You still haven't made up your mind?!

First off, congratulations on your acceptance to Penn! Now, while I know that many of you have already decided that UPenn ’11 will proudly grace your Facebook profile, many of you are probably (still) unsure of what school you will prominently display to the world. So I’ve compiled a list of why you should (and should not) pick Penn to help you fence-sitters out, because before you know it, May 1^st will be upon us. Here goes:

You should pick Penn because:

1. Our basketball team consistently wins the Ivy League. That’s a raw, undeniable piece of glory that simply can not be found at any other school. No one else even stands a chance. And so what if we also consistently lose the first game of March Madness? At least we get there!
2. Mask and Wig is the funniest act in town (and by town, I mean the entire East Coast). Twenty guys dressing in drag, singing their own tunes, and tap dancing their own choreography? Yes, please and thank you.
3. We have a gigantic button in the middle of our campus. Now I don’t know about you, but nothing brightens my day more than wondering exactly what Ben Franklin ate to send that button flying across College Green.
4. Ben Franklin was a demi-god. He was the talk of the United States in his day! With Declarations and electricity and bifocals, why not add Penn to the list of things Franklin has contributed to your life?
5. We’re not Princeton. ‘Nuff said.

But, Penn might be a bad choice for you if:

1. You do not want to learn from world-class and nationally known faculty. If you prefer to learn economics from the hobo on the side of the street, be my guest. Personally, I like to hear about how my history professor protested apartheid in South Africa with Paul Newman.
2. You want to be bored for the next four years of your life. While there is always, always, always something to do in Philadelphia or on campus, I could understand if that were too stressful for you. Some people just don’t like a cappella concerts, dinners downtown, or large-scale charity events. Stick to quiet, boring, middle-of-nowhere campuses then.
3. You hate history and pop culture. Penn is not only the first university in the United States, but also boasts the first medical school, psychology department, computer, student union, two-tiered stadium, collegiate school of business, university museum, and woman president of a university. So if you want to go to one of the hundreds of copycat schools, just remember where it all started.
4. You want your curriculum laid out for you. Here at Penn, you have thousands of courses to choose from; no two students have the same exact education, even within the same major department. Then again, if you want avoid the fun of scrambling to narrow your 20 class choices down to five or six the night before registration closes, avoid Penn – we give you too much freedom
5. You bleed orange and black.

As this is my first blogging experience, I encourage you wonderful readers to comment and make suggestions. In doing so, we solve two problems: First, I dish out the information you want to hear; and second, I don't get writer's block :-)


I think that sums it up. And so, my first blog ends with a note of good luck. Happy deciding, and I hope you’ll be greeting Penn in August, it’s waiting for you. (I, on the other hand, will miss your freshman fall due to my much-anticipated semester abroad in Seville, Spain. But more on that to come.)