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chrisdds

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Just wondering. Who's going to PENN so far?
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I heard of this guy named DesiDentist. I think he is going to PENN.

Are you down, chrisDMD?

Are you gellin'?

Tell me what's ya flava?

DesiDentist is!!
 
Yeah, I guess it should be chrisdmd to be correct (but I created this account name before I even got accepted from PENN).

Hey, DesiDentist, did you get housing info package yet? And where do most PENN dental students live? on campus or off campus? (if you know)
 
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Hey Chris,

No, I haven't gotten any housing info yet. I believe we should be getting a packet soon in Mid-March or something or at least before the second deposit is due (may 1). I believe most people live off campus in apts close by. However, the Dental House and Sansom Place are great places as well. But I think you can find affordable housing around the University City.

Welcome to PENN, you made a great choice. Why did you choose PENN?

DesiDentist
 
Why PENN?

My views on PENN weren't that great until I went there for an interview. That one day has changed totally. The faculty seemed really friendly and approachable, and so many people have mentioned that the faculty treat you like their colleague with respect. Of course, that's not the whole reason why I chose PENN. I liked the curriculum that emphasizes both the academic and clinical (somehow I thought PENN was more of a research school before my interview). And this gut feeling I had that I would be happy if I go here. Not to mention, the state-of-the-art new facilities, Robert Schattner Center.

By the way, do you know what year we'll be using the new faciltites?
 
Hey Guys,

I posted a while ago, but I'm going to Penn as well! I haven't received anything about the housing either, but I emailed Susan Schwartz a few months ago about the Dental House. She said that applications would go out in the spring, and they never have a problem getting anyone in who wants to be there. I have a friend in Philadelphia now who has an apartment and is tentatively leaving, so I'm considering that as well. My spring break starts March 1, and I'm going to head back up to Philadelphia for a few days and look around again and maybe stop by some apartments and see what they're like. Keep posted if you guys hear anything or get anything in the mail!

:cool: Erin
 
cool!

chris and erin we're gonna have a blast next year. There are about 3-5 more people on this forum that are going to PENN next year.

DesiDentist
 
Desi and Erin, where are you all from? What undergrads?
 
I'm from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. you?

Regards,

DesiDentist

PS: the Robert Schattner center is up and running and I think that by the time we start everything will be in place.

Also, PENN has a new dean: Marjorie Jeffcoat, a graduate and professor from Harvard Dental School who also is the editor in chief of Journal of the Amercian Dental Association (JADA). She will be replacing Dr. Raymond Fonseca, known as the best Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon in the world. He will still be faculty and we will have him during the first two years of school. Check out the link:
New Dean of PENN Dental

erin: let us know how you like the area and what you find.
 
I'm from the University of California, Irvine.

Thanks for that info on PENN's new dean.

Chris
 
Hey Chris and Desi,

I would have posted sooner, but I've had a long day....shew. Ok, I'm from Virginia, and I am a senior at Va Tech. Major-nutrition, 2 minors- bio and chem.

I'll definitely let you guys know what I find up in Philly. It should be interesting to look around and get an idea of the place now. I'm a bit anxious to see how it is in the dead of winter, considering when I fell in love with Upenn, it was at my interview in September. Considering I'm from and have been attending school in a fairly small town, it will be nice to know you two when I get up to Philly. I lived in NYC for a summer doing some modeling before my freshman year here, but I don't really know anything about Upenn or the area. I'm hoping my excursion in a few weeks will be productive. I'm also hoping that the 2+ feet of snow they got last week will be mostly gone. :eek:

I'll talk to you guys soon!
Erin:love:
 
Originally posted by erinb03
I lived in NYC for a summer doing some modeling before my freshman year here
Click to expand...

Modeling, eh? You're PENN material alright.

Philly is GREAT, just make sure you have a chance to eat a CHEESE STEAK.

DesiDentist
 
Hi Everyone
Put down my deposit last week. I am going to Philly!! By the way I am from southern Cal.
 
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Welcome, Ali!

Desi, I don't know if modeling exactly makes me Penn material, but I do hope I will fit in.

About this cheesesteak business. Everybody builds these things up so much, but I have never had one. I'm assuming it's like a Philly Steak and Cheese you'd get from any restaurant around here, right? But, better of course, b/c it's in Philadelphia. I've had a few people tell me I have to go to Geno's or Pat's for these infamous cheesesteaks. But, I have no idea where those places are or if they are even that good. I will put "have a cheesesteak" on my list of things to do while I'm there next week. Haha, this is so funny to me. Ok, I'm out....

