Hey guys, I am an international student, incoming freshmen of the class of 2019.
Since I can’t visit campus, I wanted you guys to give me some advice. Currently I am considering Gregory and Harrison. Gregory, because I want to participate in Film Culture and language programs. Plus it has private bathrooms. Harrison, because it’s high-rise and cool building with lots people in it. Also Freshmen Experience might be the thing for me. +Private bathrooms.
People say that Gregory has some weird, anti-social kids and it’s unnoticeable compared to other houses. I want to be social and participate in different kind of activities making friends. I’ve also heard that I may not find friends at Harrison, because most of upperclassmen already have their social network.
What do you guys think? Any reviews and comments are appreciated. If you think different houses might be a good idea, please feel free to suggest them. Thank you so muuch! Means a lot to me
Hello, welcome to Penn!
I currently live in Harrison in the FreshEx program so if you have any other questions feel free to ask!
Generally I like Harrison a lot, there’s many events going on (lots of movie nights, Harrison Saturday Nights, events like tie-dye shirt making) and what’s nice is many of the events that go into Philadelphia (like to see Dirty Dancing) are heavily subsidized so you don’t need to pay that much to go. And there’s also alot of funding with the Freshman Experience program, so your mentors have a budget to have mentee group events (we went to Max Brenner one time). You can see all the events we have on the Harrison College House’s calendar (this one’s for March: http://harrison.house.upenn.edu/house_calendar/2015-03) .
The people in FreshEx are fairly close-knit, so that’s a plus. And we have alot of floor dinners so we can see floormates more often. Each floor of Harrison has a lounge, so it’s a nice place to do homework with a group or even just chill and watch the Superbowl! The thing about the upperclassmen is that it’s what you make of this experience. Some people probably like the number of upperclassmen because when some upperclassmen are very eager to get to know you and talk, while for others it’s harder to get to know them (I guess like the social network you mentioned earlier). FreshEx kids definitely tend to stick together though, and I should also mention that there are some transfer students in FreshEx, so it’s not only freshmen.
Harrison can be a bit isolating at times, especially if most of your friends are in the Quad, so if you want more of a convenience of being close to most of the freshmen, you could possibly consider the Quad.
@Jumper008 Thank you for your prompt response! Can you give me more insight into Film Culture course offered at Harrison. Is it only a for credit course or anyone who is interested can participate in it? http://harrison.house.upenn.edu/node/2793
No problem!
I looked up the CINE 180 Film Culture Experience class, and that class will be held at Gregory for next semester, but there’s another CINE 180 class called “Great Directors, Act I” that’s in Harrison. It’s a half credit course, but I believe the screenings are open to everyone. You just won’t get credit for watching the films unless you signed up for the class and do the assignments.
@Jumper008 Do Harrison kids visit parties often? I know it’s bit isolating, but if I wanted to join parties can I do that?
Yes, of course if you wanted to go to parties you can!
I guess when I meant “isolating”, I meant as a freshman you’d be farther away from the freshmen in the Quad. But Harrison is only a couple of minutes away from the Quad and is also still on campus, so if you wanted to go to any of the parties on/around campus Harrison really isn’t far away from them.
@Jumper008 Sorry to bother you with lots of question 
I want to be a social person on campus and would love to make lots of friends, but at the same time I wanna focus on my academics and have plenty of time to study. You know, I want to party once in a while, not everyday. And I also wanna do other things besides parties (film and language program, sports fitness, explore Philly, NYC etc). So I thought Harrison would a great place. Since I am an international student, I truly want to attend my classes and do great academically in a foreign country. What is your opinion on that? Will Harrison suit me best? I thought at Quad I will have plenty of distractions from study?
Also about Freshmen Experience Program, what kind of activities and events do you do? What is your personal one? Will the program take a looot of time?
Thank you so much for answering my questions. Means a lot to me
Also how long do you walk from Harrison to Quad? 5, 10, 20?
It’s about 5 minutes. The quad is just a bit further down Spruce Street.
It’s okay!
I think Harrison would be a pretty good place for you! I’m not sure about the Quad’s noise level since I’ve never lived there, but I think the Quad on most days isn’t noisy at all. From what I’ve heard from my friends who live in the Quad, some halls are more social / close knit than others, but that’s really based on luck and where they assign you.
For FreshEx, there are lots of activites, mainly with a mentor group. In the beginning of the year there was a group scavenger hunt around Philadelphia, and your mentor group competed with the others to see who could finish fastest. My mentor group also went to Restaurant Week (a week where lots of Philly restaurants let you eat a two course meal for $25 or a 3 course meal for $35). The mentors are given a set budget, so it really depends on your mentor and what activities they have planned. The whole FreshEx also had a cooking competition, and there are also many events like FreshEx goes Bowling or to City Hall. I really liked the Cooking Competition and trip to one of the restaurants for Restaurant Weeks. These events aren’t mandatory for you to go to, but they’re very fun so I try to go to as many as I can. There’s really no regular time commitment, you can just go to one of the events if you have time and want to go.
@Jumper008 One more question, I have read that freshmen may only select triples. What do triples look like? Since I am an international student, I have no idea. Are these separate three rooms? Are they big or small?
That’s weird that you read that, because freshmen aren’t allowed to choose triples in Harrison. You can only go with doubles, double apartments, or quad apartments.
I’m living in a quad apartment right now, so it’s 3 bedrooms but for 4 people, so one of the rooms is a double and the other two are singles. We have a kitchen and a private bathroom. Some people switch rooms halfway through (so the people in the doubles get the singles for the 2nd half of the semester and vice versa).
Here’s the official college housing brochure: http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/sites/www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/files/College_House_Brochure_2015-2016.pdf . You could look through it for more descriptions of the various housing options and also see which room types freshmen can choose from!