University of Pennsylvania

Introduction
Penn has something for everyone because it's such a big school. The only trick is to make sure you find your niche at Penn. However, it is there, and if you find it you will have an amazing college experience.

My years at Penn were the best four years of my life, so if I were to go back in time with the opportunity to choose a different school I would have made the same decision.

Campus Life and Social Life
Best:
1) you can do as much or as little partying as you want and still have friends either way
2) whenever you want to party, you can because there's always something going on
3) there are hundreds of student groups / clubs you can join
4) if you like football and basketball, Penn is always a winning team in both, and usually the conference champion in both. There are a number of people who are into sports. On the other hand, if it's not your thing they're very easy to ignore.
5) Penn has the best traditions of any school.
One more -- regarding the greek system, it is very active in case you do want to get involved, but also minor enough so that if you hate frats and sororities they will not interfere in your life.

Worst
Frankly, I can't think of much. One thing that can get annoying is that the administration sometimes doesn't listen to the students. Money often gets spent on building new buildings rather than on student groups and clubs. Advertisement
Academics
Best
1) major research institution with the greatest opportunities to get involved in the most cutting edge research
2) outstanding academics in general
3) great course selection throughout the university
4) good professors and TAs
5) outstanding undergraduate peers who engage in intelligent conversation

Worst
1) because it's a research institution, professors are hired for research over teaching (though most are still very good)
2) also because of research being the focus, some classes are big and sometimes small sections are taught by TAs who need more training
3) pre-med and business classes are sometimes a big pain because your peers are competitive to an irritating extent.

Student Body
Geographically, a lot of Penn students come from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. However, given that Penn gets tens of thousands of applications for a thousand spots, they have the ability to choose whoever they want and usually build a very diverse class. Thus, it's hard to say what the typical student is. The stereotype (which is now false) is that the typical Penn kid is rich, white, Jewish, and not intellectually engaged. This type of person has pretty much become extinct over the past 10 years at Penn.

In Closing...
Penn has something for everyone. It's a fantastic place.