University of Pennsylvania Top Questions

The price of admission because I will be paying off loans for a while.

Learning/memorizing to pass the exams rather than for the material.

Perhaps an overemphasis on pre-professional studies with high earning potential.

The only thing I don't like about Penn is the cost of tuition and how they calculate expected family contribution. My family's expected contribution was much higher than what we could actually afford and we were forcedto take out several loans.

The worst thing about my school is the weather. I am from Colorado, so I am used to the sun shining more. It rains pretty often and is very cold in the winter here.

too career focused, competitive

competition

Some buildings are in needs of upgrades and they don't seem to happen in a timely manner.

I love my school. It can be expensive to live here but there are tons of jobs and lots of kids balance .

A lot of cliques

There is too much focus on finding a career after college -- there is a lot of competition toward that end, plus it makes junior and senior year stressful. Even if you plan to pursue a career in a field that hires after graduation (such as journalism), you feel the overall stress that pervades the campus thanks to the business school students who apply to jobs in the fall. And heaven forbid you be undecided!

No guaranteed housing after freshman year.

The worst thing about my school is how much it costs and the weather. Most living areas are not the best either; however, those with the not greatest living spaces tend to have pretty good community living. This can also be a good thing but the competition in my school; depending in what college you're in, it can be more or less cut-throat.

Some of the students act too privileged and entitled. You can tell they have a lot of money and scoff at those who don't. Also, a lot of the classes in my major were lectures; I know this is not the case for all majors, but I wish I could have had smaller classes.

The surrounding area was not very safe which sometimes made it difficult to get around.

The pervasive pre-professionalism

The people are very selfish, catty, competitive, and unkind.

The business-focus. Too many people just care about getting jobs that will earn them a lot of money.