What does the Ivy League uniquely have to offer? My intro post posed this question and after two months at Penn I can offer one very attractive answer: Top Notch Professors.
I recognize that one person cannot objectively rate the intelligence or expertise of professors - even those with whom I've taken a class. To account for this, I am considering "Top Notch" to refer to preeminence in a field and the potential they represent as a resource. "What elitist criteria!" You might be thinking in response to my institutionalized and exploitive considerations. But let's be real here - no one succeeds in a vacuum and plenty of people value a college education not just for the development of intellect but for the marketability it imparts. Top Notch Professors have access to Top Notch Opportunities.
Penn's professors fit the bill. I don't think it needs to be proven that professors will want to work at a prestigious school such as the Ivy League. The more people want to teach at a certain school, the more selective the administration can be in hiring - and hire only the best. With all due respect to my professors at Vanderbilt (knowledgeable in their field and personally attentive) I've spent the firt two months at Penn essentially star-struck.
Even just considering the professors for my first semester of classes here at Penn, I have examples that make my inner nerd just giddy. I am an ancient history major, focusing on Ancient Egypt, hoping to make it in the world of magazine journalism (National Geograpahic, if you're reading this and like what you see - call me!).
Consider this: my Middle Egyptian professor is David P. Silverman. He has authored and edited 12 books and 45 articles on the language and culture of Ancient Egypt. He currently directs an expedition in Saqqara, Egypt. And he is the National Curator for the traveling exhibit "Tutankhamum and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs". He is the top of his field and he knows me. I don't know yet if somewhere down the line a good word from him on my behalf will make the difference but, trust me, I am never late for his class.
Consider this: my Writing Seminar this semester is Magazine Journalism. My professor is Avery Rome, the projects editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer - yeah the projects editor of the Philadelphia inquirer. She is brilliant and experienced and invited me to come by the Inquirer's office tomorrow morning.
I am giddy with excitement to meet the staff and maybe - just maybe - something will come from it. If it does, all the horrors of transferring will have been worth it.
