Undergraduate Students

Two construction workers attach a crane to wires around a beam covered in signatures at the topping-off ceremony for New College House West

New College House West milestone marked

As part of a long-standing tradition in construction, members of the construction, project, and architectural teams were given the opportunity to sign the last beam before it was hoisted via crane to the top of Penn's newest residence hall.

Amanda Mott ・

Slices of toast thrown onto the track at Penn's football stadium.

How rituals shape our world

An Annenberg class about ritual communication encourages students to employ ethnography and textual analysis to think about the unique language of rituals and their endurance.

Penn Today Staff ・

Two people standing bewteen two clothing racks in a crowded thrift shop space. On the back wall, the word "U Lounge" hangs in brightly colored block letters.

As good as new at Penn Closet

The student-run thrift shop on the ground floor of Williams Hall gives clothes and other items a second life, plus offers donators and shoppers a simple way to practice sustainability.

Michele W. Berger ・

Group of five people sitting in chairs in a circle

Mentoring circles support a journey through STEM

An initiative of the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council Diversity Committee has established an informal network of “mentoring circles” for postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates in STEM, with a particular emphasis on including participants from underrepresented backgrounds.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

Students sit in circle under a tree

Leadership named for Paideia Program at Penn

Michael X. Delli Carpini has been named the inaugural faculty director and Leah Seppanen Anderson the inaugural executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program for Penn undergraduates.

Ron Ozio ・

alex ulin standing in front of the jet propulsion laboratory sign, under the nasa logo and next to text that reads california institute of technology

Summer aerospace research at the Jet Propulsion Lab

Senior Alex Ulin from Los Angeles spent the past two summers working at a NASA-contracted field center, and is now aiming for a career leading teams of aerospace scientists and engineers.

Erica K. Brockmeier ・



In the News


The Washington Post

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.

FULL STORY →

The Wall Street Journal

Harvard University applications fall by 5%

Penn received more than 65,000 undergraduate applications for the Class of 2028, the most in its history.

FULL STORY →

Philadelphia Inquirer

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.

FULL STORY →

Philadelphia Inquirer

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.

FULL STORY →

Philadelphia Inquirer

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.

FULL STORY →

Popular Mechanics

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.

FULL STORY →