Princeton too isolated and subarban-y?

PennCAS2014
Sat, 12 Sep 2015 12:28:06 +0000

I was in a similar position spring of my senior year when I was choosing between Penn and Princeton, among other universities. I had spent a summer at princeton (which is admittedly very different from spending an actual semester somewhere) so I had some understanding of what living in Princeton NJ was like. I then spent a weekend at Penn and also went to the admitted students weekends for both and felt that Penn was a better fit.

Social life at Penn is a solid mix between Extracurriculars/campus life, university city (the area in which Penn is located), Philly, and greek life. Only about 27% of Penn undergrads join greek life so it’s actually not the biggest source of social life for Penn students. Most students find friends and go to parties thrown by their friends in their clubs and student organizations. That being said, University City has tons of awesome bars (for when you’re 21 of course… ) at which you can have a really good time: 1- Smokey Joe’s (smokes) for the Penn Socialite, 2- Blarney for the under 21… 3- City Tap House (Tap House) for the Junior/Senior who likes to keep it classy 4- I’ve heard the former Drinker’s West is becoming super popular, 5- Fiume for the hipster-esque, and many many others that can satisfy your craving for night life close to campus. Otherwise, Philly is full of clubs and bars for you to try. Philly is also a huge BYOB city which means you can bring your own alcohol to a restaurant to have a good time. Penn’s clubs and student organizations will often host BYOBs downtown for a relaxing night of wine and dinner or to pregame the main event of the night which could be anything from a party back on campus or a Downtown (a party downtown) thrown by one of Penn’s clubs or Fraternities. If Greek life is your scene, you are totally welcome to either join or simply go to their parties. The nice thing about Penn Greek life is that it rarely feels overly exclusive. The parties are usually open to all undergrads and you never have to pay to get in. So as a freshman during NSO, a lot of kids will go to fraternity parties because they are an easy way to socialize even if you aren’t in one. Many students will also move off campus and have fraternity-style parties at their houses but that are organized by non-greeks. And of course, if you are looking for a quiet night at world famous museums like the PMA or the Barnes Collection, that’s always an option too. Lots of students would be interested in having dinner on campus and then heading downtown for a concert or just going back to the College Houses to relax and watch netflix. Penn’s robust campus life, full of clubs/student organizations and genuinely fun and social students, provides a nice balance to the city just beyond Penn’s campus which means you can always craft the experience that best suits your interests. And while many of the things i mentioned here involve alcohol, if you don’t drink, that’s not a problem either! Many students do not drink and still go out to bars and parties just because it’s fine to be social. A lot of students also opt for alcohol free weekends to do things that are more relaxing. It’s really a choose-your-own adventure.

Penn is the Social Ivy not because it’s solely characterized by wild parties and drunken nights, but because there is a HUGE diversity of social options on and off campus that provide students of all backgrounds and social proclivities something to do on both a tuesday and a saturday night if you know what I mean.

And a final note on pre-professionalism: Penn does have a culture that can feel pre-professional at times though that is sometimes a good thing in that it keeps kids focused on their goals for the future. That being said, because Penn has 3 pre professional undergrad schools (engineering, Wharton, and Nursing), I have found that the students attracted to the College of Arts and Sciences are even more passionately dedicated to the liberal arts and sciences. Those are students who don’t worry about the lure of the professions because they always know that a more technical education is an option for them. The one university policy allows students to take classes in any of Penn’s undergraduate and most of Penn’s graduate schools regardless of their homeschool affiliation. It also allows students to take on University minors in Wharton, Engineering, and Nursing, as well as dual degrees between the schools or a double major between Engineering and the College. Thus the students in the College are usually at the College because they actively don’t feel the compulsion to obsess over their careers. So while Penn does an amazing job of placing ALL of its students in highly coveted jobs and grad schools, the atmosphere is only as pre-professional as you want it to be as a student.

Just some food for thought. Good luck with the college app process. Both Penn and Princeton are wonderful schools and I think most students are happy regardless of where they end up!