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Undergraduate Students
Breaking bread while breaking barriers
Penn’s two newly announced programs—Conversations for Community and Dinners Across Differences—strive to encourage dialogue, build connections, and bring people together in conversations over shared meals.
Exploring anxiety and social change
Sociology professor Jason Schnittker teaches the course Anxious Times: Social Change and Fear, based on a book he wrote. Through a data-sensitive approach, students study anxiety and mental health.
Encountering rare texts in the Penn Libraries
Undergraduate history of art majors organized an event at the Penn Libraries featuring 10 rare texts, out on a table and open for anyone to see, ranging from a manuscript dated to about the year 850 to COVID-19 posters from 2020.
Thanksgiving meal program provides food, family, friends, and fun
Penn’s Assembly of International Students is matching international undergrads and graduate students with a faculty or staff partner who invites them to a Thanksgiving meal.
Violence and stigmatized heroes
The new SNF Paideia course taught by Tyson Smith looks at incarcerated veterans and their experiences to understand the intersection of the military, criminal justice, and health.
Creating mental space from alcohol triggers could help college students drink less frequently
A new study from the Annenberg School for Communication finds that prompting college students to take a step back when they encounter alcohol can reduce how often they drink.
Serving service members
There are more than 18 million veterans and an additional 1.6 million service members in the United States. Around 297 of them are students at Penn. In a Nov. 9 event, the University honored these students with an event coordinated by the Veteran and Military Affiliated Students program.
Chinese Calligraphy Club makes an old art new again
The Penn Chinese Calligraphy Club, formed during the pandemic, endures as a meeting ground for amateur calligraphers who value the practice as meditation and art.
Filipino language and culture
Started in 1996, Penn’s Filipino language program is populated with students looking to connect with their culture and converse with their families.
Showcasing an Andean cosmovision
In a monthlong residency, Aymara artist Roberto Mamani Mamani met with students, gave a lecture, hosted a workshop, and painted a mural in South Philadelphia.
In the News
Aiding Ukraine is in our national interest
In an opinion essay, School of Engineering and Applied Science third-year Arielle Breuninger from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, explains why the U.S. should have a clear interest in continuing active support for Ukraine against Russia.
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He started college in prison. Now, he is Rutgers-Camden’s first Truman scholar
Tej Patel, a third-year in the Wharton School and College of Arts and Sciences from Billeria, Massachusetts, was one of 60 college students nationwide chosen to be a Truman Scholar.
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College internships matter more than ever — but not everyone can get one
Almost 90% of students who graduated from Penn in 2023 completed an internship during college. Barbara Hewitt of Career Services says that the race to get talent early has resulted in a focus on getting early practical experience through many ways in students’ academic careers.
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Harvard University applications fall by 5%
Penn received more than 65,000 undergraduate applications for the Class of 2028, the most in its history.
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Penn will remain SAT optional for the next admission cycle
Penn will remain standardized test optional for the 2024-25 admissions cycle, with remarks from Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule.
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With one jump, Scott Toney set a Penn pole vault record, and topped his late brother’s mark in a fitting tribute
Scott Toney, a Wharton School fourth-year and pole vaulter from Mountainview, California, recently broke the Penn program record in a tribute to Marc Toney, his late brother and fellow pole vaulter.
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