Are Penn students mean?

[maggiethemoo]

Are most Penn students not nice? I get a lot of mixed reviews from people. I am into Ohio and Penn and having trouble. Advice?

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[JustCats]

I do hear that there's lots of hair pulling and bitch slapping at Penn and they like to put "kick me" signs on the back of first years.

Come on, Maggiethemoo. Pick the school you want to go to based on more relevant factors and then find people you like to hang out with and stay away from the ones you don't.

Are most Penn students not nice? I get a lot of mixed reviews from people. I am into Ohio and Penn and having trouble. Advice?

 

[EqSci]

I do hear that there's lots of hair pulling and bitch slapping at Penn and they like to put "kick me" signs on the back of first years.

LOL! I hear that too. Don't go to Penn, they'll do stuff to you while you're sleeping.

On a serious note for the OP, Penn does have a bit of a reputation for being snobby... but I think they are working really hard to dispel that. Everyone I have met that's related to UPenn in any way has been nothing but helpful and friendly. But you should know that if you interviewed? So I guess I'm not much help.

 

[sumstorm]

I have a feeling there are difficult people at every school, along with people who will be great companions.

 

[eatpinkpenguins]

everyone at the student happy hour was really friendly. And if you check out the PennVet 2013 group on facebook, I think you'll see that our class is really friendly

I think you never know who is going to be admitted anywhere. Class makeups vary from year to year. There are always going to be people you like more and people you like less (unfortunately). I agree w the others who posted here though. I think tuition, programs, locations, etc are prob more predictable and different

 

[nonvideas]

Just yesterday I saw a Penn student push an Ohio student into a mud puddle, then tell her that her "mother wears army boots." She left with the Ohio girl's lunch money.

Seriously, though..."mean???" Sure, we may have a superiority complex, but can you blame us?

(yeah, that's a joke.)

 

[No Imagination]

Im telling you, I worked with a VMD a few years ago.

She told me that other vets call them (VMD's), "PennWee's" - because of their frequent use of the phrase "At Penn We ... (Do things this way, or that way)"

I am not sure if that is a reputation that has been around a long time, but it has crossed a few generation gaps thus far.

She on the other hand was nice

 

[nonvideas]

Im telling you, I worked with a VMD a few years ago.

She told me that other vets call them (VMD's), "PennWee's" - because of their frequent use of the phrase "At Penn We ... (Do things this way, or that way)"

I am not sure if that is a reputation that has been around a long time, but it has crossed a few generation gaps thus far.

She on the other hand was nice

That's all true. Honestly, that's probably most of the reason Penn grads have a rep for being snobby. In general, the school does tend to do things its own way (we don't even spell DVM right), grads tend to be pretty indoctrinated in the Penn way, and defensive about how and why they do things.

 

[robeezy08]

Im telling you, I worked with a VMD a few years ago.

She told me that other vets call them (VMD's), "PennWee's" - because of their frequent use of the phrase "At Penn We ... (Do things this way, or that way)"

I am not sure if that is a reputation that has been around a long time, but it has crossed a few generation gaps thus far.

She on the other hand was nice

They have " Penn We" shirts! Yes, a reputation that has been around since the dawn of time and will stick around forever! They totally pride themselves on it

Just yesterday I saw a Penn student push an Ohio student into a mud puddle, then tell her that her "mother wears army boots." She left with the Ohio girl's lunch money.

LOL!

 

[IvyLynx]

why do people try to act like the social atmosphere isn't important? it's plenty relevant. maybe you're an uber-independent person who doesn't need anyone but your teachers, but some of us don't want to have to deal with 4 years in a hostile environment. vet school is stressful enough without hating your classmates and dreading working them everyday. geesh.

anyway, i've heard that penn students are pretty snobbish.

 

[banditalfi]

why do people try to act like the social atmosphere isn't important? it's plenty relevant. maybe you're an uber-independent person who doesn't need anyone but your teachers, but some of us don't want to have to deal with 4 years in a hostile environment. vet school is stressful enough without hating your classmates and dreading working them everyday. geesh.

anyway, i've heard that penn students are pretty snobbish.

it's not that it's unimportant, it's that it's nearly impossible to judge. class compositions can vary tremendously from year to year so it's ridiculous to try to guess how your class will turn out.

more importantly, classes have at least 80 people in them and many have upwards of 140. you ARE going to find people you like, you ARE going to make friends.

