The University of Pennsylvania

Date: Apr 03 2007
Major: Unknown (This Major's Salary over time)
Penn is slowly but surely increasing its visibility amongst its Ivy peers. However, there are certain aspects of the Ivy experience that are lacking. So far as the academic aspect is concerned, there are sundry and excellent options and the opportunity to take courses from the four undergrad schools is excellent. Rather, it is Penn's location and facilities that are lacking and disappointing. The meal plan (required freshman year) offers one dining halls that have simply abysmal food and nasty workers. The dorms, with the exception of the quad, are far from picturesque. My assignment freshman year was in KCECH - English and was tremendously disappointing. The building was in poor condition and the bathrooms were filthy; indoor temperatures during the winter were kept around 50 degrees, no joke. This was only rectified, after multiple complaints, when a hallmate's parents (who were donors) put in a call to the president's office. Also, campus security seems sporadic. Seeing as how Penn is located in West Philly (University City is a creation of Penn's to distance itself from the heavy crime of W. Philly), there could be much more in the way of campus patrolling. Often, one can walk across campus at night and not see a single guard/officer. Other nights, one will see three or four. Very odd. The crime is rather high and it is rare for a weekend to go by without a robbery/assault/etc., even as close as 40th street.

I hate to sound so negative, I do like the school. However, I only went on the tour which thoroughly glosses over the poor housing/less than desirable neighborhood/bad food. If I had known more about the school's location, housing and food I would definitely have given other Ivies greater weight in my decision-making process.