I think Penn might be a good reach as well; though Penn might not be a perfect fit for what your son is interested in since it’s urban. Much like Yale, Penn has quartered off quads and green spaces in the midst of a larger city and it creates a balance between city and campus. Philly is unique from New Haven, however, in that it has much more well curated green space for students. In fact, Penn’s campus is adjacent to a number of beautiful parks that students often run around in the nicer weather. Penn Park has also added 24 more green acres to campus that your son can take advantage of. Penn’s campus is also not in the exact heart of Philly and thus it doesn’t feel urban in the same way Columbia does.
Despite the campus in a city, however, I think it might be a good fit for him academically. Penn’s college of arts and sciences is an extremely well integrated liberal arts college in an ivy league research university. The vast majority of classes have 25 students or fewer and 95% of classes are taught by full professors, not TAs/graduate students/adjuncts. Furthermore, because Penn has 3 professional undergrad schools that serve students’ interests in addition to the College, you’ll find that those in the College are intensely dedicated to the liberal arts in a way that isn’t possible at universities that don’t offer professional options, thereby forcing their students interested in business or engineering into “business-related” or “engineering-related” liberal arts courses. That is often intellectually dissatisfying to students with genuine interests in business/engineering and frustrating for liberal arts students who don’t want uninterested students distracting from the liberal arts experience.
Additionally, if your son likes the idea of grad students being around undergrads and adding to their resources, Penn might be the best choice for him. Penn has a nearly equal number of graduate and undergraduate students. Penn undergrads are also able to take advantage of the classes, research opportunities, professors, and resources of the graduate/professional schools through the One University Policy. Some of Penn’s professional schools even cross list their courses with the undergrad schools to encourage undergrads to sign up and participate. No other ivy has made the vast resources of its entire university more fully available to its undergrads. It’s the perfect place for a student who genuinely cares about the undergraduate experience but also wants to be able to partake in groundbreaking research or be able to get a taste of graduate work while still in undergrad in order to test the waters.
Penn does have a College House system but it’s more similar to Princeton’s in that students are unlikely to stay in the same college house for all four years. instead, students switch college houses after one to two years and others move off campus. Off campus at Penn, however, means living barely a block from several of Penn’s College Houses in converted victorian mansions that are owned by the university and leased by a housing company or living in one of the apartment buildings on walnut/chestnut streets like The Radian or Domus (both built by Penn for Penn students and the penn community). Penn’s campus and the surrounding area are also extremely safe. Penn police patrol the entire campus and surrounding area and the streets to the west of Penn are now a destination for students looking to get good brunch food or go to a bar that’s a little closer to campus. Penn has invested billions in changing the area around its campus and it has been tremendously successful.
Finally, if he’s interested in history, linguistics and computer science, Penn is a good choice in that he can easily double major between the College and Engineering without having to get a dual degree, transfer between schools, or fulfilling all of the curricular requirements of both schools. Instead, the College and the School of Engineering have made their majors open to students in both schools without needing to overcome the administrative barriers you might find at other schools. Additionally, if he were to choose to major in the college or engineering but he realizes that he made the wrong choice, he can always transition to the other school without having to completely transfer universities. And, again, thanks to the one university policy, he can always take classes in Penn’s other undergraduate, professional and graduate schools to supplement his education in what ever way he deems best.
I was attracted to Penn because it was the epitome of a liberal arts college working within the context of a highly accessible ivy league research university. I actually ended up choosing Penn over Yale, Columbia and a number of other ivies/great schools because I felt it would allow me to have the most fulfilling liberal arts experience while still feeling both invited and able to take advantage of this research powerhouse.
I’m happy to answer any questions you or your son might have about Penn. Good luck in the college process 