 

[nonvideas]

why do people try to act like the social atmosphere isn't important? it's plenty relevant. maybe you're an uber-independent person who doesn't need anyone but your teachers, but some of us don't want to have to deal with 4 years in a hostile environment. vet school is stressful enough without hating your classmates and dreading working them everyday. geesh.

anyway, i've heard that penn students are pretty snobbish.

That's funny, because I've heard NCSU students believe everything they hear.

 

[vnair2]

I heard that Penn students are exceptionally attractive and very good in bed.

 

[nonvideas]

I heard that Penn students are exceptionally attractive and very good in bed.

God, you're so snobby.

 

[eventualeventer]

I heard that Penn students are exceptionally attractive and very good in bed.

Just because we're mostly women here, that doesn't mean you have to brag.

 

[IvyLynx]

That's funny, because I've heard NCSU students believe everything they hear.

i'm sorry, but you should get your sense of humor checked. good thing i can read, otherwise i might assume that you were implying that NCSU students are gullible. geesh, good thing i'm not dense

you can stop quoting me now. kthnxbye.

it's not that it's unimportant, it's that it's nearly impossible to judge. class compositions can vary tremendously from year to year so it's ridiculous to try to guess how your class will turn out.

more importantly, classes have at least 80 people in them and many have upwards of 140. you ARE going to find people you like, you ARE going to make friends.

i agree. i just don't understand why people get jumped on when they ask questions like this. kind of like the financial questions.

 

[Shanomong]

That's funny, because I've heard NCSU students believe everything they hear.

I heard that Penn students are exceptionally attractive and very good in bed.

i agree. i just don't understand why people get jumped on when they ask questions like this. kind of like the financial questions.

I think it's more poking fun than jumping on people. I'm sorry, but I think all sweeping generalizations deserve that kind of response. That's like saying are nuns mean or do cats bite.... how do you seriously answer something like that? Some yes, some no, same as every other diverse demographic...

But then again... maybe I"m just mean...

 

[vnair2]

Just because we're mostly women here, that doesn't mean you have to brag.

That is actually a very good reason to brag. In case any one was curious, I am also an excellent cook, a good listener, and exceptional at rock band.

 

[dgm]

That is actually a very good reason to brag. In case any one was curious, I am also an excellent cook, a good listener, and exceptional at rock band.

Well, you had me at "rock band" - isn't this what every girl looks for in a guy?! But it appears you're also taken. It's not nice to toy with us (so it's true! Penn students ARE mean)! :cry:

 

[Caninerepro]

Just yesterday I saw a Penn student push an Ohio student into a mud puddle, then tell her that her "mother wears army boots." She left with the Ohio girl's lunch money.

Seriously, though..."mean???" Sure, we may have a superiority complex, but can you blame us?

(yeah, that's a joke.)

Yes I can! You wannabes are what, fourth or fifth place slackers. Get a life, and a better Vet School! Just giving y'all a hard time, and some deserved grief. Damn Yankees.

Kai,
2009 Colorado State

 

[ImaJerseyGirl]

Penn wouldn't accept my Calc class because it was from a community college although my U and every other school I contacted would. I am not happy! Just my gripe about Penn...

 

[Ben and Me]

vnair, I get the feeling that you and I are going to be buddies next year...

 

[robeezy08]

I heard that Penn students are exceptionally attractive and very good in bed.

please provide statistical evidence to support your claims....

 

[ratbandit]

It's just because a lot of them are Pennsylvanians, like me, plus they have to live in Philly ! The east coast has an attitude that some people interpret as mean/bitchy/insensitive-but that is a major generalization. I never thought I had an attitude until I came out to the midwest where things are just...different.

 

[TractorKid]

Hey, I'm from the midwest and I don't think we're mean. This is just a bunch of hooey.

 

[vnair2]

please provide statistical evidence to support your claims....

Im no statistician, but Im pretty sure that anecdotal evidence is always a good substitute for statistical evidence. And I have plenty of anecdotal evidence.

 

[bunnity]

It's just because a lot of them are Pennsylvanians, like me, plus they have to live in Philly ! The east coast has an attitude that some people interpret as mean/bitchy/insensitive-but that is a major generalization. I never thought I had an attitude until I came out to the midwest where things are just...different.

Hmm, as a lifelong Pennsylvanian I disagree with that comment, but I am on the other side of the state where we definitely don't consider ourselves east coast. Maybe it's just that everyone at Penn is trying to drive in Philly - that is enough to make you mean! Philly needs to learn from West PA and synchronize the traffic lights.

