University of Pennsylvania Student Reviews

Academic Life

With so many different paths of study to choose from, the peer competition widely varies. The Wharton School, beginning with the required Management 100 for Freshmen, is especially cutthroat. Many large introductory courses (notoriously Math and Economics) are also viciously curved. However, you can easily choose to sit back and observe your peers claw their way up to the top while you take one of the countless classes that foster discussion-based learning. At a research university as well-endowed as Penn, you can shape your own education to be whatever you want it to be. In the College of Arts & Sciences, the general requirements are, well, generalÑyou have plenty options across various departments available to fulfill a requirement so that you never have to take math to fulfill the ÒmathÓ requirement. If you want to be taught by full-time professors, you will be. If you want to be taught by a world-renowned professor, you will be, even in your freshmen year. Especially with the recent advent of the Freshmen Seminars, top faculty often teach freshmen in their areas of specialty. I took five classes my first semester as a freshmen, and the largest class I had was 16 students.