Unexpected things happen when Penn students leave campus for the summer.

You can find an empty table at Van Pelt, Penn graduate student Rachel Brooks was crowned Miss Pennsylvania and celebrity professors Michael Eric Dyson and Elijah Anderson abruptly left Penn for Georgetown and Yale, respectively.

There's one change, though, that Penn students have learned to count on - the ever-increasing quality of the incoming freshman class. And this year is no exception.

Penn's overall admissions rate for the Class of 2011 was a record-setting 15.9 percent, a 1.8 percent drop from the previous year's record of 17.7 percent (sorry, Class of 2010, you're old news now). The average SAT score for the Class of 2011 increased from 2,126 to 2,137 and the average accepted student was in the 98th percentile of his or her high school class.

With those kind of gaudy numbers, the Class of 2011 has a lot to live up to academically and many incoming freshmen will find it all too tempting to lock themselves in their rooms and bury their noses in their textbooks or Excel spreadsheets.

That would be a shame, because Penn has a lot more to offer than a quality education and an Ivy League diploma.

Do yourself a favor, incoming freshmen, and make your four years here about more than attempting (and usually failing) to beat the curve. Here are a few tips which should help you get off to a good start:

Contact Civic House, the Center for Community Partnerships or one of Penn's many student-run groups to see how you can engage with and improve the local community.

Take a friend to an a cappella show or twenty.

Go to the NSO Student Activities Fair and join a club. Form a club. Better yet, stage a hostile takeover of a club.

Oh, and make sure you check out the Amarna exhibit to examine artifacts from ancient Egypt while you're at the Penn Museum's rollicking toga party. You may not remember it, but the exhibit is fantastic.

Speaking of Philly, word is that the City of Brotherly Love extends beyond the boundaries of 32nd and 40th streets -- and to the West, as well! If you hadn't wanted to live in a city, you could've gone to Dartmouth, so hop onto SEPTA and take advantage of the fifth-largest one in America.

Or you can go on a walking tour to explore the city's diverse and eclectic neighborhoods. From Old City to Manayunk to Fishtown, you can find something different in just about every corner of William Penn's city.

Head out to the Kimmel Center to see the Tony-hogging Wicked or go later in the month to hear the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra perform Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

Last, but certainly not least, you'll be missing out if you forego attending a Phillies or Eagles game to see what it really means to be a sports fan, Philly-style.

So welcome (or welcome back)! Make the most of your time here. The years really do fly by if you're not careful. Just go to Van Pelt and ask a senior.