<p>Housing is what it is. If you’re an upperclassman living on campus, chances are you’ll be living in a high rise, which is no more social than living off campus. The only “social” dorms are the actual dorms which have shared bathrooms. Penn offers mostly apartment-style living where three or four people share a place with two or three bedrooms, a living room and a bathroom. I live off campus because even at $864/month+utilities, it’s cheaper than the on-campus options I would take as an upperclassman.</p>
<p>Don’t forget, every party you will go to is going to be between 40th and 42nd Street, between Walnut and Pine Streets (MAYBE one or two on Baltimore). That area is completely filled with Penn students and offers really nice housing for a reasonable price. Landlords are generally cool and it is just better than living on campus. Many Penn students enjoy the added freedom of living off campus, especially since it allows for more time to move in and out (twelve month leases can be nice once you find summer subletters!).</p>
<p>As for grad students getting the attention… okay, let’s be real here. Penn is a school with 20,000 students, half of whom are undergraduates. When you are taking MATH104 or ECON001, you need to realize that you are taking BASIC courses taught by professors who can do that kind of stuff in their sleep. It’s the same at any large university you will go, though. Fortunately, many professors make a concerted effort to show their interest even in basic courses. Penn requires all professors of large lectures to hold office hours specifically for those classes, so if you want to talk to a professor, you can. Once you get into upper level courses, your professors will be quite interested and will really show you why Penn’s got some sweet rankings. For example, last year I had a professor teaching an elections course; his second job was as a top level political analyst for NBC News. Next semester, I have five courses taught by five professors and no TAs whatsoever.</p>
<p>So yeah.</p>