Erin:rolleyes:
 
Go to Pat, it's the best.
And no, cheesesteak at Philly is not like at any restaurant that you get. It's totally different. And they have a box with lots of weird super hot chilli next to the mustard and ketchup. Check them out. They were yummy.
I love Philly.:love: :love:
 
Yo Guys,
I went to Penn last weekend to look at apartments and party with some of my friends (unfortunatly I did get stuck in the two feet of snow and had to stay there for another 2 days). I only got to look at two places becuase all the bastard companies were like we dont feel like walking around in the snow, and wew closed till like thursday, but I found a pretty nice single bedroom apartment. It is a block from the dental school, and $650 a month plus electricity and cooking gas. I was gonna do the dental house at first, but a lot of students told me not to do it, becuse the rooms are too small, and the walls too thin. Samson is ok, but a little expensive at $900 for a single bedroom apartment. I used the website that penn sent with its graduate housing options pamphlet. Its like http://ocl-busi2penn.edu, I think I know there are alot of 1-2-3 bedrooms near the dental school ranging from 400-1200. The further you get form the dental school of course, the cheaper it is. Let me know if you guys have any other questions, and I cant wait to meet you guys.
 
When do you guys plan on moving down to Philly? I was thinking a good 2-4 weeks before school starts to get adjusted to the enviornment and the 3 hour time difference. It would be great to get to know my classmates way before school starts.

DesiDentist
 
I was thinking about the first week of August/last week of July....I don't know where I'm living yet, so that's going to factor in for me. But, I'll move my stuff up as soon as I can once I find a place, then I'll probably relocate about 4 weeks prior to the start of classes.

Erin
 
yeah I was thinking about 2 weeks before school starts
 
alrighty, then. Can't wait to meet you guys. For all of those who have questions regarding PENN post them here.

DesiDentist
 
Hey, PENN people.
I've started doing some research on housing options, and it seemed like people don't like Dental House. My friend's a first year at PENN SDM, and she said that Sansom is pretty nice (she told me not to expect the luxury dorms here in Southern California, though). Two bedrooms (shared living roon, bath and kitchen) for $550/month. Also, about 15 minutes walk distance to dental school, and all furnished. She also told me that Chestnut Hall is pretty nice, too. I'm not sure whether it's on campus or off campus, though.
Anyway, let's all share the housing research we do.
 
Yeah Chestnut is really nice, I think it was $950 or something upwards around there for a one bedroom, with all utilities included. It is about as far as Samson, about a 10 mintute walk from the dental school. The two bedrooms at samson arent a bad price at $550, but they are basically the one bedroom with the other bedroom in place of the living room. There is also Hamilton Court which is pretty good, I know it is like 4 buildings so there are a lot of undergrads that live there, and it also a 10 mintute walk. My friend has a 4 bedroom, 2 bath and pays $500 for each person, with all utilities. Bascially Apartments at Penn owns all the housing around the dental school, but I really didnt like the way they operated. They have 2 people that work on new apartments, but the people dont have a clue about the apartment, floor plans or anything. So you actually have to go down and look at them, then when I tried to do that they were like well there is a little too much snwo outside we arent showing apartments today. I was like well I am from Indiana, and I am leaving tomorrow, and they told me to come back some other time, in the spring. Not to mention the rules they have like you must buy renters insurance, and cover 80% of hardwood floors with a rug, and I am sure a bunch more. The thing that is noce about them is that they have a shuttle run like all day mon-fri till like 1:30 am that will take you anywhere in University city for 25 cents.
 
hey guys,
Just sent out my deposit chek to U-PENN and realized its time to look into housing. It's kind of hard since I live in NY and have to make special trips there for that. But I am thinking that I will start in mid march when I receive the housing info. I am leaning more towards living on campus since its safer. But I am not really sure how much it is. Any clue? Are you guys all getting roomates? Alrighty, got to go, endocrinology exam. Wish me luck. Can't wait to meet you all in August!:clap:
 
Liya,

I'm glad you are joining us. As for housing the dental house has 33 efficacy units (studios) and last year they were charging $650 for them, and there are 7 apts which were $750.

The graduate housing at Sansom is : $550 for sharing bath apt with one bed. $900 for a one bed apt.

I think it is better to find something near the school. You can find a studio around University City from 400-600 bucks. An apt will be from 500-800.

I was thinking about living alone the first year, but that may change depending on if I find some cool people to live with (preferably dental students).

Well to make you feel better, I live in Seattle, WA 3,300 miles away. Not feeling so bad now, eh?

