There are a lot of great reasons to attend UPenn. Before you go, think about what you want to gain from your experience. I have learned that one has to approach college strategically. Colleges allow, even encourage, students to be “undecided”. This means paying a hefty price to figure out what one wants to do. Derek Magill does a great job of explaining how to know whether college is necessary for you. There are other ways to acquire the same knowledge at a much cheaper price.

That being said, here are the best reasons to attend UPenn. As John Lee has mentioned, Penn has some great majors in business and engineering. Business and engineering majors learn quite a bit of tangible, and marketable professional skills. Most majors in the college, particularly in the liberal arts, teach critical thinking, research and writing. However, academic writing vastly differs from what people consume. Case in point, Buzzfeed. People want to read short entertaining pieces, yet academia encourages long, boring papers that only your professor painfully reads. If I could re-do my experience at Penn, I would choose to go the business, engineering or pre-professional track.

To get the best experience at UPenn, apprentice somewhere for a year or so. Work with a small business in the field you want to go into, then come to UPenn with a focus on what you want to get out of your education.

I met some of my best friends at UPenn. Everybody that goes there is intelligent, and in many cases well traveled. You meet friends from all over the country and the world. This was my favorite aspect. You also meet awesome professors. It’s up to you whether you choose to cultivate long lasting relationships with them.

UPenn has a lot of activities. Because the student body is over 20,000 there are so many different clubs and organizations that you can join.

The institution is well endowed. That means students have immense resources if they want to start ventures etc. The President’s Engagement Prize gives over $100,000 to graduating seniors to work on a project for a year after graduation. There are a lot of resources you can leverage at UPenn, but you have to research them and come ready to dive in.

On a lighter note, because of all that money, you get superstars, like John Legend for Spring Fling. Influencers speak there on a regular basis. Did you know that Joe Biden is going to be a UPenn professor. How about that revolving door?

I loved living in Philadelphia. It is not as crazy as New York. Philly is a walking friendly city, and there is so much history of the U.S. founding days. There is a wide range of activities in the city: food from different parts of the world, clubs, museums, and shopping malls. There are immense opportunities to volunteer in the community as well. A lot of UPenn kids will stay in the “Penn bubble” but there is so much richness in Philly so be sure to experience it.

Let me know if you have more questions. More of my thoughts can be found on kerubowall.com.