University of Pennsylvania (Wharton/SEAS) Overview

The University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science is popularly known as Penn Engineering or SEAS and was formalized in 1850. In 1893, the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering was established. The School provides approximately 300 courses and programs that emphasize the fundamentals of engineering. Penn Engineering offers bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degree programs in the contemporary fields of engineering study. Some of its master’s programs include Executive Master’s in Technology Management, Master of Biotechnology, Master of Computer and Information Technology, Master of Computer and Information Science, and a Master of Science in Engineering in Telecommunications and Networking. The University of Pennsylvania is ranked No. 17 in Best Engineering Schools, as per US News and World Report. 

The university, on the whole, has a diverse and inclusive student body where approximately half of the undergraduates identify themselves as students of color, 13% are international, more than half are women, 13% are among the first in their families to attend college. Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science consists of six departments:

• Bioengineering
• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Computer and Information Science
• Electrical and Systems Engineering
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Ranking

University of Pennsylvania ranking is #16th in the QS Global World Ranking 2021. Times Higher Education's World University Rankings has ranked the university at #13th in its World University Rankings 2021 and US College Rankings 2021.

Acceptance Rate

University of Pennsylvania acceptance rate is around 8.5% overall. Its acceptance rate for Indian students is around 28%. 

Infrastructure

The engineering students can access all that the university campus offers. The Center for Analyzing Evolved Structures as Optimized Products (AESOP): Science and Engineering for the Human Habitat brings together material scientists, computer scientists, chemical and biomolecular engineers,  robotics engineers, and mechanical engineers. The Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CEMB) is a multi-institutional Science and Technology Center that gets funding from the National Science Foundation. Its objective is to propagate the study of mechanical forces in cells, molecules, and tissues in plants and animals. Other research centers of the department are Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM), Penn Center for Molecular Discovery (PCMD), Penn Research in Embedded Computing and Integrated Systems Engineering (PRECISE), Center for Targeted Therapeutics and Translational Nanomedicine (CT3N) and many more. 

Residing Options

Penn's residential system consists of twelve undergraduate College Houses and Sansom Place.  Sansom Place consists of two high rise buildings and is an apartment-style residence housing for graduate students.  Fully furnished units with utilities( cable, Internet included; free laundry facilities) are provided to students with graduate housing. Besides Study and group workspace, TV and game room are also provided to the same. Graduate housing rates can vary from $1000 to $1800 per year. [ Amount varies with room type]. Although it might be difficult for students to find affordable and livable housing outside of the campus, the university assists and provides resources for off-campus housing. Staff can provide help with locating available housing, understanding landlord/tenant rights, and responsibilities, reviewing leases, and resolving common issues that may arise while living off-campus. Off-Campus Services keep an interactive database of property listings that includes hundreds of available rental units that are owned by local property managers in Center City University City,  and other locations in the Greater Philadelphia area. You can also use the database’s roommate search feature and a function to search for or post a sublet. 

Fees

University of Pennsylvania tuition fees for Indian students is around $32,000 annually. The annual off-campus living cost is around $7,000.

Financial Aid

There are a variety of university fellowships and appointments available to Penn graduate students. Students should refer to their appointment letter or contact their department to determine the type of stipend they should be receiving. The university provides several Society of Women Engineers scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate female students pursuing science and engineering and computer. Some of the outside scholarships include Aga Khan Foundation and Sahu Jain Trust.  Aga Khan Foundation provides a limited number of scholarships for postgraduate studies to outstanding students who belong to developing countries and are unable to finance their education. The basis of granting scholarships is a 50% grant and 50% loan basis. Sahu Jain Trust, a  philanthropic organization belonging to The Times of India Group, announces the need-cum-merit based Educational Scholarships.

Location

The University of Pennsylvania is located in the city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. 
Penn's houses provide residential communities to students both on and off the campus. The university provides for recreational departmental activities and clubs where students can enroll themselves to participate in sports, art and culture, charity, etc.
Students can get to university by car through the following routes:  From the Northeast via the New Jersey Turnpike South; From the West via the Pennsylvania Turnpike; From the North via I-95 South; From the South via I-95 North. They can also avail themselves of the Philadelphia Public Transportation to reach the university. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) runs a system of bus, subway, elevated train, and trolley lines that cover all of Philadelphia. Tokens are available in all the subway stations of Philadelphia and also at Penn BookStore in the university. One can also avail of the Intercity rail service to Philadelphia's 30th Street Station provided by Amtrak if one wants to travel by bus/car. The campus can be reached from 30th Street Station by cab. Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound and Trailways bus lines from the terminal at 1001 Filbert Street, and MegaBus and BoltBus provide service to 30th Street Station. The nearest airport to the university is the Philadelphia International Airport.

Jobs and Placements

Some of the top recruiters of Pennsylvania University include The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) - $48,688 - $88,233; Amazon.com Inc - $63,895 - $119,831; Comcast Cable Inc - $59,555 - $122,653; J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPMCC) - $71,490 - $124,132, etc. The university organizes career fairs each year which the companies attend to provide full-time jobs or internships to the students. Students can also search for jobs online through their Handshake platform or on-campus interviews. The average salary of the pass-outs is $81K. Boys on average earn $92K per year, and girls only about $70K. The salary range for the girls is $45,196 - $101,939, and boys make between $51,421 - $128,996. The salary range for Master of Science (MS) graduates is $47,978 - $106,795. 47 % of the alumni said their job makes the world a better place, and 972 pass outs found the jobs extremely satisfying.

Alumni

University of Pennsylvania notable alumni list includes famous personalities such as Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Sundar Pichai, and more.