Residential Program- Worth choosing over good housing?

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I wanna live in one of the Quad houses, because i visited them and they were so nice (lots more room too)</p>

<p>Then I checked out the residential programs, and am really interested in the Medical Care and Medical Challenge program. But its located in Hill! I visited Hill, and didn’t really like it all that much. I thought the rooms were much smaller, and weren’t as clean. Also, I hear that they don’t even have air conditioning~ :(</p>

<p>Can someone offer some feedback on how good the Medical Care/Medical Challenge residential program really is? Do we get chances to get a taste of a medical profession?</p>

<p>How engaging are the residential programs? Do they meet weekly, monthly, ect? Because if residential programs aren’t all that great in the first place, I might as well indicate one of the Quad houses as my top choice</p>

<p>There are a lot of current Penn students at <a href="http://www.PennSpace.info%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.PennSpace.info&lt;/a>, you could probably ask questions about specific residential programs there for more direct answers.
But yeah, I love the Quad too! I was really happy because the one residential program that I wanted was one in a Quad house.
Hehe, I just submitted my housing app tonight... I really hope I get the house and program I want, but I heard less than half of applicants to residential programs are actually accepted into that program. (As a general rule, that is... It does vary by program, so I guess some are more popular than others?) =/
Ah well, we'll see. Good luck to you.</p>

<p>no no no no, do not choose a 'good' residential program over good housing. Hill sucks unimaginably, and most of the residential programs do very little</p>

<p>I was researching, and see that the Medical Residential program only has 22 ppl in it. Is that because not as many people apply? it just seems like a funny number for a cutoff. maybe because its in Hill and no one wants to live there?</p>

<p>Maybe they only have 11 doubles in the hall or something like that. I'm applying for two res programs in the Quad, mostly so I can guarantee Quad housing. I can still go to the Med stuff in Hill, and probably will if they do worthwhile stuff because I want to know whether premed is for me.</p>

<p>honestly, no medical residential program (mcc, or infectious diseases) provides any advantages that are exclusive...</p>

<p>they're more for meeting peers with similar interests than actually providing unique resources (consider how many people change their goals while here)</p>

<p>take the housing over the program, and seek out exciting opportunities on your own - if nothing else, you'll be likely to find something good to participate in that gives you valuable experience and a nice resume boost</p>

<p>
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" I can still go to the Med stuff in Hill, and probably will if they do worthwhile stuff..."

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<p>Venkat, are you sure that people outside of the residential programs are allowed to participate in the activities? Wouldn't that contradict the whole point of applying to these programs in the first place?</p>

<p>The whole point is guaranteed housing and to live in a hall with people who share your interests. To close it off would be mean to kids who are very interested but didn't get in. It also allows me to abuse the system :)</p>

<p>Err, I'm pretty sure you can't join a residential program if you didn't apply to the program. There are a select number of members for a reason...</p>

<p>Considering that in many res programs, people stop showing up after a while, it's probably not a big deal for me to come to a few meetings and see what it's like. They can't discriminate against me.</p>

<p>they won't discriminate against you per se, but it'll be like "hey who are you? you don't live here..."</p>

<p>same thing as hall meetings, basically... unless you befriend people in the program first it may be awkward.</p>

<p>Residential programs love to have people not in the program go, considering nobody in their own programs go either.</p>