Philly DUers

[Ediacara]

University of Pennsylvania is on my short list of grad schools. Any insight on the town, the school, etc? I'm living in Montana right now, but grew up in Seattle, so I can find my way around a city. Good place to live, good town? good school?

[Patiod]

1. What kind of info do you need?

I should warn you that I have a personal animosity to Penn people: I attended Penn State, and Penn grads, who are incredibly insecure anyway about their place in the Ivy League pantheon, are likely to tell people they attend/attended "Penn - and that's Penn, not Penn State" (the last word is always spat out). Makes me want to slug 'em. "Oh, sorry, I got a damned good Business education without much in the way of student loan debt. But I apologize that the existence of my far-less-expensive alma mater casts a shadow on the prestige of your fine institution." :mad:

Anyway, enough vitriol - back to your question. I have a friend who worked at Penn and bought her house in a "gentrifying" neighborhood with money from the school. For the past few years, at least, Penn has worked hard to be part of the West Philadelphia community, and to bring the community up WITH them as they improve the school. Tonight I'm going to be with her and some people who know the university - I'll reply tomorrow if they have anything to add.

The primary benefit of Philadelphia is that it's a big city (5th largest in the US) with all the nice big city pluses (great restaurants and a lot of them, theater, arts, etc) but it's manageable. And it's open after dark, unlike a lot of the cities I've visited for work.

In addition, you're not isolated here - you can be in NY in under 2 hours, in DC in 2+, if the traffic is right you can be at the beach in about 90 minutes, and skiing in about the same time. There are buses to NYC that cost as little as $12, or Amtrak will get you there for more money in shorter time.

West Philadelphia (where Penn is located) is one of those weird areas where one block is good, the next is sketchy, and the next is downright scary. You may want to start reading the The Daily Pennsylvanian for a flavor of the university.

Other sources of Phila neighborhood information:
http://citypaper.net/articles/current/index.shtml
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/

Feel free to PM or email me with any questions, and I'll see if I can hunt down some answers for you. As long as you promise that if you come here, you won't disparage the state's other fine institutions of higher education.

[mrgorth]

2. Culture shock

This is gonna hurt.

[steely]

3. I'm originally from Philly....

and I'll try to remain unbiased. It's definitely not big sky country, but the first poster got it right - it is metropolitan, and there are a lot of things to do if you like the city life....museums, shows, bars, clubs, restaurants, sights, architecture, proximity to Balt, NY, DC (relative to Montana, these places are close), the Zoo, sports, etc.

Bike paths are a few miles away from the school, and the schuyllkill (skoo-kull) river is nearby - it's prettier up river from Penn.

The school is situated west of the center city area, and while there is mass transit, you could feel a little isolated, even in town. I went to Temple U. I loved it, but found that some of the adjacent neighborhoods could be a little intimidating - you just have to be careful.

Penn is known for it's academic programs of course, so I would think that would be the major driver for you, then you'd just have to learn the area and culture.

The pace of life in the east is (or was) different to me from other places I had/have been - but I do love the downtown area alot.

Good luck - you can send me a message too if you have any specific questions.

[Mandate My Ass]

4. I graduated from Penn and now work on the campus

Much of the important things have been covered by the other posters.

The neighborhood/s around Penn can be sketchy if you're not familiar with the city. Unfortunately, a lot of crime happens to people who come here from out of town and venture too far off campus late at night. Just be aware of your surroundings and you should do OK. You can PM with any questions you may have.

Philly is a great city and I think you'd like it. Good luck with whatever decision you make. :hi:

[ignu]

5. penn area isn't sketchy

The farther west you go from penn, the sketchier it gets... and you'll run a trade off of cheaper rent and sketchiness. I live on 44th and Walnut and haven't had a single incident in the last three years. Before that, I lived on 46th and Walnut and it someone was shot on our porch... yet this was a block away from one of the ritziest areas of west philly. West Philly is really patchy, but within an eight block radius of Penn you're under the shield of constant campus police patrols and can run around waving your money and leaving tvs in your cars and nothing will happen.

But it's a great area with real culture and tons of good ethnic food. Ten minutes by bike or cab from Center City or a fifteen to twenty minute bus ride.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

6. I worked at UPenn while in consulting...

I ended up really loving Phila. Great culture (the UPenn people I worked with celebrated St Patricks Day for at least a 6 week period), awesome restaraunts, good shopping, lots of history.

I agree with the "sketchy" description but the general rule of thumb that I was given by the UPenn people was, if walking up Chestnut, don't go beyond 39th. I held to that advice and never had any problems there.

Phila is a lot of fun. Go Eagles!!!

[LynneSin]

7. Send a PM to Ramsey at DU

She's a Penn grad and I'm sure she'd be happy to answer any questions you might have