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Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate research poster session goes virtual
The Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships’ new online platform, Penn Presents, virtually display undergraduate research activities. The first event is the 14th annual Fall Research Expo featuring more than 300 posters.
Merging big data and marine biology
Junior Ashna Sethi found an opportunity to delve into one of her passions this summer with paleobiologist Lauren Sallan’s lab in the School of Arts & Sciences.
Jacques Thompson explores ‘immoral humor’ through a historic lens
Through a summer research project with Classical Studies Professor Ralph Rosen, sophomore Jacques Thompson focused on the evolutionary aspect of “immoral humor,” analyzing performances by comedians Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K.
At the intersection of the built environment, environmental health, and social justice
Junior Kingsley Song and sophomore Sage Basri worked with faculty mentor Franca Trubiano this summer to learn more about the wide-reaching impacts of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
A virtual Convocation for Penn’s newest students
Defined by their mission-driven grit and unity as a community, the Class of 2024 is welcomed with open arms—and inspired to ‘make the impossible possible’—during such an unprecedented time.
Bringing green, healing spaces to the streets of West Philadelphia
As part of a Summer Humanities Internship with One Art, rising junior Alice Cochrane helped design a new façade for the “urban eco arts village” and community center.
A virtual online platform for campus groups, clubs, and Greek life
In order to help students safely engaging and consider extracurricular opportunities, students and staff have designed new ways for students to connect through virtual events.
Penn’s Student Campus Compact, explained
In a Q&A, Gary Purpura of the Office of the Provost discusses the Student Campus Compact and behavioral expectations of students on campus in the fall semester.
Experiencing the pandemic from abroad
When rising junior Julia Mitchell learned in March that France was about to shut down, she decided to immerse herself further in the language rather than come home, quarantining with her homestay family and finishing courses remotely.
LDI SUMR Program rolls into 21st year despite COVID-19 disruptions
The 21st cohort of the LDI Summer Undergraduate Minority Research (SUMR) Scholars are spending their summer with their mentors in video conferences aimed at racial disparities in academic research.
In the News
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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Meet the Masterman junior who just represented Brazil in the Youth Olympics
Masterman junior and Youth Olympics speedskater Lucas Koo, the son of Hyun (Michel) Koo of the School of Dental Medicine, hopes to attend the Wharton School after graduation.
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How severed cockroach legs could help us ‘fully rebuild’ human bodies
David Meaney of the School of Engineering and Applied Science oversees an undergraduate bioengineering lab that uses cockroach legs to teach students to work with human prostheses.
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