Penn housing Q: fisher/ware/harrison/others?

<p>hey guys,
i’ve been lookin at housing for next year (who’s sooo excited? oh me!) and I was wondering if any current penn students could answer my q’s?</p>

<p>At the QUAD (esp. fisher and ware):

  • what are the common bathrooms like? (clean + spacious?)
  • and the communal kitchens → I need to be able to cook most of my own meals and was wondering if they are clean and big, etc.?
  • and how big are the double rooms?</p>

<p>Highrises (esp. harrison):

  • what kind of freshman experience can you get at the highrises?
  • are the rooms, bathrooms and kitchens big and clean?
  • would you recommend a single room or a double room></p>

<p>annnnd which other dorms would you recommend?</p>

<p>thanks a bunch!</p>

<p>i say we make this the housing thread and please just anyone who can give some input on what living is like in diff places...diff room sizes, social aspects, studying aspects...anything and everything...i just dunno how to decide my top 8</p>

<p>Agreed. I'm looking into Ware as being my first choice. What are the pros and cons of having a dorm in the Quad? I am also thinking about the Stouffer being one of my top choices. What are the triple apartments like? How is the social life for freshmen who dorm in Stouffer?</p>

<p>Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!</p>

<p>Im making Fisher my top choice cause im applying to the Healthy living prog. my other choices in order of pref. are ware, reipe, hill, harnwell and harrison.
as far as i know none of the rooms in quad are the same and theyr quite spacious. hill is really cramped up and if u take a double theres not much space to move about.. im opting for a single in hill.
hill is also very very social. some say more so than the quad.. but its on the other side of campus...most freshmen are housed there i think...
the quad as everyone knows is extremely social.. center of activity.. also the views are quite good.
you can check out the room sizes on the housing website. <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/housing%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.upenn.edu/housing&lt;/a>
studying aspect.. now that depends on you and what kind of a room/roomate you get. some say its diffcult to study in the quad, some say its not.. so if u get a single, studying anywhere should be alright..</p>

<p>I know a freshman at Penn who is currently staying in the highrise and regrets it for the fact that not many freshmen stay there.. so its difficult to make friends.... its mostly occupied by sophomores and upperclass studnts.. highrises are quite spacious.</p>

<p>thats all i know .. anyone applying for a residential program?</p>

<p>I also think I'm also making Fisher my top choice because of the Goldberg Media program. It sounds so cool. Does anyone, especially current students, have a particular opinion on Fisher Hassenfeld???</p>

<p>I think the programs are overrated. Don't be surprised if there is some opening emphasis on them in September and then all the students run off and do their own thing given all the other options- Greek, performing arts, sports, other clubs.</p>

<p>Stouffer is isolated, and the people living there considered a little weird.</p>

<p>Most freshman are NOT housed at Hill. The largest are in the Quad.</p>

<p>High rises are a big mistake to live in, before and after they turned some into College Houses. The fact that bathrooms are in every dorm is a negative for sociality; the fact that not many freshman live there is a negative for sociality. </p>

<p>If I ranked best options for freshman it would be:
1. Quad
2. Quad
3. Quad
4. Quad
5. Kings Court / English House
6. Stouffer
7. Hill
20. High rises.</p>

<p>Riepe is the best section in the quad followed by Ware and Fisher.</p>

<p>what about the communal kitchens in the quad? are they clean, etc.?</p>

<p>Do many people stay in Penn housing all four years? Or do most people have to get their own apartments eventually?</p>

<p>Also, I was wondering if you're generally allowed to play musical instruments in your room (namely guitar and saxophone), or if you have to do it in a practice room.</p>

<p>how hard is it to get a single?</p>

<p>there are no communal kitchens in the quad. well at least I don't think so, I live in the Quad and I've never seen one here. Am I wrong anyone?</p>

<p>my simple question: I will be a freshman next year but I would like a room that is single, has its own bathroom, its own kitchen and is decently big. Im thinking this will only occur in the highrises but can somebody give me a list of the best ones available where i would have the best chance of getting one. I want that type of room for mostly privacy. Im thinking Harnwell and Harrison are two places but im not really sure.</p>

<p>You're nuts to sacrifice the chance to socialize just to get a larger room. The High Rises are sedate. You'll severely limit your chances to make friends freshman year. A majority of people's friends through Penn are made freshman year.</p>

<p>i just want to make sure i am in the quad... what should i do?</p>

<p>i agree with crescent. i was originally considering harnwell, as it sounds amazing and seems to fit with my interests/personality, but i realize how few freshman live there.</p>

<p>we have 4 years to live in one of those houses, so don't rush it. i'd say choose one of the ones w/ a majority of freshman for the first year. once you make friends, you can decide to live in a highrise with them in later years.</p>

<p>Majority of people live off-campus for some part of their 4 years. </p>

<p>I'm long gone from Penn but if you read the housing web site, says there are kitchens in all 3 of the Houses in the quad.</p>

<p>Maybe it got better after I left when they added small amounts of freshman in the College House concept versus none before, but you don't even know who lives next to you in those High Rise apartments.</p>

<p>if you think you can make friends really easily, i'd suggest high rises. if you plan to live on campus all 4 years, you'll want to move to the high rises after freshman year, and it's REALLY hard to get into them. if you live in the high rises freshman year, you'll be pretty much guaranteed a room there all 4 years, which is pretty coveted.</p>

<p>lets just say i was considering it. which of the buildings would have the things i said in a previous post. would it be the high rises?</p>

<p>how hard do you think it is to get a three person 'suite' in either riepe or ware, if all 3 of the people are ready to commit now to each other as roomates</p>

<p>Phone housing and ask of the three person suites..........are any not already signed for by existing students. It is that simple.</p>