College freshman Nate Adler made 100 friends before New Student Orientation even began.
Granted, they are Facebook friends.
Wanting to meet his future dorm mates in Hill College House, Adler, joined the Hill House-Class of 2011 group on Facebook.com and subsequently friended many of its members over the summer.
Though the Class of 2011 is hardly the first class to use Facebook, there is a higher level of activity occurring on the Web site before people even move.
For instance, the largest Class of 2010 Facebook group, Penn '10, has about 380 wall posts. In contrast, there are 6,500 posts on the official U Penn Class of 2011 group's wall.
As applicants are increasingly spread throughout the country and globe, droves of freshman are turning to the social networking site to connect with one another.
About 13 percent of the incoming freshmen are international students from 67 different countries, a 12 percent increase from last year.
Freshman Nicolas Aguirre, who is in the Huntsman program, hails from Peru and likes to travel, which has helped him meet some of his fellow classmates. He is also a Facebook ethusiast.
"I met a lot of people there," Aguirre said.
Wharton freshman Brandon Ahler started using Facebook this summer to meet up with future classmates. By the time he arrived at Penn to serve as an Information Technology Assistant, he already had about 80 friends.
"Some of them recognized me when I got here," Ahler said.
There are a plethora of Facebook groups for new students. Practically every dorm has its own group, as does each school. There are groups for those who like to party and even groups saying there are too many groups.
And, of course, a huge number of groups of hometowns.
Applicants came from all 50 states, including 9 from Puerto Rico and two from the Virgin Islands. Asia was the best-represented region abroad, with 126 enrolled students.
About 46 percent of the Class of 2011 are on financial aid. Stetson predicted that Penn's new financial-aid initiative would have a larger impact on next year's class as Penn builds on its aid reputation.
"They're going to make their mark, individually and collectively," said former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson. He also noted they are the academically strongest class yet.
"This class is wonderfully diverse and very talented," he said.
They are also fans of the motto "Work Hard, Play Hard," according to the more than 500 member strong Penn Partiers: 2011 group.