DesiDentist
 
Hi Liya! It's nice there is another girl going to Penn on this forum:)

Yeah, I'm only about 7 hours away, so it's not that bad. I didn't know about the other halls though, besides the Dental House. I'd like to have a roommate, but I don't know if I'm going to find one or not. As you all know, I'm going up to Philly next week, and I'm going to check out the Dental House; two of the girls on the "pink sheet" are letting me see their apts. I'll let you all know how it turns out!

:D Erin
 
Hey Erin,
So did you go to Philly? Any advice on housing?Thanks
By the way, how were the two of the girls on the "pink sheet"?;)
 
Hey my future classmates
I am bumping this up. Have you guys recieved anything from PENN recently? Housing, financial aid, events.......
Just want an update and make sure I don't miss out on anything.
 
Hey ALI:

I haven't gotten anything, but I did get some loan permissory note. It looks like it is for the Federal Loans. I'm not signing anything until I know it is legit.

I'm leaving for Philly tomorrow 3/20 and will find out anything you guys are curious about. I'll be there for 10 days so if any of you PENN people want to know anything let me know and I will try to find out as much as I can regarding housing, financial aid, and our life at PENN.

Wish me luck and let me survive the airport security. :(

DesiDentist
 
Hey Desidentist thanks for your prompt response.
I got the stafford loan stuff too.

a few things that I'm curious:
What should I expect to receive from Penn in next few month?

Any alumni events going on in California?

Just bring back some news for all of us.
By the way, I just found out that Penn is in NCAA final 64. Go PENN.
Have a nice trip Desi
good luck with every thing
 
Hey Desi,
I got the stafford loan last week, didn't fill it out yet.
However, I didn't get any housing info. They told me they will send it in mid march. So far zippo. Anyways, can you find out please when we can come and check out the housing, will they have orientation or anything like that? If I would want to come on the weekends and see the rooms and bascially my options is there anybody who can help me? Thanks Desi, your help is greatly appreciated. Be safe!!!!!
:)
 
People whose thinking about going to UPenn: how many of you are thinking about livin in the dorms, Dental House or off-campus?

I was just wondering.
 
Hey Guys,
I sent in my second deposit (dont forget to do that!) about a month ago, and the school called me and said they would be sending me stuff in March to sign, but I still havent got it either, besides the loan thing. Jester to answer your question and whoever had housing questions, me and a girl on that pink sheet emialed a lot when I was trying to decide between schools and other general info, so Ill put what she wrote. Some of this is repeated in one of my previous posts so I apologize for how long it is, but hope it helps. Oh yeah is anyone planning on bringing a car, cuase im still debating.

DONT LIVE IN THE DENTAL HOUSE unless you get a one bedroom and even then i would hestitate. if you want on campus housing,
then i would pick samson east or west and only get a one bedroom. the studios in both dental house and in the samson are way tooo small. as for two bedroom you will be busy and dontwant to deal with a roomie. if you want to live in
west philly. samson east and west is a better locale too.
As for housing...it is not bad living in the dorms the first year. however, for west philly the one bedrooms at samson are expensive for the area. There are many nice places to live in west philly or even center city that are much cheaper. for ex, my first year i lived two blocks from school: patio, dw, heat, about 700 sqare feet, hw flrs, it was only $635 per month. But it takes
time to look for everything. it is NOT a bad choice to live in samsom east for first year and venture out the next yr. same even stay the first two years. Also, many people find they like it on campus and choose to be a resident advisor and get free housing. these are options to think about. i personally
dont like the dental house at all. i think the studios are unbearably small. Almost closet size and the walls are too thin.
if you are interested in off campus housing..visit the penn website, it is helpful and start looking now. Personally, i live in 2400 chestnut. and if you possibly want to live in center city in the future, do it right away. it is difficult to look for housing while studying your first year. many give up and stay in horrible
conditions. so if you have the time now, look a bit. i have a huge studio for $1000. one bedrooms are $1200 and nice size as well. -free laudry on every floor, tv with some cable, and parking is really inexpensive for philly. I pay $80 a month for parking. that is cheaper than full time parking at school thru the university. there is also a free shuttle at 2400 that takes you to the dental school every morning starting at 6:40 and is every 20 min. 2400chestnut.com there are univ buses, shuttles that will take you home and 2400 has a shuttle until 6 that will also take you home. So it is a nice and convient place to live with affordable garage parking. plus it is considered the off campus grad housing of philly. I dont know what you can afford, so i
am giving you everything that i know. If you want to live in west philly and pick samsom east, pick a univ garage near there. if you choose around the dental school or even detnal house, then
PSI OMEGA, a dental fraternity has parking. they charge about 900 a year. It is a block away from teh dental school. for that contact email sam epley. I dont have his email. but if you type in that name in the penn directory you can get his email. email him and tell him you are interested in parking and that u got the info from me. if you can bring your car, i would. its a great
convience. i know some dont have, but they wished they did. shopping in philly is hard. if you want anythingyou have to go to the burbs. and it makes grocery shopping easier. i have a freiend at school she lives at 42 and pine. She parks her car on the street. she has the little bug which is easy to find parking. That is an option too. but if you have a realy nice car, i wouldnt
keep it on the street. PLUS, if you have a honda...be careful. dont keep anything in your car. they are the easist to break into here. whatever car you have, wherever you park...BUY A CLUB!!!!!! you will use it all the time. If you have any further questions...emailme back
 
