<p>Hey everyone! I'm just starting (yeah I know it's late .... ) on my housing application.
Some weird stuff I wasn't sure about:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Have some people already been granted their room preferences? Because it seems like many of the options I read about in the housing brochure aren't available on the application. For instance, I can't seem to select Harrison ...</p></li>
<li><p>Does Penn make exceptions to its rule about freshmen being required to live on-campus? Even though I'll be a freshman, I will be a year older than all seniors (yup, the army kinda sucks).</p></li>
<li><p>Say you're assigned a Quad with 3BR (or a Triple w/ 2BR) -- who decides which students get a single and which get a double? Would we do it amongst ourselves, or would we already be assigned a room?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Glad to see that things worked out for you! Are you in M&T? If not, Wharton (and Penn!) is still an amazing school, and you’re to be congratulated–again!</p>
<p>To answer your questions as best I can:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No freshmen have been assigned rooms yet. That will happen after the May 1st deadline for housing applications. To get into Harrison as a freshman, you have to apply to the Freshman Experience residential program (which includes writing a brief essay, by the way–it never seems to end! ;)). Generally, unless you put FreshEx as your first choice, you won’t even be considered for the program. I believe that about 1/3 of those who apply for FreshEx (or maybe 1/3 who put it as their first choice–not sure about which) get in. From what I’ve heard, you just want to communicate in your essay how enthusiastically you would participate in the program (e.g., as a fun, sociable person) and how you could contribute to the FreshEx community.</p></li>
<li><p>Not sure about the exception question–you should contact the Office of College Houses and Academic Services about that on Monday morning, Philly time:</p></li>
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<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/index.asp]College”>http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/index.asp]College</a> Houses & Academic Services<a href=“see%20contact%20info%20in%20far%20right%20column”>/url</a></p>
<p>I’d be surprised if, under the circumstances, they’d force you to live with people so much younger than you. On the other hand, there is a certain bonding with your class that goes on through the residential experience. But again, contact them on Monday and see what they suggest. There may be some sort of compromise (e.g., a single in one of the quieter residentital programs/college houses, etc.) that can be worked out.</p>
<ol>
<li> Room assignments within a suite (triple, quad, etc.) are decided among the students themselves. Typically, they’ll switch rooms within the suite between semesters so that everyone gets a chance to have a bedroom to him or herself. But again, that’s completely up to the roommates (with some help from the college house staff if there are any disputes).</li>
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<p>Again, glad that you’re going to Penn–have a great four years!</p>
<p>@45 Percenter - Hey thanks for the advice! You’ve always been a great help on this forum. I didn’t think you’d remember me haha</p>
<p>I ended up not getting into M&T 
Still thinking about trying to transfer next year (though I hear the odds are stacked against me.) Alternatively, I’m considering pursuing a minor or double-major in Computer Science.</p>
<p>Aboiut the exception, I will call them up Monday morning (cause the deadline is looming.) </p>
<p>It seems that lots of the things I was missing on the application were locked away for various residential programs. I’m thinking about Modern Languages (Maison Francaise) and Film Culture in Gregory, and the Internation Program in Harnwell. Thing is, no matter who I ask, Gregory seems to get a bad rap. Why is that? Is there some unknown factor I’m missing out on?</p>
<p>Say they grant me an exemption from on-campus living, wouldn’t it already be way too late to find an apartment? Cause I’ve heard that people sign leases in Oct-Nov for the next year.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all your help!</p>
<p>Of course, it’s not too late to apply for the residential programs–the deadline is the same as for housing in general (May 1st), if those programs still interest you.</p>
<p>I’m not that knowledgeable about the current situtation in off-campus housing, but I’d imagine that there are some spaces still available for an individual student (as opposed to houses for groups of students, etc.). You might even find a group of students in a house or apartment who are still looking for an additional roommate for next year. But I still think that your best option, at least for your first year, is to get a place on-campus, perhaps with some sort of exemption so that you don’t have to live with mostly freshmen. You might even be able to live in on-campus graduate student housing such as Sansom Place:</p>
<p>[Sansom</a> Place East/West](<a href=“http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/housing/residences/sansom.html]Sansom”>Home | Penn Residential Services)</p>
<p>Be sure to ask the housing office about that, or at least about upper-class housing, in light of your age. I’m sure that you’re not the only one who’s ever been in this situation, so see what the housing office has to say on Monday. At the very least, you might be able to get a single on a freshman hall, so that you don’t have to be in a double or triple with kids just out of high school. That way, your freshman dorm-mates can still get the benefit of your maturity, wisdom, and experience, while you occasionally get a little privacy (and sanity). :)</p>
<p>Good luck, and let us know what happens!</p>
<p>I selected Freshex and wrote an essay, but I can’t select Harrison as one of my housing. Why?</p>
<p>^ Doesn’t the housing request form treat the residential programs as distinct from the college houses? In other words, as an incoming freshman, you can apply for FreshEx (which happens to be in Harrison), but you cannont apply for Harrison in general (only upperclassmen can do that). So FreshEx will be one of your six choices (it should be #1 if you want any chance of getting in), but Harrison will not be available to you as a distinct choice. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>Thanks 45 Percenter
They said off-campus is generally allowed for all students. I’ll look into the other options you discussed as well</p>