The University of Pennsylvania

Date: May 01 2003
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
Penn has made me feel less of a person because I didn't fit into one of the majority groups on campus (i.e. Jewish or Asian). The school likes to promote it's diversity but it's quite segregated and cliques exist more rampant than in high school. People like to drink a lot because alcohol is a nice crutch to help you overcome the discomfort felt when you've been around a place and don't see any quality people to befriend. Also, if you are different at Penn, the school almost seems to push your goals in one direction: working in NYC for a large financial firm. The school does little for non-finance majors in career services, and practically nothing for students not even in Wharton. Students in the College have a lot of fun because their workload is arguably the easiest, except if they are pre-med, which generates the same level of intense competition as in Wharton. Engineering and Nursing students are perceived as anomalies who eventually will want to transfer into one of the other two schools to make life easier and do less work. The biggest disappointment is not the lack of the sense of community on campus but rather the poor quality of people and values which do exist in the "community" known as Penn. Don't follow the US News and World Report rankings because they don't seem to capture student satisfaction. However, so many people stay at Penn unhappy for fear that the only options they have is to transfer to a "less elite" school.