<p>My d has been in off campus apts each of the last 4 summers. I’ve never seen them myself but she has been happy. She’s back in Rodin for her last year of undergrad. There is an office on campus that helps with off-campus living, hers have always been sublets. It’s pricey though. </p>
<p>I use the flat rate boxes to send her things from Calif. For cookies - don’t forget Insomnia Cookies. I can order them online and have them delivered to her room later that day/night. I like to surprise her with that when she is studying hard.</p>
<p>Many Grad, Med and Law students live across the river in the Rittenhouse or Graduate Hospital areas. On the University City side he will be with a lot of undergrads who may have a lifestyle which he has outgrown. There are some buildings, like Domus which tend to attract more grad students too though. That is right across from the law school on the U City side.</p>
<p>^ It’s a nice–and safe–walk straight up Walnut Street to Hill (although I obviously wouldn’t recommend walking alone in ANY city in the middle of the night).</p>
<p>If it is a nice day, it will be a beautiful walk. If it is rainy, it might be a little far to walk. If you are not familiar with the area, or not sure what to expect I think you will be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>^ Longest in Ivy League history! I just hope that it didn’t take too much out of the guys–including a couple of key injuries–for the rest of the season. On the other hand, it certainly showed a level of stamina and team character that should help throughout the season.</p>
<p>I did not have time and budget for the parent weekend. I am thinking about it for next year. I did visit Penn last June though. I just talked to my 3rd year daughter. She looks forward to visit her roommate’s family during the fall break next week.</p>
<p>Parents weekend was nice. My D was happy to introduce us to a couple of her professors and her academic advisor. It really made it seem as though she is thriving there. Overall, as a parent, I am happy about her school choice. I feel like she is in an environment and program that challenges, supports and stimulates intellectual and personal growth. I always felt that through most of K-12 that we had to fight to get schools to create that environment and for the first time in years, we don’t have to fight.</p>
<p>I hope other parents are seeing the benefits of their kids getting a Penn education.</p>
<p>We just returned too from Parents Weekend. It was very enjoyable and well done. However, our freshman daughter had several things that she needed to juggle this weekend (school work- yes we were happy to hear that, and meeting with a project group) so she was not readily available to attend all of the events with us. It was understandable but we focused on the time we had together for meals and the evenings. Her younger high school sister spent one night in the dorm and also went to class with her. There is never anything quite like seeing that your child is thriving at school- engaged, energetic and so happy to be there. We also enjoyed hearing from some of the faculty about their research, attending coffees, and meeting other families and her friends. I can’t say whether or not it will be a yearly event for us to attend. It was useful as freshman parents but timing right before midterms made it difficult with the workload.</p>
<p>I agree with you livn487, FW is more geared toward freshman. Since we live close we like to catch the occasional football game, and the FW game is always a good one to attend. It is more fun to watch with a bigger crowd. We just go in, catch the game, grab dinner with the kids and leave.</p>
<p>Going to Family weekend to see the football game is a great idea. Having realistic expectations about what is possible in a weekend is important. Is the Homecoming football game also well attended? I wonder if there is a good month/weekend in the spring to be on campus as well. We love to travel and having extra time to explore Philly is an easy added perk for us.</p>
<p>Homecoming weekend game usually does draw a bigger crowd too. It is a more spirited crowd also since many of the “extra” people are alumni. Not sure about a big spring event but a basketball game would be fun to see. The regular season goes through March and if they make the playoff’s you can push it even later into spring.</p>
The Homecoming game is fairly well attended because of the presence of alumni on campus that weekend. And this year’s Homecoming game is against Princeton, with which Penn has one of its more–if not its most–bitter rivalries (e.g., “Puck Frinceton” T-shirts usually proliferate at Princeton games) . Keep in mind, however, that attendance is nothing like you’d find at schools where attending football games is a major weekend priority.</p>
<p>In terms of the spring, just be sure NOT to visit during the weekend of Spring Fling. Definitely not a time for parents. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>My daughter is still a sophomore in high school so we are exploring.</p>
<p>I’ve found several top universities with harsh grading for their STEM programs. (MIT, Cornell, Princeton, Caltech) How is Penn’s situation? What is the approximate average GPA for freshman year and at graduation? I did some search but haven’t gotten much. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>According to my daughter majoring in engineering the grading is hard and the workload is heavy. She was a val from a big and competitive HS. I don’t know about average GPA. My MIT son did not have much pressure.</p>