University of Pennsylvania Visit Report by bclintonk

Visit Activities:

Information Session: Yes - About 800 people packed into the largest auditorium on campus to hear an admissions officer try to shout into a bad sound system. Dreadful!

Campus Tour: Yes - Our tour guide was knowledgeable, informative, and personable. I think it helped that she's a native Philadelphian as she lent many insights into the city as well as the school.

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Campus:

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Staff seemed overwhelmed trying to herd 800 or so visitors through on a hot Saturday in July. We felt like sheep, but there's probably nothing more they could have done.

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Look OK from the outside but we weren't able to get inside.

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Penn makes a big deal of on-campus security which seems well handled, but we're told most upperclasmen live off-campus and the surrounding neighborhoods get pretty sketchy very quickly.

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After visiting top LACs like Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr, Penn felt like a factory. Hard to see why anyone would choose it over any of the aforementioned except perhaps for business at Whart

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Off-Campus:

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Two to four blocks off campus seems OK, though not a particularly lively college-oriented restaurant/retail scene. Beyond that, neighborhoods get very rough.

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Philly as a whole has a lot to like, a very lively, diverse big city. It's not NY but then NY is less than 2 hours by train.

Campus Visit Notes for University of Pennsylvania

Visit Description:

Penn felt disappointingly generic: a big mass production kind of school, and we were hard-pressed to find anything distinctive about it apart from Wharton, in which D has no interest. The campus is quite attractive, especially the famous Locust Walk, and it's a pleasant little academic oasis very close to Center City Philadelphia with lots of urban amenities. But the contrast with Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr is palpable. All are top LACs with strong academics and an intimate feel, just minutes away from Penn. Students at any of those schools can take classes at Penn not offered by the LACs in the consortium. D & I concluded Penn would be a fine place to take a specialized class---say a less commonly taught language---if she were a student at one of the LAC, but for atmosphere and fit the LACs are much better suited to her needs and interests. Frankly, it's hard to understand why more prospectives don't reach that same conclusion---yet Swarthmore draws about 7,000 applicants annually, Penn about 22,000. My guess is it's mainly the cache of the Ivy League brand that goes with the Penn nameplate. But to my mind, that's just an indication that the Ivies are a bit overrated.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

We stayed in suburbs around King of Prussia, where hotels are much cheaper; also 3 of the 4 schools we visited were in the 'burbs. Took a train in from Bryn Mawr to see how that works; excellen

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

We tried a little Asian cafe on Sansom St. across from the law school; can't remember the name, but food was terrific. The White Dog next door is also excellent, but not much for vegans.

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

Parking is free on weekends at suburban train stations, and cheap on weekdays. If arriving on suburban trains or Amtrak, Penn is a short 10-minute walk from 30th St Station, Philly's main statio