<p>My son is interested in living in the high rises next year. I understand it is not guaranteed so I am wondering, if he tries for the high rises and does not get in, how difficult will it be to find a decent, safe apartment for him off campus that late?</p>
<p>You can definitely find off campus apartments after January. It’s probably best to sign a lease before April. The Penn patrol zone extends to 41st (it might be 42nd), so if you feel anxious about living off campus, that is the best place to live since there is literally a person from Penn Police on every corner. However, even past the patrol zone is perfectly safe. The area between Spruce and Baltimore is especially nice.</p>
<p>Honestly, my only regret about moving off campus is not doing it sooner. After freshman year, you spend much less time doing hall activities and as a result dorms with mostly upperclassmen do not really have that much socialization. This is especially true for the high rises. Most people I have talked to barely interact(ed) with the people on their halls and found them quite isolating. I personally think the high rises are bleak, isolating, and grossly overpriced. Everything about the suites is tiny, the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the common areas, etc. The quads will have 4 people sharing a bathroom, which is actually somewhat difficult.
You can easily get your own apartment that is the same size and price as living in a three or four bedroom suite in the high rises. The only downside is that you would need to sublet it in the summer. If you were to get an apartment with more than one person, you could probably go much cheaper.</p>
<p>^ Just to clarify, the Penn Patrol Zone “extends from 30th Street to 43rd Street (east to west) and Market Street to Baltimore Avenue (north to south)”:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> Police Department » Penn Public Safety](<a href=“http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/UPPD/]Penn”>http://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/UPPD/)</p>
<p>Thank you poems! And 45%. That is helpful information.</p>
<p>I had a good bit of success subletting my off campus houses for three summers; it is also nice to be able to store your belongings instead of needing to rent out storage containers/garages and figure out how to transport the stuff… having a house within easy walking distance is a tremendous help!</p>
<p>Also, in my experience, when something inevitably goes wrong (mice running around, pipes breaking, stuff like that), you’ll get helped by a housing company within hours; on campus, it could be weeks (or as was the case in Hill, it took nine months… I was alerted that they fixed issues two months after I moved out)</p>