<p>Yes, this is another thread with questions regarding Penn ^^</p>
<p>I'm currently majoring in Econ (Maths too mebbee) but it seems the liberal-artsy-spirit from my high school education has stuck with me. That being said, I also fancy taking courses in the natural sciences and possibly other subjects (as a matter of fact the Philosophy course I'm taking this semester was an absolutely wonderful surprise. It's a 9 in the Saturday-freaking-morning class but it's by far one of the most rewarding classes I signed up for, God knows why). </p>
<p>According to conventional wisdom, intro bio and chem classes tend to be seeder courses and are not intended for non-majors. However, the alternative bio and chem courses offered tend to be "cop-out" classes. Is this the case at Penn? I still want to take rigorous science courses although not be buried by work from a seeder course.</p>
<p>Also, how easy is it to get a single dorm? I don't have much information about housing at Penn (someone just said don't go for Du Bois?), so I'd be indebted if you could enlighten me.</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh yah, and how is rowing/crew? I have no experience in the sport so I was wondering if Penn tended to be accepting towards first timers</p>
<p>If you're in SAS you'll have tons of freedom to take whatever courses that fancy you. Also, doubling between econ and math is still fewer credits than some of the singe majors in SAS if you plan it right, so you will have plenty of free time to do whatever. I'm an econ major trying to see if I can fit in math so if you have any questions just ask me.</p>
<p>About science classes, I took Chem 101 and 102 last year and it was perfectly fine. If you're smart you'll get an A. Bio and physics shouldn't be so bad either if you put in the right amount of work (few hours a week). </p>
<p>I had a single as a freshman and lots of my friends did too. There are a bunch of singles in Riepe and Hill and a fair number in Ware which are all pretty good. Well Hill is pretty ****ty except everyone there is a freshman and you will make friends.</p>
<p>I have two friends on crew. They did it in high school and were recruited for it. However, there are always walkons. Attrition for crew is huge. I think most recruits don't make it past sophomore year.</p>
<p>I'm a walk-on on penn's rowing team and I love it! Penn loves walkons and they make up a very vital part of the team. Anyone can do it, no experience necessary, and there were no cuts this year, mainly because people eliminate themselves when they realize what a huge time commitment crew is and also the rigor of the training. Many of the walkons are starting to edge out the recruits as far as speed is concerned. It's a wonderful sport, but you really only get out of it what you put in, so you have to be willing to work for it. </p>
<p>As far as singles are concerned, I got one without too much of a problem. There are lots in Riepe, and those also tend to be the biggest ones. There are singles in other parts of the quad but they are generally the size of closets. My single in Riepe is larger than many of my friends' doubles.</p>
<p>Penngirl914 will probably comment more, but I was talking to a friend who's on the crew team (she'd rowed in high school, but wasn't recruited for Penn as far as I know) and she says they have about 8 practices per week, for about 2 hrs at a time.</p>
<p>Riepe does have some tiny closet-sized ones too :P Kings Court is supposed to be pretty nice.</p>
<p>Ya I know a fair amount of people with singles as freshman! i mean i'm not saying its easy to get one, but it's surely not impossible! </p>
<p>The schedule for crew changes a bit throughout the year, but at the beginning they kind of ease the walk-ons into it by holding organized practices for about 2 hours 4 times a week (all afternoon/evening practices), expecting you to do about an hour of cardio on your own for the other 3 days. During this time, the walk-ons have their own practices and they are very technique intensive, as they teach you how to row on the water. </p>
<p>About a month in, the walkons are integrated with the recruits/varsity, and practices are about 2.5-3 hours long 6 days a week (afternoons on mon/fri, 6 am on tues-thurs, 7 or 8 am on sat). Around this time, you also begin weight lifting, which lasts approximately an hour 3 times a week. In October you will have a few races on the weekends. Towards the end of November, we can no longer row on the water so the practices become entirely indoors on ergometers (rowing machines). During this time, practices become shorter (approximately 1.5 hours 5 days a week, generally all at 6/7 am) though the weightlifting regimin remains the same. </p>
<p>In the spring, which is the main rowing season, practices become 3 hours long 6 days a week (mon-thurs at 6:30 am, fri in the afternoon, sat at 8 am), with 3 hours of weightlifting per week. We have races on many weekends, some of which also require travel. It's a big time commitment but it is totally worth it! </p>
<p>Thanks for the info and it sounds like a lot. How have your grades been during this? Do you think there's enough time to balances classes and practice?</p>
<p>I haven't found it too bad personally, but I know other people have had difficulties and had to leave the team because of it. There is enough time if you organize your life well, but you certainly can't expect to do a bunch of other activities on top of this. For me, I had about 15 hours of classes this semester, and about 20 hours of practice. The good thing about crew is that it does get you up and going in the morning so you can get a lot of stuff done over the course of the day even if you just have afternoon classes. I think I did pretty well as far as grades are concerned, and any issues I had weren't really related to crew. The team has an average GPA of about 3.3.</p>