Hi Guys....

I'm sorry I haven't posted back to your questions about housing. The truth is, I broke my foot, and I didnt' get to go to Philly that weekend :(

I have rescheduled to go in about 2 weeks, but by then I'm sure Desi will have been and replied to all of the housing questions...

See you guys later!
Erin
 
Hey guys,

I got into Philly last night and today I rebelled against all taxi cabs. So I decided to take a walk today. Well, I sure did take a long walk. I went into fairmont park and ended up at the Philadelphia Zoo. Not where I was intending to go. Then I decided to walk toward PENN and ended up in the ghetto. But it was cool. Now I'm at PENN Dental the new building is JAW DROPPING. Very surprising. I just went in and had a nice conversation with Ramona, she said that Corky is at a committee meeting making decisions. I guess that they interviewed today.

I wanted to see Corky or S.Schwartz but I guess they are busy today. Well I'll be here for a while. I'll keep you posted on anything I find out. And please ask questions and I will bring them up with students/profs/administration.

DesiDentist :hardy:
 
Yo Guys I got the housing info today, along with the second deposit form.
 
yea, i got the deposit form today too with just alittle housing information. have u guys gotten any financial aid forms or anything after u submit the first deposit yet?
 
Yeah blaitini,
We just got a loan promissary note that we needed to fill out after we did the online government Fafsa and the school one. The note lets us pick our lender, and I guess after you fill that out in a few months they let you know how much you get or whatever. Other than that I havent got anything.
 
Hey Blaitini
I guess we are on the same boat.
Got into Penn and waiting for UCSF.
 
thanx for telling me that scandalouslj~ but i haven't gotten anything about borrowing money yet.... :( maybe it's because i sent in the fafsa stuff late......anyways

and yea ali~ i guess we are on the same boat~ haha..:laugh:
hope we will be classmates

where u from by the way?
 
thanx for telling me that scandalouslj~ but i haven't gotten anything about borrowing money yet.... :( maybe it's because i sent in the fafsa stuff late......anyways

and yea ali~ i guess we are on the same boat~ haha..:laugh:
hope we will be classmates

where u from by the way?
 
Hey Penn lovers...
I was just surfing through Penn's Off Campus Living webpages, and they got lots and lots of stuff there. If you haven't checked, you should.
http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/offcampusliving/
And check out the 2400 Chestnut St. and Histroic Landmarks - they have pretty informative websites, and also check out the LAndlord rankings, it's pretty funny (it's out of 4.0). :laugh:

I was thinking about living off campus until I read Scandalous' post. Now I'm thinking about that Samson Place East (health sciences: floors 5-7) Maybe I'll go down and check it out and see if it's worth $900/month.

Hey Desi, I was going to go down to philly, but my schedule never worked out. Sorry! Hope you had good time down there with your girl! LEt me know if you checked out the dorms and what you thought about them. :D

Oh and I just got the second deposit stuff today along with next year's schedule. Hey we get spring break - right on my birthday! Another good reason why I should go to Penn!
 
Hey, guys.

I also got that promissory note last week. When do we need to send it back? And about the lender they asked us to write down, how do we know who they are now?

One more question, hopefully you guys can answer this, what happens if you decide to go to another school after you send all these promissory note and stuffs?

Thanks,

Chris
 
Hey Chris,
I thikn we need to just send in the promissary note as soon as possilbe to get the loan, but Im not usre if it matters. I was confused about that that too, I wasnt sure if we jsut randomly picked a lender or what, so that is wha I did, I just picked one from the website with a 0% origination fee. I dont think you need to accept the loan if you get it, so if the interest is too high, or you deicde to go to another school, I think you can reject the loan, but dont quote me on that, I would ask the financial advisor at Penn (sorry i forgot her name and am a little to wasted to look fo rthe penn stuff as It isnt in front of me).
 
