<p>i’m not familiar with the “houses” at penn. could someone give me an idea of which house is best in terms of food, size of rooms, student satisfaction, etc.? i heard hill was pretty bad compared to other ones, but i don’t know… thanks!!</p>
<p>It depends on what you want.</p>
<p>Hill has small rooms but is very social.
Kings Court English has some big rooms but is horrible for social life. I lived there freshman year and hated it.
Quad (Fisher Ware Riepe) are the best for freshmen. nice rooms, beautiful setting, and great social scene.</p>
<p>highrises (Harrison, Harnwell and Rodin (formerly Hamilton)) will give you a private bathroom and kitchen, but they're not particularly conducive to freshman social life.</p>
<p>do you pay the same for any of those choices, either for houses or for singles/doubles/triples, etc.?</p>
<p>also, what is the residential program? is it common/beneficial to be part of it?</p>
<p>UPenn sent out an entire booklet on housing. You should read it. It might give you some more insight.</p>
<p>Some people, like me, haven't recieved our packages yet... the wait is unbearable so we are doing our research right now to help decide where to go ;o</p>
<p>lol. Sorry Klogon, didn't know.</p>
<p>I think you can go online and see most of it at <a href="http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu%5B/url%5D">www.collegehouses.upenn.edu</a></p>
<p>Also undergraduate admissions, then decisions(you have to log in with ur username and password) and housing.</p>
<p>You do know your don't HAVE TO live in the dorms.....</p>
<p>Hey guys ~ Go to our website: <a href="http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu</a> and you'll find the entire brochure online as well as two informative videos -- one about student rooms and the other is a series of short videos on College House life produced by a student. That should help a lot! You can also send questions to <a href="mailto:collegehouses@pobox.upenn.edu">collegehouses@pobox.upenn.edu</a>.</p>
<p>impt info about the highrises : </p>
<p>there are endless events that are in the highrises including musical performances, Family guy quizzos, college house outings to new york and the philly area (broadway musicals, museums, paintball trips, Daily Show filming,etc). </p>
<p>In terms of the social life that EVERYONE always mentions, it really is up to you to make the best out of your social life. Everyone is very friendly; even though many people deem it to be very private because we close our doors, you have the choice of whether or not interact with other people whenever you want. I know all the freshman in my building regardless of whether or not I hang out with them. And with floor socials, study breaks, and free food at times, its actually really easy to have a social life in the high rises.</p>
<p>well, i have to give a counter argument to what "Johnny" just said...</p>
<p>King's court is a great place for a good freshmen experience. In fact almost any dorm is - it's upto you how you shape it. The quad, hill, and king's court english house happen to be the dorms that most freshmen opt for and get put into. </p>
<p>King's court: I lived there freshmen year and thoroughly enjoyed myself. the floors are extremely welcoming and the staff is great. there are tons of house activities that happen throughout to encourage freshmen interaction. it's extremely centrally located - a little off and between wharton and engineering and the college classes. the rooms are lovely - big and spacious. it has a lovely courtyard, and a dining hall, where maximum friendships get formed. everyone's great - and it's a great place to be.</p>
<p>Hill: Although it has small rooms, there are SO MANY freshmen there that it would be hard for you to feel all alone. the huge and lovely dining hall there too, provides for another place where all the freshmen get to meet. Hill is another place where tons of house activities get everyone together, and the students living in other dorms also get to participate. Although i never lived there, i still found myself visiting the place a lot...</p>
<p>Quad: With a bunch of dorms all attached together and connected throughout, it's another mess of freshmen :) ...there are some upperclassmen too with whom you can get interacting, and it's one good party place :)...ppl there (especially!! :) no offence meant in any way) enjoy having fun - almost all the time...dorm rooms vary in size, between those of hill and king's court.</p>
<p>highrises: although they are one end of campus, and a bit far from the engineering building, the programs in many of the floors (harnwell has a ton of those) allow many of the residents to interact. it's not as if it's a horrid place to stay for freshmen - it's just that the number of freshmen that you might find there might be fewer, but it's just as much fun. </p>
<p>every house has its own events that may or may not be open to other houses. it's upto you how you wish to shape your freshmen year - any place is awesome. the freshmen-dominated ones tend to be the places where almost allllllll the freshmen end up hanging out. there's so much to see and do, and people to meet, that anywhere would be a good place to live!! :)</p>
<p>good luck with housing....</p>
<p>I remember applying for housing last year and not knowing what house to apply for, so I just put all the quad houses and the high rises. Don't do that. The way the system works is, they try to give everyone their first choices first, then when everything is full up, they move on to people's second choices. So if you put 2 applications into the same house for singles then your second choice is doubles->etc., you'd pretty much waste any chance you have of getting into another house further down your list.</p>
<p>My personal suggestion for a college house that is possibly the "best kept secret at Penn" is Gregory College House. It has an awesome movie lounge because of it's film residential program. (i.e. huge bean bag chairs, sofas, carpeted floor, A/C, plasma TV, surround sound...the list goes on.) The rooms are really spacious, and they are ALL singles. Freshmen live in suites of consisting of 4 singles that share a bathroom and sinks. This gives you all the advantages of having a social atmosphere without the potential roommate problems. </p>
<p>Obviously I'm a big fan of Gregory, but if you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask!</p>
<p>Just wanted to add that the high rises can definitely be a GREAT experience for freshmen as well. In hamilton for example, most of the freshmen are grouped on the same floor and in Harnwell, there is a freshmen experience (residential program) that is also mostly freshmen. It is different from the quad definitely, but it's all about what you make of your experience. and, with a smaller number of freshmen in the high rises, you get to know everyone pretty well</p>
<p>hey guys...if you are freaking out about dorming away from home, or which dorm to choose, this site will give you a look at the dorms on campus, which are all unique and wonderful places to live. Don't stress about dorming at PENN, before I came here, I heard that the dorms at PENN were by far better than many other colleges, and I must agree they are!...so check out these videos. They will give you a feel for each of the houses, and hopefully ease the pre-september tensions.</p>