But seriously though, my best guess as to the source of the reputation is that Penn has the ivy league thing going on and I think in undergrad there is a lot of elitism attached to the ivy league (not Penn necessarily, I don't think I know anyone that went there for undergrad so I have no idea). Since we're doing anecdotal evidence, I met many nice and zero mean people at Penn, so therefore not ALL Penn students are mean. And as everyone has said, you will like some people and not like some people and that probably depends more on who you are than who everyone else is anyway.

 

[No Imagination]

Im no statistician, but Im pretty sure that anecdotal evidence is always a good substitute for statistical evidence. And I have plenty of anecdotal evidence.

As a former NYC'er, I can say you clearly demonstrate the dangers of using anecdotal evidence. Did you use enough NJ'ers in your statistical pool to make that assessment?

 

[ratbandit]

Hmm, as a lifelong Pennsylvanian I disagree with that comment

That's just part of the attitude - denial

 

[RockStarKDub]

It's just because a lot of them are Pennsylvanians, like me, plus they have to live in Philly ! The east coast has an attitude that some people interpret as mean/bitchy/insensitive-but that is a major generalization. I never thought I had an attitude until I came out to the midwest where things are just...different.

That's funny, I *always* thought I had an attitude until I interviewed at Penn...

 

[flyhi]

It's just because a lot of them are Pennsylvanians, like me, plus they have to live in Philly ! The east coast has an attitude that some people interpret as mean/bitchy/insensitive-but that is a major generalization. I never thought I had an attitude until I came out to the midwest where things are just...different.

Wait a minute here.....let's not throw all East Coasters into one big ole heap....there is the northeast and the SOUTHeast....big, big difference....they don't drink sweeeeeet tea in the North

 

[LivestockDoc]

I heard that Penn students are exceptionally attractive and very good in bed.

Just because we're mostly women here, that doesn't mean you have to brag.

Oh, I thought he was talking about the women. Most Penn students are women aren't they?

 

[eventualeventer]

Oh, I thought he was talking about the women. Most Penn students are women aren't they?

You know, I assumed he was talking about himself, but I could have read his comment wrong. Maybe he IS talking about his pickings (taken? are there any guys at Penn that aren't taken? in the horse world, single straight men with decent personalities are like hen's teeth), in which case the gaggle of women here is not the best audience for his boasting.

 

[rachroo]

in the horse world, single straight men with decent personalities are like hen's teeth

What about the rest of the veterinary profession as well?

Back to the OP... I think Ohio would be a great choice (yeah, I'm biased)!!

 

[ImaJerseyGirl]

In the horse world, single straight men with decent personalities are like hen's teeth.

Amen to that one!

 

[splashie]

Wait a minute here.....let's not throw all East Coasters into one big ole heap....there is the northeast and the SOUTHeast....big, big difference....they don't drink sweeeeeet tea in the North

Tell me about it! I live in the Southeast and often people will give me the sketchiest looks when I ask for unsweet tea! (My mom/grandparents are from Montana though, so I think that's where my tastes were influenced from. All are big unsweet tea drinkers.)

 

[No Imagination]

Erghh, the Sweet/Unsweet debate, can't believe it's found its way into this thread lol. Since my move to MS, my g/f grandmother has started making me my own pitcher of unsweetened tea. Personally, i prefer water, but can't drink the water down here either.

Just something great about NYC Tap water...

 

[PAThbrd]

Wait a minute here.....let's not throw all East Coasters into one big ole heap....there is the northeast and the SOUTHeast....big, big difference....they don't drink sweeeeeet tea in the North

Hmmm, Im a born and bred northeasterner, PA resident, and Penn student. Wouldn't consider myself to be too mean, and I LOVE sweet tea (make my own almost every day!).

 

[hopefulvet21]

Erghh, the Sweet/Unsweet debate, can't believe it's found its way into this thread lol. Since my move to MS, my g/f grandmother has started making me my own pitcher of unsweetened tea. Personally, i prefer water, but can't drink the water down here either.

Just something great about NYC Tap water...

I didn't get from your comment whether you were inferring it was good or bad to drink NYC tap water...but in case it was the latter I just wanted to mention that NYC tap water is extremely clean and well purified. It comes from an aquifer in upstate New York and my dad is one of the engineers that helped design the plant.

 

[DVMorBust]

I didn't get from your comment whether you were inferring it was good or bad to drink NYC tap water...but in case it was the latter I just wanted to mention that NYC tap water is extremely clean and well purified. It comes from an aquifer in upstate New York and my dad is one of the engineers that helped design the plant.

I thought he meant the delicious NYC water ruined him for all other tap water?

