<p>The bottom line is that Penn has a very strong liberal arts presence and culture, from its School of Arts and Sciences with its 6400 undergrads and lots of top-10 and top-20 liberal arts departments (e.g., English, Antrho, History, Religion, Art History, Classics, Romance Languages, Linguistics, Sociology, Psychology, etc.), to such “liberal-artsy” facilties, programs, and activities as the Kelly Writers House, Penn Humanities Forum, Philomathean Society, Penn Museum, Platt Student Performing Arts House, and Institute of Contemporary Art (to name just a few examples). So, in essence, Penn encompasses a liberal arts ethos and culture comparable to that found at other Ivy and top schools.</p>
<p>In addition, however, Penn also has world-class undergraduate preprofessional programs–Wharton and Nursing–that most other Ivies and top schools do NOT have. Many people–including the vast majority of Penn students–view this as a plus, in that it opens up their educational and social horizons to an extent not possible at schools that provide a strictly liberal arts undergraduate environment. Others might see it as potentially detracting from their undergraduate liberal arts experience. It’s really a matter of personal preference. But the bottom line is that there is a strong undergraduate liberal arts presence on Penn’s campus (remember that Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences is as large as or larger than the undergraduate liberal arts components of all of the other top private universities). But, unlike most of Penn’s peers, there’s also a lot more. :)</p>