<p>Can someone describe the differences, if any, between the three college houses that make up the quad and if there is a clear best and worst of the three...</p>
<p>I lived in Riepe…hated it. There are parts of Riepe that are not renovated and I ended up in one of them. Also, my hall was deserted 100% of the time, and was right next to the smokers-spot-of-choice. Also, the bathrooms were FILTHY.</p>
<p>Ware and Fisher always looked nicer and cleaner than Riepe, though Riepe apparently boasts a more close-knit community (who knew? I certainly didn’t). They all have different residential programs and activities. Check out their websites: [College</a> Houses & Academic Services: University of Pennsylvania](<a href=“http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/brochure/index.asp]College”>http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/brochure/index.asp)</p>
<p>i stayed in fisher one day and well… it was okay. the room was really small, even for a singles room. and at night it wasnt too bad but early in the morning it smelled really bad in the halls, like… really bad. haha. but that was just one night so i might’ve just picked a wrong night to stay over.</p>
<p>are the rooms themselves considered nicer in any of the three?</p>
<p>i live in fisher. i enjoy it and the bathrooms in fisher are definitely nicer than the ones in riepe. however, i think you’ll come to find that it doesn’t really matter where in the quad you live…i have plenty of friends in riepe and some in ware…it’s all connected anyway. i actually do get the sense that riepe has a tighter community, but only by a bit.</p>
<p>i’d say the rooms are overall nicer in fisher, but i’ve seen a ton of nice singles in riepe (the fisher singles tend to be smaller unless they’re in the nipple…basically, room sizes vary a LOT in all three houses). i haven’t been to ware often enough to judge.</p>
<p>ware has the biggest room in all of quad (2 bedroom triple)</p>
<p>and i was fortunate enough to call it my home sophomore year</p>
<p>the suites (fisher and riepe, primarily) make for some of the best living experiences at penn in my opinion</p>
<p>tenebrousfire, so do you not recommend ware?
I was looking at the three quad houses and that one look the best in my opinion (but i only did a cursory read over the pdf)</p>
<p>and is it true that fisher “promotes an anti-substance lifestyle”? lol</p>
<p>I mean - the chances of you getting into your first choice for housing are slim. I would decide on whether the “quad in general” is for you, and then list those as your first choices. You probably won’t get into a specific house unless you are accepted into a residential program or put Hill as your first choice. THAT SAID, I listed Gregory, Hill, and all the high rises over the quad and got dumped in Riepe. I didn’t even list Riepe!! I’m not really sure what goes on behind the scenes of the housing process…but that was weird.</p>
<p>@ Fisher: Fisher is the home of the substance free residential program, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of Fisher residents are substance free. You cannot drink in any dorms at Penn unless you are over 21 - and you will probably be caught and written up if you do.</p>
<p>oh no i loved ware</p>
<p>i’m just saying that if you have 5-6 buddies you want to live with, suites are fantastic</p>
<p>biomajor- i’ve heard from everyone that the Quad is the best place ever to live. It sounds like that you’re not so enthusiastic about it lol. could you explain?</p>
<p>I’m living in a high-rise freshman year and I’m not regretting that decision one bit. It just depends what you are looking for.</p>
<p>this is my first year and I’m in Stouffer. Best decision ever. I can’t bear the 10-15 minute wait with the high rise elevators during peak traffic and the bathroom situation in the quad kinda sucks as far as I’m concerned. Hill is a god forsaken hole. Stouffer is the way to go 
Highest upperclassman retention</p>
<p>I’ve stayed over at my friend’s place in Stouffer and the bathrooms weren’t that much better than the one I have in fisher. granted my bathroom is definitely one of the best ones i’ve seen in the quad.</p>
<p>fisher has 3-room triples that are pretty nice, especially if you score one of the bigger ones. as for the substance-free program, it’s ONE hall in all of fisher and i’m pretty sure i’ve never met anyone in that hall as of yet. the rest of us are definitely not substance-free, trust me. however people do get caught drinking and getting written up rather often, but that happens in all three quad houses. </p>
<p>and to be honest, hill isn’t as terrible as everyone makes it out to be (the bathrooms are pretty bad, i’ll give you that)…several of my close friends live there and the rooms are small, but that drives everyone to hang out in the lounges, which ultimately leads to a more social atmosphere than in the quad. </p>
<p>i’m not a huge fan of the high rises, but the rooms are nice. and so is having your own bathroom.</p>
<p>gregory isn’t that bad, the room setup is kind of cool. however even on the 3rd floor, i felt like i was in a basement…i guess it’s the poor way the hallways are arranged.</p>
<p>I need sunlight. Which dorm has the largest windows or best sunlight?</p>
<p>Try to get a south facing room.
[University</a> of Miami](<a href=“http://www.miami.edu/]University”>http://www.miami.edu/)
<grin></grin></p>
<p>Thanks, aglages, but in addition to sunshine I was also hoping to get an education without fear of being shot by a football player, so that eliminates UM. :)</p>
<p>best windows are in my old quad room, or highrise xx03 rooms</p>
<p>
That’s the problem with young people today…they want it all.</p>
<p>
Fischer has those too.</p>
<p>that’s correct, but my room was bigger than fisher triples =)</p>