Philadelphia, America’s 5th largest city, is commonly known as ‘the city of brotherly love’, a place for an amazing cheesesteak, a place children visit in Elementary school to see the Liberty Bell, and learn more about Benjamin Franklin.
While Ben founded the University of Pennsylvania, he created it in a style, which reflected what he valued in his life. Ben had many friends, good ideas, and motivation and was an excellent networker as well as being an inventor. Ben was the first person to take a new approach to education. In fact, UPenn is the oldest university in America. As an inventor, Ben believed that everyone should take his or her own unique path. It is commonly understood by students and faculty alike, that each person who invests their time at UPenn leaves campus a little bit different from how they found it. In the spirit of Ben, the end goal at UPenn is to help shape students for jobs that don’t even exist yet. Therefore innovation is key. Admissions officer Alexandra Feinson states,
“The spirit we were founded is the reason we continue to thrive.”
School Spirit
In addition to focusing on innovation and putting things into action, UPenn is also known as ‘The Social Ivy’. While some schools (especially in the U.S.) focus on theory, and eventually putting that theory into practice, UPenn claims to be more hands on and collaborative. Since UPenn has a large research fund, approximately 75% of undergraduate students conduct research with faculty. This hands-on approach is also evident in the fact that 86% of students at UPenn pursue at least one internship during their undergraduate career. Furthermore, UPenn sends the most students to programs abroad than any other Ivy League school.
Academics
UPenn is home to four undergraduate schools: Engineering and applied science, Nursing, Arts and Science/Liberal Arts, and of course the world renowned Wharton Business School. Following the theme of innovation provided through the spirit of Penn, undergraduate students are able to take classes from all four schools. Additionally, the liberal arts degree enables students to create their own curriculum. Due to the large amount of students who have chosen liberal arts in the past, UPenn has created five unique dual degree programs; Huntsman, Fischer, Vaglis (x2) and Nursing and Healthcare Management. While applying to these programs offer one the ability to earn two degrees in four years, acceptance is very competitive and requires submitting an additional application essay.
Student Life
The high amounts of extracurricular activities available at UPenn make this large school feel small. With 11 college houses (fraternities/sororities) and 500 clubs and organisations, there are plenty of ways for students to maintain an active social life. From the PennApps hackathon, where students work in teams to develop software and hardware solutions to real world problems, to UPenn’s tradition of throwing slices of toast onto sporting fields during the recitation of the UPenn fight song, this school has plenty of quirk to spare.
Applying to UPenn
UPenn received 38,000 applications this year. While they don’t track demonstration of interest, or offer merit or athletic scholarships, UPenn understands that students can only do what’s available to them (they don’t necessarily need to sign up for local college courses during their time off). While academic transcript is of crucial importance for UPenn students, what admissions officers mostly want to know is that you took challenging courses. They do not sit and count the number of APs you took (or didn’t take). The most important part of your application to UPenn will be your SAT score. With the reconstruction of the SAT, the writing section remains optional at UPenn. As for the application essay, UPenn wants to know what’s unique about yourself and how you’ve found a home at Penn. Don’t worry about the 3 D’s while writing your essay (Death, Divorce and Depression) just make it personal. If applying to Wharton, UPenn wants to hear stories related to your experience in business. They want to hear a story about how you’re great in a group and at math. While leadership is important at UPenn, they are more enticed by a student’s depth and impact. Admissions officer Alexandra Feinsen states.
“No one would want to go to a school where there was 10,000 leaders.”
There you have it. The Mecca for business students in the United States and around the globe. If you have any questions about UPenn and would like to discuss it further from an American/Australian perspective, feel free to e-mail [email protected].
