Why You Gotta Play Us Like That, Inky?

Sometimes the Philadelphia Inquirer writes stories that make it painfully obvious that they just don't quite get Penn. (For example, that silly article about Shoutouts.) Today the Inky printed a piece entitled "Race to College: Ali's Choice," in which high school senior Ali reluctantly decides she likes Penn despite Cornell being her first choice (!). We feel this chick's agony (okay, not really...we applied early) — the college admissions process sucks. But the Inquirer paints Penn as a place people are settling for.

Kirby, another high school senior, is choosing among five different schools. She ends up deciding on Penn: "The only downfall was that it is in Philadelphia," said Kirby. "But think of the connections I'll get." First of all, we love Philly! Secondly, we're guessing she's in Wharton.

In a section called "Pleasant Surprise":

On this warm, sun-drenched day, Ali and her mother walked the 279-acre West Philadelphia campus, enamored of residence-hall courtyards that looked like scenes from Harry Potter.

Their concerns about safety on an urban campus faded.

"So far, I keep forgetting where I am. It doesn't feel like a city school. It feels like an old-world setting," said Ali's mother, Andrea.

"I'd feel very comfortable and safe," Ali said. But off campus, she added, "I would make sure I was with people I knew or trusted."

Inside the dorms, the rooms seemed larger than the ones she had seen at Fordham, where she felt "claustrophobic." And she loved the single in the high-rise, with its own kitchenette and bathroom.

At Penn's study-abroad office, Ali excitedly picked up literature on opportunities in Australia, Ireland, England, Kenya, and Guyana.

She became even more encouraged during an afternoon panel in which Penn students gave the prospects the scoop on campus life. They were candid, diverse, and enthusiastic, not "nerdy" as she thought they might be.

"My roommate's from Uganda, and my best friend's from Israel," said one.

Partying is part of campus life, said another, but "you don't have to drink here. We're not all alcoholics."

Then a premed major from Havertown explained that work was hard but that there was time for fun. "I'm the only female on the campus stand-up comedy group," she said.

That point especially hit home with Ali.

"Just knowing she has so much work to do but is still able to balance it - that's reassuring to me. That was my concern," Ali said.

Two days later, Ali canceled a campus visit to Fordham.

For now, her mind was made up, though she wasn't withdrawing from Cornell.

She could see herself at Penn.