedictorians and salutatorians who are now at other Ivy League schools and Duke ( and very happy at those schools).

Interesting post by Wharton grad , thanks.
The building on and around the campus has dwarfed some of the more traditional buildings ( quad, museum, student union, old stadium) giving it even more of a city feel.

Penn does have a tradition in this area of taking a large portion of the students if they apply early acceptance - vs. letting students applying to HYP apply to it as their 'safety' - this is part of the 'strategic thinking' of how they helped push their way up in the rankings from the teens to the top ten.

Anonymous wrote:I did huntsman program at Penn for my language program - studied abroad - and the liberal arts program had tons of career options. In the end it was b/t Nike in portland and a tech company here. rest was history...
Great group of alums and enjoyed Philly. Yes, many people went to NYC for jobs, but those (consulting, banking) are great platform jobs for learning and leveraging into other places or grad schools.
FYI - NYU Stern students seemed equally competitive and "in tune" with NYC jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

... art major... "and my parents are still supporting me..."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Fisher program kids are like 'gods' in the gunner student body (it is the wharton/engineering formal dual degree program that is insanely difficult to get into).

One of the PPs - one of my roommates was in Fisher & was a fellow geek at best... I would consider the Locust Walk fraternity types to be more the Gods of the campus.

Anonymous wrote:

Fisher program kids are like 'gods' in the gunner student body (it is the wharton/engineering formal dual degree program that is insanely difficult to get into).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's mostly for Jewish and Asian kids who can't get into HYP and have to pretend all they ever really wanted was to become a hedge fund analyst or a bond trader. There are some liberal arts kids who want to be in an urban environment, but they are on the fringes now. Wharton completely sets the tone.

Hope you get your knickers unknotted soon. They seem to be causing perceptual damage.

I've been surprised in recent years by some of the kids I've seen turned down by Penn, including valedictorians and salutatorians who are now at other Ivy League schools and Duke ( and very happy at those schools).

Interesting post by Wharton grad , thanks.
The building on and around the campus has dwarfed some of the more traditional buildings ( quad, museum, student union, old stadium) giving it even more of a city feel.