How are the kids at Penn?

adf8
Tue, 20 May 2008 01:53:08 +0000

There is another question about this a few posts down, but I will answer anyway because I’m bored at home and looooove stereotyping.

Penn is a big enough school that it may not be possible to describe a typical student. Just know that anyone who answers this, including myself, will have some bias based on the people they’re usually around. I’m pretty social and involved in Greek life, so that’s my perspective.

We like everything in extremes. Basically “work hard, play hard(er)”. You’ve probably heard this and it sounds cliche, but it’s so true. We will wake up, spend all day in the library, go out at 10pm and go crazy, go to bed at 5, wake up the next day and do it again. If you want a relaxing, slow-placed school, this is probably not the place for you. But if you thrive on energy and pressure, if you don’t mind going hard for days then crashing, then you’ll probably love it.

People are more athletic than artsy. Almost everyone I know played sports in high school and generally keeps up some sort of workout routine here, but very few people are the creative type. (Side note: Not many people are fat!)

I’m positive that the majority of people here are Democrats, but it’s not a VERY liberal school. I’d say most people are socially liberal and fiscally conservative, partially because of the Wharton-presence and partially because it’s a wealthy school. It’s also not a very idealistic place, at least for a college campus. Not that it’s jaded or depressing or anything…just more realistic. Not many students have dreams of going into the Peace Corps and saving the world. You won’t see anyone chained to trees or really protesting anything. (Almost everyone I know volunteers there- there are plenty of opportunities in West Philly.) There’s definitely a kind of…I-want-to-make-a-ton-of-money-when-I’m-older attitude, and not just in Wharton.

There are definitely more trust-fund kids than people who rose out of poverty. Wealth is fairly apparent when you walk around campus. I don’t think people are arrogant or in-your-face about it, it’s just obvious that most students have never had to worry about money. Whether or not you’ll feel pressure to spend heavily probably depends on your group of friends, but it’s surely possible to enjoy yourself without breaking the bank. If you stay on campus a lot, it’s cheap. If you go out/downtown a lot, you can spend $100s a night.

As a final side note, Penn people have pretty loose morals about sex, drugs, etc. Especially freshman year, there are a lot of random hookups. Students are heavy drinkers, probably more so than at other top schools. It’s not druggie school, but, in addition to the typical college marijuana use, there is definitely a hard drug scene (mostly cocaine). At the same time, I know people who avoid all of this (Mormon, just against it, whatever) and still find plenty of similar friends and love it.

In conclusion…come here, it is wonderful!