Shelli Gimelstein

I've learned at Penn that determining your "endgame" is a futile endeavor. The frustration of figuring it out is what makes college such a beautiful time of self-discovery — and it doesn't go away until you let it. And you don't have to figure everything out right away. Or ever.

A number of undergraduates are given permission to take on part-time status each semester, which means they can take 2.5 credits or fewer in their final semester at Penn.

Over the past week, Penn students in the region have had their semesters disrupted by the escalating conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Participants in Penn’s Washington Semester Program have spent this fall “studying abroad” in Washington, D.C. However, while these students have found themselves at the center of the nation’s political scene, many feel that the last few months in D.C. have been surprisingly calm.

Students who pursue submatriculation, or enrollment into one of Penn’s 12 graduate schools as an undergraduate, must tackle professional-level classes — often simultaneously with the remainder of their undergraduate coursework.

Among other changes, the alcohol pilot permits mixed drinks at certain on-campus events — the first time this has been allowed since the University Alcohol and Drug Policy was passed in 1999. It also opens up more on-campus spaces for events with alcohol.

A weekly roundup of news from around the Ivy League and the higher-education community

The ever-expanding number of college rankings has raised questions about the methodologies publications are using to rate and classify universities.

Inventors at Penn netted the University more than $14 million in the 2011 fiscal year, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education. Overall, universities earned more than $1.8 billion from commercializing research during that time period, according to data compiled by the Association of University Technology Managers.

After an autistic patient was denied a heart transplant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, his mother has started a petition to reverse the decision and place her son on the transplant list.