I liked Left Bank, it was way better than Locust on the Park which has the same property owner. Nice building, nice amenities. That being said I felt it was boxy and generic inside the apartment itself.

I also checked out the Old Quaker building and from the outside it looks blah but the apartments inside are spacious, hardwood floors, nice window treatments, the whole place looked great once you actually got into the place. But the amenities... uck.

I am not sure what I am going to choose. I am going to look around at some more places before I decide.

I don't think I met any TLSers at ASW, but I had a really good time. I was definitely surprised at how positive everyone seemed about jobs, even when faculty/administrators weren't around. Golkin Hall is really beautiful, as is the law school in general. Signed a lease for a studio on Spruce, about 8-9 blocks away. Nice to get all that out of the way, and for a good price too. I figure if I find the area too "undergrad" (which I probably won't mind anyway since I'm coming right from college) I'll just move somewhere in Center City or w/e for 2L.

I AM!!

Gratz on getting in! It's about time!

lol, PM me about the roommate thing?

Thank you! I'm still in shock! MOOOARRRR CLASSMATES!

I just received my financial aid award letter with nothing in it. Is FA totally separate from merit scholarships at UPenn? Am I still in the running for merit money? If I want to try to leverage scholarships from other schools should I send my request to the FA office or the admissions office? Thanks for any thoughts. If the answers aren't known I'll go ahead and call and post whatever I find out.

(100th post!!)

Also received an e-mail and got what seems like a decent sized Law Grant (Need Based Grant). Am I correct in believing this is something that does not need to be paid back? Never dealt with a grant before, sorry if that's a dumb question lol.

And I'm also wondering how merit aid figures into the above.

Right, grants don't need to be paid back.

Now where's my email?? Come on Penn, you're the only school I'm really invested in; make this easy for me!

It wouldn't hurt to shoot them an e-mail. I sent a very polite and non-pressuring e-mail only a few days ago and they were very prompt. Obviously I may have gotten the e-mail today anyway, but it feels like my contacting them helped.

I've been emailing them just to let them know about my other offers, and they've been great. I figure having to wait might at least be a sign that they're considering me for something.

Does anyone know if the merit aid process is separate? I got a nice need based package, but it still doesn't make Penn financially viable against my offers from UVA and Duke.

Correct, grants don't need to be paid back. You may still receive a small scholarship on top of need based grant. Incidentally, your grant may be converted to be named scholarship later depending on where the funds come from. Mine did.

They did not offer me a "viable" option compared to my UVA offer. But I ultimately decided UVA was not very viable. I don't think Penn view UVA as on the same level.

They're an interesting case in that I'm not sure who is on their level right now. Their placement numbers have had them well out ahead of the rest of the MVPB tier, but I'm not sure many people would say they're quite at the CCN level either.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some merit help because their COA is absolutely staggering. 75K/year? Ouch.

Employment numbers, I am not sure how much away we are from CCN, if at all.

As for COA, budget != COA. You can live here for $65k if you want to live frugally. UVA COA is low probably because you can't spend big money at c'ville. Budget is the upper bound, not a guideline number for COA.

True, but at least for me Penn's offer is $18K behind UVA's, plus what I'm guessing will be about $10K more in living over 3 years? I could very well be pulling numbers out of my ass, but I imagine that I can live frugally in either place, so the relative differences in COA are still gonna be there.

...

I posted this on the other Penn thread too, but for those of us who are alternates for the named scholarships, what is deposit deadline for those who have already received those awards? Still May 1st?

Currently on wait list and considering applying ED next year if I don't get in off the wait list...quick question: has anyone got applied ED gotten $$?

Feel free to PM if you don't want to post.

Long-time "lurker." Checking in.

Just got my financial aid offer. Nothing vs. 20 k at Berkeley. Gonna call today to see if they negotiate otherwise I'm probably gonna officially withdraw by the end of the day today

Judging by your avatar, you belong in CA anyways!

Are people receiving financial aid (merit or need) through e-mail or the mail? Thanks very much.

email