<p>Mummom,Aren’t you the rear guard? Yes, I read this thread.</p>
<p>I have no idea what you guys are talking about and I thought I have been on for a while. collegekidsmom - you only have 53 posts, but you seem to know exactly what people are talking about. But I see you have been on since 2007. I am not sure if I could have kept silent for that long. I am a New Yorker, I tend to say what’s on my mind.</p>
<p>lol, oldfort!</p>
<p>I don’t even think Southerners could keep quiet for that long!</p>
<p>Oldfort, I’ll admit that I’m guessing at the point that Mummom is making. If she is suggesting that I’ve entered this thread late, well, she entered it even later. I really don’t know what it even matters.</p>
<p>I also don’t understand the question of my join date and # posts. My oldest graduated from college last spring so I’ve been on and off for years. This thread caught my attention since I have a son at Penn.</p>
<p>mummom,
As oldfort said- why dont you just say what you mean? Summary: There was a perfectly pleasant discussion going on. Then collegekidsmom hypothesized about MOWC’s persona, and I responded to that, as the questioning of her demeanor seemed unnecessary and I disagreed with it. Then, all of a sudden the bench clears, and in comes Billy, outta nowhere, to pile on and to make a personal ad hominem attack at me. And HE claims OTHERS are sniping? Sheesh. Sounds rather hypocritical. I haven’t had any personal interaction with Billy in eons, and have no idea why he chose to insult me out of the blue and then claim others were sniping. Agree, he needs to read and catch up on the thread. And totally agree with collegekidsmom about who is the rear guard, thank you very much!</p>
<p>Now, back to the topic- as for Penn, I looked at it umpteen years ago when I was admitted. Just wasn’t comfortable with the urban campus, and chose not to accept the admission. I certainly respect those who did, including several good friends of mine, who I visited during their undergrad days there and other friends who attended Hannemann. Enjoyed doing my Rocky imitation running up and down the steps. But couldn’t see myself going there. Just couldn’t.</p>
<p>D1 never applied to Penn because of safety issue. At that time, I thought it was all hearsay. We are still go visit the school for D2.</p>
<p>I thought Ithaca would be boring for D1, but now it doesn’t seem so bad.</p>
<p>One huge improvement at Penn over the last few years is the opening of the Radian as a housing option. It is really great, but it’s hard to get a place. It really improved my son’s life at Penn and my peace of mind. His cat likes it a lot, too.</p>
<p>Well, we’ve talked about Penn and it’s ‘surroundings’ and we have all been educated on the inner city of Houston around Rice. Dare I bring up Syracuse (to add in my sports contribution, I’ll throw in that they hammered Georgetown last night and are #5… AND I’m going to go see them play against DePaul on Saturday!)? and it’s surrounding neighborhood. Heck a crime there got a whole best-seller novel written about it - Lucky, by Alice Seibold (who also wrote the book The Lovely Bones which was recently released as a movie). D told me she wouldn’t read the book until after she graduated. Her sorority house was basically across the street from the park where the rape took place.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s the University of Chicago that has the best of everything. At least that’s one thing we can all agree on, right?</p>
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<p>Ain’t that the truth! And a hoagie, too? Pure heaven. :)</p>
<p>I applied to Penn back in the dark ages, because my south Jersey high school encouraged its top students to apply. I think the GC may have been an alumna. I got in but had no interest in attending. My parents were relieved because even way back then, it was an area of the city that you avoided if at all possible. Philadelphia has a lot going for it and I love parts of the city, and I also love the Philly-centric things from my childhood that can’t be replicated elsewhere. However, I find that whenever I visit, I still feel an unease that I don’t feel in any other city, and I’ve lived in cities for most of my adult life.</p>
<p>My D graduated from Penn in 2009 and while she had a great experience like MOWC’s son I must agree that I dreaded reading the Daily Pennsylvanian each morning in fear that there would be another incident. I think that Penn is probably much safer than it was back in the day but I don’t think you could characterize it as safe as no campus is totally safe. I think the expansion of Penn to the east with the new train yards property will probably help make the campus a little safer in the years to come because it is contiguous to campus and a self-contained area.</p>
