University of Pennsylvania, PA

University highlight as contributed by Laura Micu, University of Pennsylvania class of 2012, and featured in the Undergraduate Newsletter, Winter 2011 issue (available here).

University of Pennsylvania: Preparing students for success
The University of Pennsylvania, fondly known as UPenn or Penn, is part of the Ivy League along with other top colleges such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Ranked #5 as an educational institution in the US, and #12 in the world, Penn is divided into 4 undergraduate schools: The School of Arts and Sciences, The Wharton School of Business, The School of Engineering, and The School of Nursing. Regardless of what you're interested in, Penn probably offers it, and at the highest level of quality. If you're interested in something not readily available as a major, you can also personalize your own major. Especially if you're interested in Economics, Psychology, or Business (Penn's Wharton School is the best in the world for undergraduate and graduate business education), Penn is the best place for you. If you're interested in Engineering or Science, this is also the place for you. Our school of Engineering is recognized as one of the best in the country and in the Ivy League. In addition, you can deepen your studies by pursuing a joint Bachelor's and Master's degree in one of Penn's many graduate schools.

You don't only get a great education at Penn: you get an affordable one. Penn commits to offering full financial support to its students once they are accepted, international students included. That means all you have to do is convince the admissions committee that you deserve a Penn education; once you're in, they will give you all the financial support you need to attend. And Penn has a no-loan policy. That means all the money you get is in grants or as part of a work-study job. You don't have to pay back a penny.

Are you looking for a great community? Then this is the place for you. Known as the Social Ivy, Penn students combine hard work with fun socializing and partying. Selected carefully by the admissions committee and further shaped by the opportunities and education received at Penn, students are friendly, ambitious, successful, and overall just impressive and great to be around. At Penn you can find people who started community service projects in Africa, people who are Olympic athletes, and others who have started 3 companies by the time they were 20.

Penn is rated as a very hard college because of its curve. To enhance the difficulty of its courses and bring them to a higher level, the university is organized so that most courses you will take in your undergraduate years will be graded on a curve. That means your grade will be decided based on your performance relative to your classmates. Because at Penn everyone is incredibly ambitious, getting a good grade means you have to work at least twice as hard as at most other colleges. At Penn you build endurance and focus, and earn a degree that everyone will appreciate for its value.

Finally, there's more to Penn than schoolwork and friends. Many people do their own research; sometimes even multiple research projects! The university normally pays for the expenses of undergraduate students who present posters to conferences. In addition, many students who do research receive funding for their projects through the university and get published in top journals while working with some of the best professors in their field. The university encourages research and scholarship, along with academic achievement. If you are interested in other areas than research, there are over 200 clubs to join and even be a president of. If you're looking for a club that does not exist, you can start your own!

Penn's supportive setting can help you get the guidance you need for success. You will have academic advisors, learning instructors, psychologists, fitness advisors (through the PennFit program), librarians, writing advisors, public speaking advisors, etc. All you have to do is reach out, and you will have the help you need. With its great administration and endowment, Penn can give you the education you want and the resources to achieve pretty much anything you imagine. It's a little world of excellence to prepare you to succeed in the real world.