<p>^I apologize for factoring in things such as academics,weather, and distance from home when choosing a school.</p>
<p>It’s not like I don’t like Penn; the campus is just one of the drawbacks of coming here in my opinion. I’m just giving an honest opinion of the campus for potential Penn applicants, rather than being biased in trying to entice others to come.</p>
<p>You should really consider visiting if you’re planning on coming. Some people like the campus, and others don’t; the pictures probably aren’t enough to give you a great feel of the campus.</p>
<p>I love Penn’s campus. Especially the architecture of College Hall and Fischer Fine Arts Library. My first impression was that it felt like the University of Chicago’s campus (I live in Chicago and have been there a lot). It is a great urban environment yet it all feels connected. But it’s all just a personal choice, so I think the best bet is to come see it for yourself!</p>
<p>DS spent a month at Penn this past summer in a Biomed Engineering (or was it Bioengineering?) program and he felt the campus and facilities were run down. I saw his dorm and it was a slum. No way around it. It’s still his #1 choice (#2 if you count Rice ED) and a reach, but he was not impressed with the campus itself. Meh, that’s why there’s chocolate & vanilla.</p>
<p>I’m currently in medical school at another Ivy, and I must say, I really miss the Penn campus. Yes, it has its eyesores: the social work quad, Hill, and probably most notoriously, Van Pelt. But Princeton, Cornell, and, yes, even Harvard have theirs as well. On the other hand, its overall layout is quite unique. I absolutely love the transitions between the shade of Locust Walk and the sun (well, at least during non-winter months) of the Green. And, indeed, Penn’s architecture has been quite pioneering–Cope and Stewardson (who also designed much of Princeton and WashU) revolutionized Gothic revival to fit in with an urban setting. (It’s a shame, admittedly, that Penn needed to expand with a relatively limited budget and in a period in institutional architectural history that many would like to overlook, in the 1950s and 1960s.) I also love the fact that much of the architecture is a bit of a mixture of different styles. It gives the campus character, rather than dull uniformity.</p>
<p>And do not listen to anyone who cautions you about crossing 40th Street; they probably don’t have much experience with it. Some of the best times I remember at Penn were spent at the Green Line Cafe on 43rd or some of the wonderful restaurants on Baltimore between 47th and 50th. Just keep your wits about you and you’ll be just fine.</p>
<p>If you want acres upon acres of grass and wide open spaces, go to Dartmouth or Cornell. To my mind, Penn does exceptionally well with what it has, and will only get better with the expansion of campus. Penn really is a special place that I absolutely loved, and that I would choose again in a heartbeat (and this is from somebody who chose it over other Ivies as well).</p>
<p>I was walking down Locust the other night when, for the first time, I realized Penn is like a village. It’s quite easy to tell that many of the pathways on campus were formerly roads–especially Locust–but now they have been converted into walkways, lined with small but architecturally fantastic buildings, in some ways it feels very much like it’s own little town.</p>