<p>Here at Penn, there is wide variety of housing options available and at affordable cost. Penn does offer graduate housing in dorms but they are relatively expensive and cramped in space. One of my friends RA’ed and got free living in 1-bedroom apartment, but her space was very small and she had to do a whole lot of stuff as an RA which is a lot of work. </p>
<p>There are low cost housing options available just off campus in West Philly, but one has to be careful not to go too far out, as the place does get pretty shady after a certain checkpoint. Penn Police is very accesible and patrols around certain lines off campus frequently, so that is pretty nice. I am currently living just a short walk away from campus, and there is plenty of security available so I feel pretty safe. I pay about $600-700 in rent/utilities and its pretty convenient as everything is very accessible. You can also live in center city which is a shuttle ride away from campus, but then you pay higher rent.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m writing this from inside a GSAS dormitory. I’m not sure if the others answering your question are even affiliated with the university. </p>
<p>The GSAS dorms are the cheapest living option one can find in Cambridge, if one doesn’t mind sharing a kitchen and bathroom and making about 200 or so new friends. </p>
<p>The dorms are located on Oxford street just north of Memorial Hall (the Queenshead Pub - the official undergraduate operated bar at Harvard) immediately adjacent to many of the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology buildings.</p>
<p>Good luck with your application.</p>
<p>Sorry, I didn’t even know about the GSAS dorm options. (ixington, I’m a GSAS/HMS BBS fifth-year.) I was looking for apartment-style living when I was apartment-hunting because I was looking for a place that would accomodate me, my then-fiance/now-husband, and our pet rabbit.</p>
<p>I still don’t know anybody from my program who lived in the dorms – as I said, in my program it’s common to live in the Trilogy building first year.</p>