Hey Guys,

Sorry for not responding sooner. Well, my spring break in Philly is coming close to an end, just yesterday I woke up and I felt sick to my stomach since I had looked at over 35 apts and I still did not find one that fit my needs (close to PENN Dental, clean, and CHEAP). Then it happened during my last visit I was supposed to look at two studios that were available for July (no August ones were available) I went into the leasing office and the agent told me that there was one that was available for august 5. I was so excited. It was a studio, When I went to see it, it was a studio I fell in love with. Unlike most studios where the stove/kitchenette come out into the living space this one had it's own seperate kitchenette which was not interfereing with my living space. It's 500 square feet with very high ceilings (at least 10-13 feet). And cost: only $540 a month. And get this my lease is only for 9 months and 27 days. And I could choose if I wanted to vacate May, June, or July. Most leases in U.City are for the full 12 months with no exceptions.

After I liked that place, I did not have my check book (forgot it at home) so I thought I will just wait, but the agent looked at her agenda and there were 5-6 other appointments to see that place. The agent told me that this year the U.City apts are in a crunch since not many apts are becoming available. The ones that are available range from 750+. So I made some phone calls and got the money in my checking account and got a money order made. My appointment was at 12:30, then next apointment was at 2:30. I was so relieved.

Also, about the Dental House. This should be the last resort from students I talked to. The studios are ultra small, walls are thin, and the rent is $675 (projected since last year it was $650 and was projected to go up). Also, the dental house is farther than most apts, over 4 blocks.

The dental school is on 4000 Spruce Street, my studio is on 4000 Chestnut Street which is 1.5 blocks away. PENN is pouring tons of money into the city. A brand new state of the art entertainment/theater opened. Also, there is a grocery store "Fresh Grocer" which is the cleanest store I have seen. Also, I found out that with the new Schattner Center, PENN dental is the largest dental school in the country. When you walk around 4000 Street there are PENN Dental flags all over the place and it just feels awesome to know that this is your school.

So guys, get busy and find a place soon. There will be a lottery coming up for the dental house in MAY (I think it is first come, first serve). I think MAY is too late to find an apt, if you go apt hunting at that time expect to pay more since most agents know that people are desperate and they beef up the rent. I would try to find a studio below $600, and an apt below $700. Remember: Internet, Cable, Phone, Electricity aren't included and I think people get about 1000-1100 bucks to live on from loans. So with apt including utilities is 750-850 you need 200-300 for food. per month.

Good luck you guys.

I hope this helps, I'm having lunch with a current 2nd year tomorrow. So hopefully all goes well.

Regards,

DesiDentist
 
Did any one get to see the Sansom Place East?
I called the Residential Life Office to have a look at the place, but they said the tours are not available until June. :(
Does anyone have suggestions?
 
Hey John:

I walked through Sansom, all I can say is that it has a "dorm" feeling to it. I think it is worth living there if you share a bath (which I wasn't going to do) for $550 a month. I think $900 bucks is just too much (unless you get a apt on the top floor (penthouse). You can get a nice lavish apt at Chestnut Hall (the nicest apts) for 850-900 bucks.

DesiDentist
 
Hi Desi, you were mentioning that you found a good place on Chestnut. It seems like they're so hard to find? Would you be able to give the contact number for that building? I don't know if I'll be able to come down before school starts, but I'd like to find decent housing. I was thinking about the dental house but from what I hear, it doesn't sound as pleasant as the brochure!

Cheers from Vancouver,

Mocha :)
 
Hey Desi,

How did you get in Sansom PL?
Man, you got a studio for a great price. I wish I can find somthing like that! Did you use the Off Campus Residence Office or a private leasing office? Thanks yo!
 
Mocha: Yes, this year the University City area is under a crunch for apts. I heard this from many of the realtors and apt coordinators during my visit. For this reason it is a little harder to find something cheap and close, yet nice. You have to usually sacrifice one of the above terms. But there are plenty available. I know there are tons of openings for June and September. But June sucks since you have to give two extra months of rent and Sept 1 is 15 days after the start of school. So you would have to sublet for a month, which is difficult, and plus the stress of moving from one place to the next is hard to esp during school.

PDP: I just waited for someone to open the door and followed them in :). I used both the off campus residence and a private leasing office. The place is called Chestnut Arms their leasing office in on 3900 and Chestnut in the fanciest apts in town called : Chestnut Hall. Hope that helps. Chestnut Arms is not as luxurious but it sure beats paying 800 bucks for a studio.

DesiDentist
 
thanks Desi!!! That helps out alot! I'm thinking about going down to philly this weekend and check out some of those places!
TTYguys when I get back!
 
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