<p>Hi, I'm looking at housing and have searched through various threads about this in the past and am completely baffled. Some people complain about the Quad having halls that are antisocial and others say its really social, some complain about Harrison being isolated and makes it difficult to make friends and others say Freshex is a great experience. I really want some where that is both social and relatively convenient to get to classes. </p>
<p>Can someone address the pros and cons of each? And which Quad is better? Some people were saying Riepe was really quiet but then it got voted as the number 1 party college house so I don't get that either. </p>
<p>I'm considering Kings Court English College House, the Quad (specifically Riepe and Ware), Stouffer (I hear its close knit?) and finally, Harrison, but if you have any other suggestions, please please input. Thanks!</p>
<p>Van Pelt, Gregory House has 4 rooms and a bath for 4 students. The house is equally divided with freshman and upperclassman, a nice mix. The film lounge has a movie theater quality projection screen and an extensive film library. You can get credit for watching movies. The house is small, it hosts lots of events and everyone knows each other. The down side–no air conditioning.</p>
<p>If you want a good freshman experience, I would say to put Hill and the Quad as your top choices… Hill’s downside is smaller rooms and no AC, but it’s known to be very tight-knit and you get to know everyone in your hall (unless you lock yourself up in your room or something). Also, you have a dining hall so you can just roll out of bed and grab a bite to eat A bunch of my friends in the quad always come over to Hill to have breakfast, but it’s so convenient to live here… </p>
<p>Also, I would say that it’s great to live in Hill your first year–at first I was sad when I found out I got into Hill, mostly because of the small rooms and that it isn’t close to the “social life” like the Quad is, but I think it’s better to get close with your hallmates (and you walk together to the frats anyway) and live in a small room for your first year as a sacrifice… and you’re guaranteed a better room the next year :)</p>
<p>King’s Court is the best dorm on campus, hands down. :p</p>
<p>But in all seriousness, King’s Court does have the reputed best dining hall and also is located in a very convenient spot – in the middle. It’s not like Hill or Quad that is close to one school but far away from the others, and there is a good mix of VERY social people and not-so-much people.</p>
<p>In my view, the location argument is a bit ridiculous since Penn is very compact as is (coming from someone who lives in Harrison and is used to walking to DRL for classes–a full SIX BLOCKS!). That said, I have a lot of love for KC. </p>
<p>As I’ve said a trillion times by now, Harrison is a great place to live for freshman. Tons of opportunities, fun, great rooms, etc.</p>
<p>I would disagree with living in a high rise your freshman year but that’s just me I suppose.</p>
<p>The quad is social if you try to be. If you leave your door shut and don’t talk to anyone then of course you’re not going to be as social as other halls. I don’t know why you need small rooms and no A/C just to bond with people, just be human and try to meet people. Even if your hall isn’t that social you’ll make friends in your own extra curricular groups later.</p>
<p>Okay, many of you may not like this but for the sake of incoming freshmen I’m going to be brutally honest here. If you are a social person (like to go out/party, not awkward, probably going to join greek life, etc) or want anything like the typical college experience, it’s Hill or the Quad. That’s it. Yes, Hill has tiny rooms and no AC but if you’re a fun person you will like it 31488328498 times more than the high rises. The high rises are not worth it, because although people on here constantly praise the freshman program, I’m going to venture a guess that the average non-prefrosh CC poster is NOT your typical Penn student. (I know this seems hypocritical since I’m a freshman posting on here, but after my personal experiences I felt I had to say something on here so fun, social prefrosh aren’t misguided). As I was saying, some people may love the FreshEx program, but the high rises REALLY aren’t right for someone looking for a typical college experience. I actually know people who moved out of the high rises and into the quad after two months of hating the anti-social atmosphere. Also, Gregory may give you suite-style living and a fancy TV room, but it is located on the end of campus filled with upperclassmen and greek houses, and you will feel isolated from the rest of your freshman class. Plus it’s not a nice building. Honestly, nobody WANTS to live there. Stouffer also tends to be fairly anti-social, and the reason so many people supposedly stay there for a second year is because it’s a very self-selective group of quieter, more studious people. The average freshman is NOT going to enjoy it. Kings Court isn’t ideal either, but if you don’t get into Hill or the Quad I’d say it’s an acceptable option. There are definitely quite a few anti-social types, but there is also a solid amount of fun people who didn’t get Hill or the Quad and since all Huntsman kids are forced to live there, any fun people in Huntsman (read: crazy, cool internationals) will be in Kings Court. I’m sorry if this offends anyone but I honestly have to say that the people who post frequently on here are not representative of most Penn students, and if you are actually looking to have a good time next year you should probably avoid Stouffer, Gregory, the high rises and to some extent Kings Court. (Note: by good time, I mean party 2-3 nights a week and probably join the greek scene. People are going to jump to say that that’s not what everybody considers a “good time,” but if you DO think those things sound fun you should take my advice. Seriously.)</p>
<p>I mean, for all he rambled, this redbluepurple character is pretty accurate. People in Hill are social by necessity; if you keep your door closed, it’s like being in a jail cell, so doors are always open, and it is just nice to wander into one of your suitemates’ rooms or into a common room to hang out / do work. It’s not close to the “Greek Scene” since all of the houses that actually have parties are either on the 3900 block of Spruce or west of 40th on Spruce/Walnut, but the freshmen in Hill are known to venture out more often than the freshmen in the High Rises.</p>
<p>Hill for me was awful since they hadn’t yet renovated it and nothing worked at ALL, but I am still close with my friends from the suite, which is nice after four years. As for how crazy it is, it does depend on the suite more than anything (even the individual). There is a critical number of people who like to party that will determine whether a hall parties or chills. If your hall is chill, the people who like to party will go elsewhere; if your hall is crazy (i.e. my freshman hall), the partiers will flock to it while your chill people will flock toward the more relaxed halls. Every year it winds up being somewhere around a 50/50 split between wild and relaxed halls (for example, the north suites of 100, 200 and 400 were crazy my freshman year, as were the south suites of 300, 400 and 500; the west suites were all pretty relaxed, as were around half of the east suites).</p>
<p>As for the lack of A/C, it really isn’t a big deal. You learn how to utilize cross ventilation, and your body acclimates itself to high humidity. There were probably four days the entire year when I was legitimately uncomfortable Hill due to heat.</p>
<p>I can’t speak to the Quad (or any other dorm, actually, haha), but that was my experience in Hill.</p>
<p>If you are the least bit social/ like to party/ want something close to the average college experience, list the quad as your first three choices and then Hill. </p>
<p>DO NOT live in Gregory. I stayed there for my preview days and the people who lived there hated it. They told me themselves to put Gregory at the bottom of your list, if you even put it at all.</p>
<p>The highrises are nice, but they are not for freshmen. You are not going to be able to meet the same amount of freshmen and most upperclassman already have their group of friends and arent going to be as social.</p>
<p>The other houses arent that bad, but a lot of awkward and socially inept people live in them. Not to say everyone is like that, but I’ll say its a greater percentage than in Hill or the Quad.</p>
<p>If you really want to get into the Quad apply for a residential program. Most of them rarely do things so it’s not a huge commitment and it’s a good way to increase your chances of getting the housing you want.</p>
A bunch of my friends in the quad always come over to Hill to have breakfast, but it’s so convenient to live here… </p>