r/UPenn

I might be starting at UPenn this fall and I already have a life ruining question 😭

What actually happens if you accidentally fart in a completely silent lecture hall?? Like is everyone mature about it or do you instantly become known as “Penn fart girl” until graduation 💀

I’m from Miles City, Montana where cows outnumber humans by an insane amount and my aunt teaches tango above a tractor repair shop so I genuinely do not understand how normal people in big cities act hahaha

I’m an incoming freshman in CAS and I just got accepted into BFS/ISP. I’m excited about the BFS seminars (they sound really cool), but I just wanted to ask a few questions.

1. Are the professors for BFS good, and are they helpful during office hours? I keep hearing about 10-page papers assigned in ISP, but I honestly don’t think I wrote any papers over 2,000 words in high school (thanks ap lang and lit). I guess I’m not super confident that I’ll come in with the writing skills they expect, so I’m hoping there will be opportunities to improve.

2. How bad is the workload really?

3. Is Hill actually bad for social life? I’ve heard that the Quad is more social, but obviously BFS makes you live in Hill. Do people in Hill go out? I’m also in a single in Hill, is that really bad for social life?

4. (not related to BFS) If I apply to most preorientation programs, is there a good chance I’d get into at least one?I want pennquest or pennacle the most, but I’d be happy with any of them—I just want to make friends.

Thanks in advance!

im a prefrosh at drexel and in my freshman year im expected to take 15-18 classes (were on the quarter system). when i was talking to my friend at penn she said the max for her is 8. this kinda baffled me so i just wanna ask what the courses typically are. cause how can someone do all their gen eds and major requirements only doing 8 classes a year?

Hello,

I hope you are doing well. I am an incoming sophomore transfer student hoping to major in PPE. I noticed that one of the requirements for declaring the major is the completion of both ECON 0100 and ECON 0200, but it appears that the two courses cannot be taken concurrently.

As I currently do not have any ECON credits, I was wondering whether an exception might be possible in my case, allowing me to take ECON 0100 in the fall and ECON 0200 in the spring while still remaining eligible to declare the PPE major afterward.

Thank you very much for your time and help. I really appreciate it.

Medical school ^^^ If anyone has gotten these also please share your experience, I'd love to apply! Thanks for your help!

Hi everyone,

I’m an incoming sophomore transfer student to CAS this fall, and I’ve been trying to understand how the Wharton uncoordinated dual degree process works for external transfers. I checked the website already, but I’m still confused about a few things and was hoping someone here might know from experience.

1. As an external transfer student, can I apply to the uncoordinated dual degree program after my first semester at Penn (fall sophomore semester), or do I need to complete two semesters at Penn first?

2. If accepted into the uncoordinated dual degree program, when are you actually allowed to start completing Wharton degree requirements? Is it immediately after admission, or only starting from a later semester?

3. If someone later decides the workload is too much and drops either the CAS or Wharton degree, are there any major consequences academically or administratively?

4. How competitive is it to get in?

Would really appreciate any insight from people who’ve gone through this or know someone who has. Thanks!

Title

Hi, I recently got my acceptance to the Masters of Science program. However, I just received my final mark for one of my courses and I failed… the first fail I’ve ever gotten and it’s not a requirement to get into the program but in the admission outline it said my marks can’t be below 50 but I was wondering if that was for the required courses or just overall any of my courses…. Do you think they would take back my offer? Someone help…

Hey everyone, I was just wondering if anyone knew the dates when placement tests and stuff will be done. I’ve seen a lot of information about these topics, but I haven’t been able to find any definite dates. I know there’s a placement test during NSO, but I’m wondering about the ones we’re supposed to take over the summer.

Picking housing choices. Idk if I should triple or just double somewhere nicer. I’m pretty social and my main priority is making really close friends quickly. Also, I was only invited for a triple and wouldn’t have anyone to double w rn.

Hey, I‘m a rising senior and having trouble deciding between Yale and Penn for ED. I don’t necessarily have a dream school. I really do love both, but if I had to pick one maybe I would lean slightly more towards Yale. My only concern with Yale REA is that I probably won’t get it — I mean it’s Yale — so I don‘t want to waste my early application on a school that is nearly impossible to get into. I know that Penn is equally amazing, but I think I have a slightly better ED chance here just based on numbers. Also more people from my school get into Penn and nearly nobody gets into Yale historically. My only concern is that I may regret not applying to Yale early. Here are my concerns about Penn:

1. Philly — I visited campus last month, and the area felt like it’s own Penn bubble. I never felt unsafe, but it still seemed more urban than I would prefer. How does being in a large city impact your campus life — overall positive or negative? Is Philly a fun city? I also took SEPTA into Center City and did not feel great about it. It smelled like cigarettes and urine on all the carts, trash everywhere, and quite a few homeless. Have you or anyone you know had any negative experiences on SEPTA? And are there any other alternative ways to get around Philly — walking, uber, shuttle, etc?
2. Academics — I intend to double major in PPE and Health & Societies. Are these popular major? Are double majors common? How math/econ heavy will the PPE courses be? I know that Penn faculty is among the most conservative of the Ivys. Have your poli sci professors still been liberal or moderate in your experience? Does Penn have a good pipeline into DC? My goal after graduation is to work on the Hill. Also, if anyone happens to know anything about the Penn in Washington program, I would love to know more about it.
3. Students — I know Penn students (at least according to stereotypes) are more pre-professional and network oriented, which is honestly what I prefer over Yale’s more liberal arts atmosphere. Does the emphasis on pre-professional culture live up to its perception at Penn? Also, are the students very cut throat and competitive (like the stereotypes suggest) or have you found them to be collaborative? I will not be attending Wharton, so this is specifically about the other undergraduate schools. But I heard it can be hard to get over Wharton’s overwhelming presence on campus. How is the social life here — is it really the “Party Ivy?”
4. How has your Penn experience been overall? If you could start over and pick any school, would you have chosen somewhere else?

Other than that, I really do love Penn and want to love it even more. I visited both campuses last month and watched tons of videos on both schools. I know this was a lot, but any input from current Penn students would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

Got into UPenn CAS and Brown as a transfer - having a hard time deciding. Premed - Interested in med, business, humanities, social sciences, etc. Brown seems less intense + more flexible classes + collaborative community but Penn seems like it has better research, clinical opportunities, more rigor, and funding (+possible dual degree with Wharton would be cool). Penn also might have more T10 med school acceptances + name brand? Thoughts on both schools for premed transfer (particularly med school placement)? Pros and cons? If you picked one over the other, why?

Disclaimer: This post is mostly satire for kicks and goofs and not to be taken too seriously.

Honorable Mention: DRL - Honestly, this building is one big bathroom in and of itself. I can’t believe my fellow math majors and I had to spend several years in that ugly shithole learning math, but we bonded over it.

#5: McNeil Ground floor - Tons of stalls! What more do you want in a restroom when it’s an emergency and can’t risk waiting for a person to finish?

#4: Amy Gutmann Hall - Bathrooms are fairly clean, as long as you’re not on the ground floor. I don’t like the ground floor stalls anyway because the lock and/or lights don’t work for half of them.

#3: Hill, right outside the dining hall - These come in clutch for the poor souls who aren’t aware of Hill’s long-standing history of committing health code violations (more so than 1920 Commons) and giving students food poisoning during finals period.

#2: College Hall 3rd floor - It’s in a rather private area on campus, the bathroom is pretty spacious, and it even has a little window to make it feel less depressing when you have bad diarrhea.

#1: Van Pelt 3rd floor - These are the best toilets on campus to take a dump in peace and quiet. No further explanation necessary.

Constructive criticism welcome!