Elizabeth Rubin

Psychology professor Lori Flanagan-Cato researches brain hormone activity in Penn's Psychology Department where she employs two graduate students and four undergraduates. When she started her research, the National Institutes of Health - Penn's primary grantor of research money for the School of Medicine and science programs - granted her a First Award for new researchers and then a five-year Research Project grant, which supports health-related research.

"Nothing is a sure bet anymore," 2008 College alumnus Yoni Levinson said of his future. The biochemistry major had planned on pursuing a career in renewable energy or sustainable technologies after graduation. Now, he is applying to medical school. Like many recent and soon-to-be college graduates facing a tumultuous economy and tight job market, Levinson is turning to graduate school instead of entering the workforce right away.

The number of Early Decision applications decreased for the third year in a row, admissions officials announced yesterday. This year, 3,610 students applied early to Penn - an almost 8-percent drop from last year's 3,917 early applications. As in years past, about 30 percent of this year's Early Decision applicants will be accepted, said Dean o

For some Penn students, senior year is going out of style. Yael Landman, a third-year senior majoring in English and Jewish Studies, started her freshman year as part of the class of 2010. She will be graduating this May along with the class of 2009. Three-year college degrees are gaining attention in the academic world as students look to

Government officials are considering steps to make applying for financial aid a little easier in 2010. Proposals are being drafted to simplify the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid, which students seeking financial aid must fill out. Today, the FAFSA is five pages long with about 100 questions.

With the opening of the new CVS at 3925 Walnut St., beer pong just got a little more convenient. The new location under the Radian - which opened yesterday - is one of the only CVS branches in the area to stock ping pong balls, along with the 25,000 other items usually found in the convenience stores, manager Jim Esmond said.

In light of this year's financial crisis, MBA programs around the country, including Wharton, anticipate a rise in the number of applicants. With thousands of corporate employees on the job market, the prospect of adding a graduate degree to one's resume is expected to be more popular than in the past.

Amid tense relations between the United States and Iran, some U.S. college presidents are trying to build scholarly relations between the two countries. This month, Robert Berdahl - the president of the Association of American Universities - and six college presidents from around the United States will travel to Iran as part of a scientific exchange with presidents of several Iranian universities.

Before applying to college, many high-school seniors consult the U.S. News and World Report's annual ranking of American colleges and universities. Now, however, they have another consideration: how their top choice stacks up against universities around the world.

When it comes to media spotlight, Penn is near - but not quite at - the top. Penn is number 11 in a new ranking by the Global Language Monitor that rated 4,000 American colleges and universities according to their popularity in the media. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia universities all cracked the top 10.