<p>So, after spending some time on this website, I noticed that when you speak of the top colleges, it’ll usually be HYPSM plus your occasional Brown/Columbia/Caltech/Duke. Very rarely is Penn even mentioned. However, on the oh so important USNWR rankings, Penn’s on par with Stanford, and beats MIT, Caltech, and Duke. It’s got the best biz school by far, a decent liberal arts college, and the best nursing school, it’s an Ivy, etc etc etc. Can someone shed some light on why Penn’s rep here seems to be so low?</p>
<p>
Topics:
Cornell University 19,687
University of Pennsylvania 16,425
Harvard University 11,947
Columbia University 10,717
Princeton University 9,886
Yale University 9,848
Stanford University 8,994
Brown University 8,491
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7,260
Duke University 6,413
Dartmouth College 5,411
California Institute of Technology 2,155</p>
<p>Posts:
Cornell University 210,959
University of Pennsylvania 177,037
Harvard University 159,378
Yale University 150,285
Princeton University 149,408
Columbia University 116,931<br>
Stanford University 110,682
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 94,625
Brown University 93,990
Duke University 65,021
Dartmouth College 56,439
California Institute of Technology 25,418 </p>
<p>Any other questions?</p>
<p>Hmmm…Cornell’s at the top, Penn’s second in both rankings-and Cornell and Penn are the largest Ivy League schools. More applicants, more questions obviously. But I’m talking about the countless posts in the College Search forum on which Penn seems to have been neglected. Sorry, I’m being subjective, but hey, it’s my my opinion, and I’m sure plenty of people share it and might have some useful insights.</p>
<p>Roway, there’s no doubt that many posters on CC are interested in admission with maximum prestige - not that that’s bad or good; they are top students or parents of top students looking for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to identify with a brand that confirms their lifelong achievement. IMO, Penn is disadvantaged among the Ivies in name-brand prestige by its name, the “University of Pennsylvania”, which makes it sound like the state’s public flagship university, and its nickname which gets it confused with Penn State.</p>
<p>With a 14% increase to almost 31,000 applications this year, and a probable overall acceptance rate of around 12%, I don’t think Penn has too much to worry about in terms of its reputation (on CC or otherwise). :)</p>
<p>
Both remain at the top even when one accounts for the number of applications. Penn, for example, receives between 2 and 3 times as many posts per capita as Duke.</p>
<p>University Posts/Applications*10 (Posts, Applications)
University of Pennsylvania 65.7 (177,037 26,939)
Cornell University 58.1 (210,959 36,338)
Yale University 57.8 (150,285 26,003)
Princeton University 56.9 (149,408 26,247)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 56.9 (94,625 16,632)
California Institute of Technology 52.3 (25,418 4,859)
Harvard University 52.3 (159,378 30,489)
Columbia University 44.7 (116,931 26,179)
Stanford University 34.6 (110,682 32,022)
Brown University 31.2 (93,990 30,135)
Dartmouth College 30.1 (56,439 18,778)
Duke University 24.3 (65,021 26,784)</p>
<p>
I don’t see that at all. Penn gets quite a lot of love, especially for Wharton. Perhaps it’s not worshipped as much as a prospective matriculant might like, but it’s well respected on CC nevertheless.</p>
<p>From my own experience on CC, some schools do seem to be neglected. Chicago, for instance, was vastly neglected before its popularity took off and surprisingly left most of the other top universities in the dust about three years ago (most notably Northwestern). By the numbers, Dartmouth seems to be the most neglected Ivy. Penn…not so much.</p>
<p>This is CC. Penn took 18% last year, gasp! Selective here is sub 10%!</p>
<p>Do a search for Wharton, and you’ll find the CC love.</p>
<p>
Actually, it took 14% last year, and will probably take 12% this year, but you otherwise make a good point. ;)</p>
<p>I don’t see anything amiss with Penn’s reputation on CC. as far as I can tell it’s held in high regard. Penn’s reputation has truly skyrocketed since the days I was applying to colleges, one of the greatest transformations that exist, truly remarkable.</p>
<p>
According to an article a while back in Atlantic Monthly, this was a result of deliberate actions by the Penn administration including calculated use of Early Decision. See [The</a> Early-Decision Racket - The Atlantic](<a href=“http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/the-early-decision-racket/2280/]The”>The Early-Decision Racket - The Atlantic)</p>
<p>^ As The Atlantic article indicates, it’s also the result of a large-scale program of improvements and enhancements to Penn’s undergraduate curriculum and experience, campus, and surrounding neighborhood that began in the mid-1990s under Penn’s previous president, Judith Rodin, and continues under the current president, Amy Gutmann:</p>
<p>[Sept/Oct</a> Gazette: How Excellent?](<a href=“Penn: Page not found”>Penn: Page not found)</p>
<p>[Urban</a> Colleges Learn to Be Good Neighbors - washingtonpost.com](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/08/AR2006010801164.html?sub=AR]Urban”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/08/AR2006010801164.html?sub=AR)</p>
<p>[Penn’s</a> $500m project could be Harvard’s model - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/03/ivys_growth_transforms_a_city/?page=1]Penn’s”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/03/ivys_growth_transforms_a_city/?page=1)</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> Teach ‘Urban Development 101’ - WSJ.com](<a href=“Colleges Teach 'Urban Development 101' - WSJ”>Colleges Teach 'Urban Development 101' - WSJ)</p>
<p>Strategic use of Early Decision, alone, can only go so far without the “goods” to back it up.</p>
<p>
You’re of course right, and I didn’t mean to leave the impression they didn’t make other important changes. On this admission forum, however, I thought the most salient points would be the increased reliance on ED and the dropping of legacy preference for Penn unless you apply ED.</p>
<p>This is just a website for people obsessed with getting into a prestigious college, hence the distinction between the “Colleges” and “Ivy League” forums, even though places like MIT/Stanford clearly trump places like Brown. </p>
<p>Penn just isn’t as popular as other top universities among prospective undergrads. For ambitious 17 year olds, the prestige of HYP, the chic Manhattan-based Columbia, and summer camp like paradise of Brown are more appealing. I go to Penn/Wharton and love it. Others criticize Wharton heavily. I don’t really care, and it’s doubtful the critics could even get in here anyway, so in most cases their opinion is moot.</p>