Students admitted to Penn’s Class of 2030 expressed mixed reviews on the University’s Quaker Days programming in interviews with The Daily Pennsylvanian.
This year’s Quaker Days — which took place between April 13 and 15 — featured both University-wide events and programming tailored to each of Penn’s four undergraduate schools. Each day included a Student Life Fair, along with a series of other activities designed to give prospective students a closer look at life at Penn.
“We always ask attendees for feedback and this year we heard from nearly 500 students and supporters via our survey, the majority of whom had a positive experience,” Penn Admissions Vice Dean and Director of Strategic Communications Paul Richards wrote to the DP.
According to Richards, when asked how likely they would be to recommend Quaker Days to another admitted student on a scale of zero to 10, the average survey response was an 8.8.
Some prospective students, however, told the DP that Quaker Days did not heavily influence their choice to commit to Penn.
Elsa Dietz — who was admitted to the School of Engineering and Applied Science — told the DP that she felt Quaker Days “was more geared toward the students who were already committed.”
“I think a lot of the activities were more about socializing with other students or learning about the transition to Penn,” Dietz said.
She added that while she “came in with an open mind and was curious to learn about the school,” she felt she “didn’t learn a lot” from the programming.
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For example, Dietz said the Engineering School advising session she attended “focused more on things like transferring AP credits or super-detailed information about how to test out of those classes.”
“I think it would have been helpful to hear about the engineering curriculum or their teaching philosophy,” she said, adding that she was more interested in learning about “cool classes they offer” and “opportunities students can take advantage of.”
She added that in a presentation about residential colleges, she “felt like they didn’t give a super good overview about how the housing system worked.”
Richards explained that Quaker Days is “just one of several resources” available to prospective students.
“Students can also choose to participate in a Quaker Campus Visit, which are smaller-group experiences that we schedule throughout the month, and if they have a specific area they want to learn more about, we offer virtual programming throughout the entire month of April with hundreds of students attending each session,” he wrote.
Incoming College first-year Samuel Kabagambe described Quaker Days as “100% worth it.”
Kabagambe said he enjoyed the “choose your own adventure” nature of programming and the “real opportunity to go inside the buildings and talk to students.”
Richards wrote in a statement to the DP that Penn “shifted the schedule and style of the programming” this year to create “more opportunities for students to interact with each other and start building relationships with future Quakers.”
“I knew that Penn in my heart was somewhere that I truly wanted to go, so I made time for [Quaker Days], and I don’t regret it at all,” he said. “I do recommend Quaker Days for students who are on the fence about Penn.”
Kabagambe said he found the College of Arts and Sciences fair helpful because he was able to meet other students on the pre-med track and learn about study abroad opportunities. He also said he thought Penn “did an amazing job” at allowing students to learn about clubs and research opportunities on campus.
Incoming College first-year Corinne Gustafson told the DP that Quaker Days gave her a “better perspective of Penn” and that “there’s not much that I would want to change.”
“It didn’t make or break my decision, but I do think it reinforced my decision,” she said. “I think I already knew some things about Penn, but it definitely made me feel more like it was the place that I wanted to be.”
She added that she particularly appreciated a segment where students were separated from their parents to participate in “get to know your classmates” activities.
Gustafson — who was accepted to Penn through the regular decision process — said she felt like Quaker Days “had more opportunities for the students to interact” compared to admitted students days hosted by other universities.
Incoming College first-year Emma Hwang told the DP that, as a Philadelphia local, “interacting with the class was the biggest draw” of Quaker Days because she already knew a lot about Penn before attending the event.
She added that while Quaker Days gave her a “better view” of what attending Penn would actually be like, she did not know if it helped her “understand the actual student experience.”
Hwang, who was already committed to Penn when attending Quaker Days, said the programming “did a really good job of solidifying what I already knew about Penn.”
She added that she felt like “some of the information in the sessions are things that people could have gathered online or during the application process.”
Incoming Engineering first-year Prranit Arora offered a similar sentiment, stating that he felt like the programming was “missing a very large part of what exactly [it] would mean to be a Penn student.”
“I feel like two of the biggest things is where you’re going to sleep and what you’re going to eat, and both of those things weren’t exactly covered,” Arora said.
Still, he acknowledged it “would be hard” to allow admitted students to enter dormitories and dining halls, and added that Quaker Days “did everything that it was meant to do that would be feasible.”
According to Arora, Quaker Days did improve his perception of Penn, but largely not due to the official University programming. He recounted a “really pleasant experience” receiving a tour of Lauder College House and a dining hall from a current Penn student.
Similar to Hwang, Arora said the “valuable experience” of Quaker Days was meeting students from his class and being able to explore the campus.
“A lot of these top colleges for the students who aren’t committed yet are going to have the same things that Penn was plugging,” Hwang concluded. “It’s more of the small character of the school that I think people would be drawn to at Quaker Day.”
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Senior reporter Amy Liao covers clubs and societies and can be reached at liao@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies philosophy, politics, and economics. Follow her on X @amyliiao.
