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Inside Scoop

Quick Stats

School Slang
  • Baby Quad: A small section of Spruce college house in lower quad including the south courtyard and the rooms surrounding it.
  • Bloody Tampons: A huge, red sculpture arching over Locust Walk near the high-rises.
  • The Bridge: Either the bridge on Locust Walk between Huntsman Hall and 1920 Commons or the Bridge Cinema on Walnut Street.
  • The Button: A sculpture of a split button in front of the Van Pelt Library. The rumor is that every Penn student is supposed to have sex under the button before they graduate.
  • The Castle: Psi Upsilon Fraternity.
  • The Compass: The circle pointing you in the right direction in the middle of Locust Walk. It serves as a common place to meet friends coming from different directions.
  • Downtown: Party thrown at a club in downtown Philadelphia, usually thrown by fraternities or sororities.
  • DP: The Daily Pennsylvanian, the official newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Friars, Mortarboard, Sphinx: Exclusive senior societies that students are initiated into at the end of their junior years.
  • Fro-Gro: A nick name for Fresh Grocer.
  • Fro-Yo: What Penn students call frozen yogurt at the Hill dining hall.
  • Ghetto-Magic: The Cinemagic theater.
  • M&T: Management and Technology, an undergraduate program combining Engineering and Wharton.
  • The Nipple: The western-most point of the upper Quad, part of the Fisher-Hassenfeld dorm.
  • The River: The Schuylkill River located next to Franklin Field.
  • Smoke’s: Smokey Joe’s bar on 40th Street.
  • Theos, Owls, OZ, Tabard: Off-campus societies
  • The Wa or Wa Squared: Nicknames for Wawa.
  • Whartonite: Nickname for a typical Wharton student. Connotates a business-like, conservative, and wealthy student.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
  • Bring a bike, especially if you'll have lots of classes in DRL and Huntsman.
  • Computers are better when portable.
  • Do everything in your power to live in the quad! Apply for residential programs, get doctor's notes, just make sure you live in the quad as a freshman.
  • Do not let your high school senioritis follow you when you get here. You will jump right into hard academics.
  • Get a random roommate freshman year.
  • Get the smallest meal plan offered.
  • Have as much fun as possible during Freshmen Orientation.
  • Skip the “Penn Reading Project.”
  • You don’t need half the things you want to bring.
  • You have just as little life experience as everyone else, so don't worry if you don't know all the lingo or if you're not the beer drinking champ of your high school. Just show up, talk to people, and have a good time. Take every class seriously, but don't stress out.
Tips to Succeed
  • Do not get wrapped up with the big name of the University or feel pressured to have a dual degree or graduate from Wharton. There are people that will intimidate you, but remember that being the one to graduate with the least amount accomplished from Penn is still one of the biggest achievements as a student in the nation.
  • Do your homework.
  • Get on as many school mailing lists as possible.
  • Go to office hours.
  • Learn how to manage your time effectively (alternate solution: learn how to function on two hours sleep).
  • Shop around for classes during the add/drop period.
  • Success is not always measured by grades, so don’t get too stuck on numbers.
  • Talk to upperclassmen for advice.
  • Work hard, but remember to have fun.
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Penn Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Inside Scoop at University of Pennsylvania

laurinno

Nursing '15

4.6
A

Great Community Feel (Especially in the Nursing School)

One of the reasons why I chose Penn in the first place was because I loved the sense of community. Your professors want you to succeed, and they want you to reach out to them if you need any help (or even if you don't need it).

Apr 20, 2012

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Inside Scoop at University of Pennsylvania

mksaums

Neuroscience and Neurobiology '13

4.2
A-

Incredible Opportunities and Great Diversity - Almost Anyone Would Fit in

There are so many networking opportunities, incredible research opportunities, and great on-campus recruitment (OCR). We have astounding professors who do or have done amazing work. The student body is ridiculously diverse - pretty much anyone could fit in here. I've never been in a more diverse place, whether it's personality, religion, race, nationality, social scene, sexual orientation, etc. However the pre-professional atmosphere can get to some people. Many people know exactly what they want to do in life and are totally focused on achieving that, which can be super stressful for those who have no idea what they want.

Jan 02, 2012

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Inside Scoop at University of Pennsylvania

94759

Mathematics '15

5.0
A+

Social Scene/Academics

Everyone at Penn is super serious when it comes to academics, but also loves to have a good time. Students achieve the ultimate balance between classy partying and ivy league academics.

Dec 24, 2011

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User rating for University of Pennsylvania - Inside Scoop is 4.6 out of 5 based on 8 user reviews.

Facts

Traditions
  • Ahhhh!: Econ Scream: Economics 001 is one of the most common classes for freshmen to take at Penn. On the eve of the course’s first midterm, stressed students gather in the Quad at midnight and release some frustration by collectively screaming. Feel free to streak across the courtyard if you so desire.
  • Here’s A Toast!: Toast Throwing: During football games, Quaker fans sing the traditional school song “Drink a Highball” and toss toast onto the field. Bonus points if you can hit the cheerleaders. If you can’t get your hands on toast, bagels, donuts, or French bread work just as well.
  • Styrofoam Hats Are Sexy: Hey Day: In April, as seniors begin to prepare for graduation, lowly juniors prepare to step up into their senior year. This tradition has been around since 1865, and has endured until this day. Since 1949, juniors celebrate by donning Hey Day T-shirts, Styrofoam hats, and canes, and march through campus taking bites out of each other’s hats. At the end of the procession, students greet the University President who makes a speech and officially declares that the juniors have become seniors.
  • That’s One Long, Hard . . . Track Meet: Penn Relays: If you are a track fan, even a tiny little bit, you have heard of the Penn Relays, the biggest track meet in the world. This yearly event draws visitors and athletes from all over the world to Penn’s campus to watch the best high school, college, and professional athletes of the day compete.
  • What’s That Floating In the River?: Goal Post Tossing: When the Quaker football team wins the Ivy League championship, frenzied fans (attempt) to tear down the goal post and hurl it into the Schuylkill River, which is right next door to Franklin Field.
  • You Sexy Fling: Spring Fling: Considered to be the best weekend of the year at Penn by most students and the best spring festival in the country by some, Spring Fling is an incredible three days of vendors, bands, performances, and all out partying. Previous acts at the annual Spring Fling Concert were Busta Rhymes, The Donnas, Jurassic 5, and OK Go.
Urban Legends
  • Everyone has sex under the Button before they graduate.
  • If you walk on the compass before your first midterm freshman year, you’re doomed to fail the test.
  • People seem to believe that Playboy ranked the boys at UPenn #4 in the nation, and the girls #352.

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Most Recent Student Author View all

Name
Perry Petra-Wong
Hometown
Pasadena, Calif.
Major
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

College Prowler is seeking talented student authors to assist with writing and updating the College Prowler guides to their schools. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain experience and tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is really like at your college.

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How do we get our information? Find out here or report an error here. The statistics on our site are from the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS database.
We update this information twice annually, most recently in May 2012, but it may not be the most recent information available for a particular school.
For additional information we encourage you to visit school websites or contact the schools directly.