The First American University

Our chaperone Mrs. Lilhanand asked us each to pick a topic to research before we make our trip to New York. Since I was in charge of inviting guests from the University of Pennsylvania to join us for dinner, I thought it would be appropriate to research about The University of Pennsylvania.

The University of Pennsylvania is located in University City, Philadelphia. The school itself is situated in one of the United States' most historical cities.

It houses 25,007 students, about 10,000 undergraduates, 10,000 graduate/professional, and the rest part-time students. UPENN accepts 14% of the applicants that apply.

UPENN is often known for being the first liberal arts college of the country. The university was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1740. It was originally founded to educate clergy, but Benjamin Franklin wanted it to be a college to educate the future professionals of the country. Originally called the College of Philadelphia, it was affected by everything the young America had to go through. It was seized by the state of Pennsylvania because it was thought to educate the Loyalists (British supporters) during the revolution. After the revolution had ended it was given its name: The University of Pennsylvania. The influence of the revolution gave UPENN the loyalty and spirit it has today: to educate the new generations to benefit the United States. The university has had the honor to be associated with nine signers of the Declaration of Independence and 11 signers of the Constitution either by donations or alumni. UPENN has had many achievements in its history, like being the first medical school in American and being home to the first digital computer.

There are several schools within the university itself. They consist of The College (School of Arts and Sciences), Wharton College (School of Business), School of Engineering and Applied Science, and School of Nursing. The other eight schools are for graduate students. It also has over 40 housing complexes that each have their own interests so that students can be house with people that like to do the same things and major in the same area.

As the years went by, UPENN prospered and changed. In the 1800s, the university transformed itself into a research institute because of pressure from other countries. The US had to be the best in the world and needed its universities to be able to come out with new ideas and inventions. It continued to experience changes in attendance because of the G.I. Bill that allowed World War II veterans the opportunity to attend college once they came home. The University today is ranked number 5 in undergraduate education. It continues to lead the Ivys in research and in U.S. News it has kept its number 1 ranking in business schools.

Personally, if I had not been offered the opportunity to go to the East Coast and have to know about the colleges there, I would have never considered adding UPENN to my list of colleges to apply to. After attending educational seminars given by the admissions officers and reading about the amazing engineering program UPENN offers, I am happy to say that I will hopefully add it to my list. I look forward to visiting this amazing university in less than 2 weeks!