<p>@45percenter
Well, we are posting on the Penn board, so the topic creator isn’t exactly singling out Penn. Besides, the topic creator never made any comparison (safety wise) between Philadelphia and any other place (the article does, not him/her), so you’re kind of grasping for straws. The only point that was made is that Philadelphia is pretty dangerous (like top 20 dangerous), and it would be better if applicants knew that (they probably do). Also, how dangerous Philadelphia is does affect UPenn students: it restricts them to certain areas. I know that pretty much every city in America has its dangerous areas, but Philadelphia is definitely worse than the average city. </p>
<p>I think I know what it means to go to Penn. First, I know that I’ll get an education a dreamed of. Second, I know I’ll meet all sorts of intelligent and not-so-intelligent people. Third, I know I’ll have many things to do. I know I’ll get to tutor in one of the country’s worse high schools, an opportunity I look forward to. Finally, if I do get my brother’s old apartment, I’ll live beside a superb culinary school where I can get the best food for dirt cheap prices. However, this does come at the price of listening to gunshots and yelling at night. </p>
<p>One last thing: the statistics are nice and all, but the topic creator never said anything about people leaving Penn. He just posted an article and what some random student said. You’re going to extraordinary lengths to prove him wrong in any way, aren’t you?</p>
<p>^ PrincetonDreams is a ■■■■■, pure and simple, trying to spread negativity about Penn in its own forum, and lying about his own status to do so. He’s been trolling against Penn since 2010 (check out his posting history in the Penn forum).</p>
<p>He posted all last semester on CC as a Columbia freshman, and now pretends to be a freshman at Penn. He has no credibility.</p>
<p>I know, I know. I just felt like trolling too :p. Apparently, it worked well enough. Seriously though, Philly is dangerous, and that’s the only point I want to make. However, Penn is still awesome. I applied to Penn because Philly’s more risky/exciting nature, which (IMO) makes Penn more interesting than most universities.</p>
<p>And I don’t know of too many Penn students/alums who feel/felt unduly restricted at Penn because they avoided the more crime-ridden neighborhoods of, e.g., North and West Philly, just as Columbia, Yale, Johns Hopkins, UChicago, and Harvard students avoid the more crime-ridden neighborhoods of their respective cities.</p>
<p>There are a lot of great Philly neighborhoods for Penn students to enjoy (University City, Center City, Old City, South Street, Northern Liberties, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, etc.), and thousands of them do.</p>
<p>Here’s a different perspective, 45 Percenter. I WANT to go to the dangerous areas. Seriously, the experience my brother got from tutoring a super horrible high school completely changed him so much that I thought he was playing mind games with me. Going to these areas and helping people (part of Penn’s mission) is what I look forward to. Those who don’t seize these opportunities are doing it wrong! Who cares about enjoying fancy shmancy restaraunts/shops/whatever!</p>
<p>^ That’s an admirable attitude, and certainly one that Penn seeks and fosters. But those kinds of opportunities are also available (and pursued) at other top urban universities, and not just at Penn.</p>
<p>Although Penn certainly is a national leader and model of civic engagement by urban universities:</p>
<p>@PrincetonDreams: Do YOU even go here? Seriously…there are Penn police everywhere. I mean, i’m still in high school…but i take classes at Penn, so yes I guess you can say I “go” there even though I am not a full time student. And for the record, I have lived in University City all my life and still do. I think i know this city better than any Penn student. Not to mention, I work at Penn. </p>
<p>Basically, i’m on Penn’s campus 24/7. And guess what? I’M STILL ALIVE. Shocker, right?</p>
<p>^ Shocker, indeed. You’re one of those West Philly people though, who have become normalized to the disastrous standard of life here. If you had actually lived in a half-decent city for a decent amount of time at any point in your life, your opinion would be different.</p>
<p>PrincetonDreams, have you ever seen any of the housing off campus to the west/southwest of Penn? The Victorian style homes are beautiful! I agree with 45 Percenter fully, and though I don’t know when he graduated, I do know that I graduated in the fall of 2010.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, where do you live? If you’re on campus, give me one thing about your college house that someone who doesn’t go to Penn wouldn’t know. If you’re off campus, which fraternities or sports teams have houses on your block? If you don’t know, I highly doubt you go to Penn.</p>
<p>@PrincetonDreams: i’ve lived in other places before -_- but just not as long as west philly, so i consider it my home. ugggh, there is no point in arguing with you. Honestly, what do you get out of bashing on Philadelphia?</p>
<p>So, Philadelphia has a high murder rate.
Should everyone leave?
OP, what’s your point ?
DC also has a high murder rate. But some of the richest and most powerful people in the country choose to live there.</p>
<p>I love being at U Penn and love Phildelphia. Philadelphia is a big city as is West Philly where U Penn is. There are crime pockets in the city, but they are easy to avoid. Big cities like Phildelphia and New York have great energy. New York is a 90 minute/$10.00 bus trip so people commute to New York from Philadelphia- Phlly is being called the sixth borough of NY. If you love Cornell or Princeton’s small town charm, don’t go here, but if you love cities, it’s great.</p>
<p>No, my bro didn’t live in the Radian- or as he calls it: “the spoiled kids’ building”. The only hint I’ll give is that he lived by a culinary school not too far from Penn’s campus.</p>
<p>lol i love how PrincetonDreams’s email post started with “10 years ago”. Not only do I wonder how much Penn security has improved these 10 years, I also wonder how long ago this so-called “10 years ago” was.</p>
<p>A current Penn freshman friend told me after NSO that the Penn campus and a few blocks beyond formed some kind of force field. The way she described it was if you made a certain phone call at a time of desperate need, some kind of SWAT team would show up - of course, I’m pretty sure that’d be an exaggeration. But if you tone that down a bit, still sounds like some pretty tight security measures to me.</p>