<p>Would someone please enlighten me on TastyKakes? I’m assuming tasty cakes? I feel like I’m definitely missing out on something here. Everybody loves cake!</p>
<p>One thing we love most about NYC is all the cupcake places! Never in my life have I seen so many places to get cupcakes and even a cupcake truck.</p>
<p>TastyKakes are a local Philadelphia (have spread down into Virginia and up into NJ and are occasionally spotted elsewhere) item. They are snack (junk) foods that come in various flavors. Sort of like Little Debbie cakes only really no comparison. They are fresh and awesome. There are peanut butter KandyKakes which are chocolate covered little cake patties with a think layer of peanut butter. There are all sorts of pies- lemon, blueberry, pumpkin… There are butterscotch krimpets. They have a website and will ship anywhere! You buy them at WaWa (or other grocers). WaWa is like 7-11 only local and has great food items, gas etc.</p>
<p>Thanks MOWC! You read my mind…my next question was going to WaWawhat? Mmmm the peanut butter ones and butterscotch sounds yummy! I’m going to have to check out the website.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.tastykake.com/]Tastykake.com[/url”>http://www.tastykake.com/]Tastykake.com[/url</a>]</p>
<p>There you go, magnoliamom! Yum. :)</p>
<p>When my family moved from Philly to the midwest, we had locals ship us Tastykakes!
My elementary and middle schools in Philly also had Tastykake carts. They’re just way better than Little Debbie, Hostess, etc.</p>
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<p>Away for a couple of days, back from “out of nowhere”. I have done my due diligence, read this thread from the beginning and even clicked on the “see more posts” to get a history of the players involved. I’m expecting to get attacked for that as well, but I can handle it.</p>
<p>Despite protestations to the contrary, Momofwildchild has a history of Penn/Philadelphia/Northeast bashing. I started posting on page five that crime issues were not exclusive to Penn, and that all parents sending kids off to college have to instill street smarts in addition to the oft talked about “solid values”. I do agree that some places are more dangerous than others. However, if a poster feels the need to start a thread about every adverse incident at their child’s school, others have a right to call out the bias. If a poster is new, they will be raked over the coals. Check out the parents in the American University forum if you want to see this in action. However, some long time members seem to get “rear guard” protection.</p>
<p>Despite the claims of a “perfectly pleasant discussion”, somehow a crime on campus discussion became the civil war mid thread-North vs. South. Having helped raise three daughters, the oldest one when she was starting middle school, I became sensitized to “mean girl behavior”. Ten years later, it still engenders an emotional response, and I admit to responding in kind to snarky comments even though they weren’t directed to me. I knew I wouldn’t ever get the last word in with that post, so wasn’t surprised at the targeted responses. I’ll be expecting some more after this.</p>
<p>Back to topic, I have been to Philadelphia many times, starting with the bicentennial. IMO, the city has come a long way. Still a ways behind NY as far as restaurants and culture, but they’re definitely trying. Still behind NY in rudeness as well 
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<p>I have also been to business conferences at Penn and with Penn & Wharton grads over the years and everything I hear leads me to believe that campus security and gentrification of the surrounding neighborhood has also greatly improved. No doubt, there will still be incidences, and a criminal element is nearby many campuses that sees college students as wealthy, na</p>
<p>Bashing? Hmmm…I guess my reaction is that it’s refreshing to read posts from a parent who is not afraid to point out weaknesses or warn other parents about the school her son attends. At least it seems rare to me. Lots of defensive shields go up on these boards…I can be guilty of this behavior myself. Anyway, I see a balance in the posts…a recognition of the good and the bad. Honesty. Pretty cool I think.</p>