 

[vnair2]

I thought he meant the delicious NYC water ruined him for all other tap water?

I also believe he meant that and I agree. As a true New York snob I am convinced that New-York-Anything is superior to Non-New-York-Everything, and the tap water is just one of the many manifestations of this fact.

 

[sunnex3]

just putting in my 2 cents as an undergraduate Penn student, i think the comment that Penn students are mean probably stems from the undergraduate population. a lot of them got in just because they are rich or their families donated to the school, so a lot of them, naturally, are quite snobby and are not the nicest bunch of people.

HOWEVER, that being said, i think that the Penn graduate students are quite nice. all of the vet students i've met are all very very nice, as well as other grad students. probably because you actually have to work hard to get into grad school.

but at any school, you'll always find people that you don't like or do like. i just don't think that Penn Vet, at least, stands out as a place that has MORE mean students than other places.

JMHO.

 

[nyanko]

I heard it's like a cult where they make ritualistic sacrifices to the Ivy gods in exchange for being allowed to be a member of their athletic conference. My informant said it involves the DNA of one calico polydactyl tomcat and a unicorn's scrotal sac. Only after this grueling trial can you truly understand the power of the Penn-we.

 

[aspiringDVM]

My informant said it involves the DNA of one calico polydactyl tomcat and a unicorn's scrotal sac.

 

[No Imagination]

I also believe he meant that and I agree. As a true New York snob I am convinced that New-York-Anything is superior to Non-New-York-Everything, and the tap water is just one of the many manifestations of this fact.

Yeah, that is what I meant - and its not just being snobby. I've probably just gotten used to it, but erghh, <3 my NYC tap water.

As I am sure most NY'ers know, but perhaps not others, many chiefs import NYC tap water for their cooking. This is especially true for those "New York Style Pizza" places. Not sure if that is something that is still going on it not, but it was.

 

[eventualeventer]

What about the rest of the veterinary profession as well?

Well, true. I have more experience with the horse world, which is why I chose to limit my statement.

A recent scene from the anatomy lab at Penn -- apparently the girl on the left didn't like the way the girl on the right was dissecting their dog.

 

[Emio]

just putting in my 2 cents as an undergraduate Penn student, i think the comment that Penn students are mean probably stems from the undergraduate population. a lot of them got in just because they are rich or their families donated to the school, so a lot of them, naturally, are quite snobby and are not the nicest bunch of people.

HOWEVER, that being said, i think that the Penn graduate students are quite nice. all of the vet students i've met are all very very nice, as well as other grad students. probably because you actually have to work hard to get into grad school.

but at any school, you'll always find people that you don't like or do like. i just don't think that Penn Vet, at least, stands out as a place that has MORE mean students than other places.

JMHO.

iiiiii LIKE this post.

well said.

it's true.

and i thought all unicorns were female?

 

[BR549]

Erghh, the Sweet/Unsweet debate, can't believe it's found its way into this thread lol. Since my move to MS, my g/f grandmother has started making me my own pitcher of unsweetened tea. Personally, i prefer water, but can't drink the water down here either.

Just something great about NYC Tap water...

Well, in the Southeast, sweet tea is our tap water! It runs through our blood. The nectar of life. Sweet Ambrosia of the gods. We even raise our babies on it...put it straight in the bottle. LOL! I get carried away when it comes to good sweet tea!

 

[veridianbunny]

Well, in the Southeast, sweet tea is our tap water! It runs through our blood. The nectar of life. Sweet Ambrosia of the gods. We even raise our babies on it...put it straight in the bottle. LOL! I get carried away when it comes to good sweet tea!

Amen - northerners don't understand until they sit down and have their first Chick-fil-a chicken biscuit and large sweet tea.

ahhhh, heaven.

 

[VAgirl]

Amen - northerners don't understand until they sit down and have their first Chick-fil-a chicken biscuit and large sweet tea.

ahhhh, heaven.

As a northerner (well, mid-atlantic-er who identifies as northern), who lived in the south for 4 years in college, I never learned to like sweet tea. Can't understand what you all see in the stuff, actually. (And yes, to me it's still you all, not y'all.) But to each their own, I guess.

And so many people seem to have attitude about tap water. I like yummy water as much as the next person, but I must have a much higher tolerance. People gripe about Davis water non-stop! (Even when I took my cat into the VMTH for FIC, the vet asked me if my cat drank Davis tap water and then shuddered. To which I replied, "I drink Davis tap water, so yea, she does too!") I honestly don't get it.