<p>Hey, I'm a current freshman at Upenn is the School of Arts and Sciences. I am in the Vagelos Program for the Molecular Life Sciences, which basically means I am a biochemistry major and submatriculating in chemistry. I am currently living in the Quad in Ware College House. I attended the leadership Penn Pre-Orientation program, Pennacle. I also have friends in all the schools and M&T so I can try to answer any questions you guys have.</p>
<p>I can probably relate to those deciding right now. I had to choose between quite a few schools too (given I did apply to 17, haha).</p>
<p>So anyway, post questions and I'll try to help somehow. Good luck with your decisions! :)</p>
<p>Hi chenpenn. I am interested in how safe the surrounding area of UPENN is. How safe would you say that it is? Thanks and best of luck to you too.</p>
<p>I’m not sure when applications open, it should be in the ten tons of brochures you get in the first month or so of getting accepted. seriously, be ready for an avalanche of paper, haha. anyway, pennacle is usually described as the “leadership” pre-orientation program. we do a lot of team bonding activities and critical thinking/leadership activities. mostly, its much like any other leadership retreat, but because most activities are themed teamwork and such, you get to know your peers and some upperclassmen (your leaders) really well. you will bond with all the other pennaclers very quickly. its a great way to know each other going into NSO so that you dont start completely at square one. its also a great way to start getting to know people who dont necessarily live near you or have the same area of study. i am really good friends with many of the people that i met at pennacle and i think it was a great experience. pennacle leaders are chosen for their leadership roles on campus so if you are interested in student govt, being on boards, club leaders, etc. it would be a great chance to get to know upperclassmen in the positions already. anyway, im babbling so ill just say its awesome, you should do it :)</p>
<p>As a response to the safety question, I would say it is a definitely a safe area. Penn takes many steps to ensure that. For example, there are security guards at entrances to all college dorms and there are strict rules to get in. you must swipe your card at any dorm and enter the last four digits of your social to get in. you cannot enter any dorm that is not yours after 2am. any visitor must sign in and be with their host when entering dorms. The entire campus is also scattered with security guards. Penn also offers services such as Pennwalk and Pennride which will walk or ride with you from anywhere on campus back to your dorm at any hour of the night. I once called them when I walked back from the library to my dorm at 1am. They are really nice and make for great walking buddies. Crime is non-existent on campus (except theft, but thats the students’ fault). The campus is a community within itself because most of the central campus is blocked off from traffic, etc. As for west philly, most of the buildings up to 43rd street are student housing and fraternities, unless you have some strange need to wander 6 blocks west of campus in the middle of the night by yourself, youll be fine.</p>
<p>Now, all that said, it doesnt mean we arent all aware of our surroundings. Philly isnt the safest place in the world and Penn does the best job possible to keep all of us safe while we study here. We all have to do our part too. Like I said, dont wander around west philly, or any part of philly for that matter, in the middle of the night by yourself. There is a grocery store, 2 wawas, a myriad of snack food and fast food and sit down restaurants, 2 CVSs, 3 dining halls, 2 bookstores, and too many study area/lounge/places to count…all on campus within a 5-10 minute walk from any dorm. You want a midnight snack? take a friend or better yet, order campus food! they deliver from a variety of restaurants around town from mexican to chinese to burgers to cookies and milk through all hours of the night right to you dorm entrance! you can walk out in your pajamas if you wanted to. all im saying is: safety, as long you’re in your right mind and think sanely about your own safety, youll be fine here at Penn.</p>
<p>i’m having problems picking out the right college house. Any recommendations? It seems that majority of freshmen usually choose to stay at the quad coz of the great community but then i have also heard that the rooms at the quad are kinda small and it can get really noisy. I was thinking about going for the high rises like harrison or harnwell since they have bigger rooms but i heard that the community there is non-existent. Is there any college house that’s in between like lets say decent room size with a good community yet you are able to get the peace and quiet that you need if you wanna study?</p>
<p>King’s Court has large rooms and has a lot of freshmen. If you did go for the high rises, all the freshman are put together so there is still a community there.</p>
<p>Hey i ask this question on to classmate on another thrwad but i guess its healthy to hear from different perspectives. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate Penn girls in terms of appearance and attractiveness? I mean its the social ivy but i heard most girls are average looking. And hows the dating scene?</p>
<p>i’m a biochemistry major too! but i’m now leaning BBB or something totally non-science.
which brings me to my question (one of many) – how cutthroat are the pre-meds? would it be to my advantage to not major in science (given i have a tonnnn of interests i’d like to pursue…)?
is chem 001 hard if i have absolutely no background in chemistry?
how harsh are the science curves?
how many mice have you gotten in your ware dorm so far this year?
how hard is it to get involved in an a cappella group or dance group?</p>
<p>Yeah I saw a room in Fisher Hassenfeld, and it was pretty standard. You know, double, normal size, linoleum floors, a sink. My sister told me that the freshman dorms at Harvard were pretty similar.</p>
<p>I think it varies significantly. Honestly, I hope I get an ok room freshman year because I would rather be out and enjoy my college experience than be cooped up in my room</p>
<p>my sophomore year room in quad (admittedly, the largest in quad) was almost 4 times the size of my freshman year room in hill, by square footage</p>