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FactsSlang
- 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.
- 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.
- Smoke’s - Smokey Joe’s bar on 40th Street.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Wa or Wa Squared - Nicknames for Wawa.
- Theos, Owls, OZ, Tabard - Off-campus societies
- 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.
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.
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.
School Spirit
School spirit is somewhat strong at Penn, especially at sporting events. The pinnacle of students’ spirit is shown at the Penn vs. Princeton basketball game, where our long rivalry with the Princeton basketball team is displayed with chants and banners bearing clever anti-Princeton slogans. A popular T-shirt around campus is one that proclaims “Puck Frinceton.” Even outside of the basketball season, students can constantly be seen wearing Penn paraphernalia and bringing high school friends by to partake in the Penn experience that students seem to enjoy so thoroughly. Nevertheless, there are those who moan that sports do not play a large enough role in campus life.
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