Penn Class of 2012 Forum

[lostmyname]

a 3L i know there said that most people live in center city.

[silenziatori]

I am talking more about craigslist apartments, not the high-rises and swanky buildings that the Penn materials refer us to (no offense to those who are going that route -- I just can't afford places like that). I'd imagine in the larger buildings they will know what's available and be able to show apartments that are coming due in August, but I'm looking at smaller apartment buildings and row houses -- the type of apartments you find on craigslist.

Here in Chicago, for example, if you went to a landlord in June off a craigslist posting and wanted the lease to start in August, they'd laugh and reject your application in favor of a person who wants a July 1 move in date. I wouldn't think people are posting apartments for August on craigslist in June, but maybe things are different in areas near Penn due to the number of students.

Anyone who lives in Philly or is a Penn student have any concrete info?

Thanks.

I live in Philly, went to Penn UG, and have gone through the apartment search process. You may be better served by doing some searching on Craigslist and calling up the realty companies that post their apartments to have them help you find an apartment in the area you wish to live in and which is available at the time you need it to be. They will almost always not hold an available apartment for you if you want to move in in August and someone else is willing to move in earlier. However, they could help hook you up with one where the renter's lease is up around the time you need it. They tend to be helpful and not dismissive.

So, my advice is search Craigslist and come up with a list of places that seem likeable, and call the poster. Do some of this legwork before flying into Philly if you really don't want to move in in July, that way you'll get a better idea of timing. As always, it is best to look at the apartment in person before agreeing to anything.

[soupscool]

I see. Hrm. I still think I'm gonna go w/ UC....worst case scenario I won't go out as much because I'm farther away, which is probably a good thing anyway.

[underachiever]

a 3L i know there said that most people live in center city.

+1

[thistimereborn]

Domus in UC is really nice though, and is right next to the law school. It's expensive, but if you can afford it, I'd say that's a SWEET place to live for 1L year. Luxury and proximity.

[soupscool]

Yeah Domus is awesome. Although living across the street from the law school might not be great for one's sanity.

I think if I wasn't planning to spend 72k/year in tuition for a dual degree I'd be in Domus or someplace similar for sure. As it is I can't decide if I should burn a few thousand more on rent per year (cause at this point, what's the difference?) or save as much as possible because it's such an absurd amount of debt already.

[underachiever]

and the apartment hunt continues...

[benh2os]

Just Found an apartment. Little different than many of you as my s/o will be getting a PhD in the suburbs. Living about 20 min outside of the city.

[lostmyname]

i was in philly a couple of weeks ago and saw a lot of signs up for 1 BRs and 2 BRs in center city. i think 3 BRs are pretty rare. i found mine by emailing someone from craigslist and have a move in date in july, but i'm guessing that apartments for august will pop up soon.. good luck searching, everyone!

[underachiever]

okay, i may sound like an idiot (always a great qualifier) but how much should a 1 bedroom or studio cost in University City ? I'm looking at one about 3 blocks away from school for 835 a month, is that good? sorry just not from Philly nor do I really know anyone down there.

[silenziatori]

okay, i may sound like an idiot (always a great qualifier) but how much should a 1 bedroom or studio cost in University City ? I'm looking at one about 3 blocks away from school for 835 a month, is that good? sorry just not from Philly nor do I really know anyone down there.

Looking at a studio or a 1 bedroom? Where in UC exactly?

[soupscool]

835 is about the price that I was seeing when I looked in chestnut hall, at 39th at chestnut in UC. I initially put a deposit in there for a 810 /month apartment but then picked it up. The apartment was pretty old and 400sq/ft was smaller than I thought. I live in the area though so have been looking at apartments here and there.

This is straight from the wharton housing guide, which is much more useful than anything I've gotten from Penn Law, although it's sort of CC focused. Happy to e-mail it to people who want it.

Situated within the area known as West Philadelphia, University City extends west to 50th Street and includes the Powelton Village area, north of Campus. Well over 5000 Penn students, graduate and undergraduate, rent apartments/houses in this area. While undergraduate students cluster in the area immediately west of Campus, to 42nd Street, graduate students tend to go farther west, all the way to 48th Street, and beyond, usually within the area covered by the Penn Transit. Thousands of other Penn affiliates - staff, faculty, alumni - own or rent in the University City neighborhoods of Spruce Hill, Garden Court, Cedar Park, Squirrel Hill and Powelton Village.

[lostmyname]

okay, i may sound like an idiot (always a great qualifier) but how much should a 1 bedroom or studio cost in University City ? I'm looking at one about 3 blocks away from school for 835 a month, is that good? sorry just not from Philly nor do I really know anyone down there.

depends on what type of building it is... if it's new construction/high rise, that sounds decent, but if it's in a brownstone or townhouse i think it might be on the pricey side.

[markymark]

So I figured out how to setup my PennKey and LawKey.

Anyone figure out how to setup the email address yet?

[benh2os]

So I figured out how to setup my PennKey and LawKey.

Anyone figure out how to setup the email address yet?

Its "pennkey"@law.upenn.edu I believe. I sent an email to my address and it got to my gmail account that I setup the lawkey with. I also setup my gmail to be able to send from the new email.

[2012orbust]

So I figured out how to setup my PennKey and LawKey.

Anyone figure out how to setup the email address yet?

Its "pennkey"@law.upenn.edu I believe. I sent an email to my address and it got to my gmail account that I setup the lawkey with. I also setup my gmail to be able to send from the new email.

My letter only mentioned the PennKey. What is the lawkey?

[Laphroaig10yr]

go to the admitted students site in the technology section there is a 'quick start' guide for setting up your lawkey.

Also, has anyone been contacted by the financial aid office about signing their promissory notes etc.?
That email told us to hold off on doing anything until we heard from them, but I haven't heard anything.


also look for the "PLEAS" link (or something like that) to edit your email settings

[thistimereborn]

Is this an e-mail or a physical letter? I haven't gotten an e-mail in quite a while from Penn...

[lostmyname]

Is this an e-mail or a physical letter? I haven't gotten an e-mail in quite a while from Penn...

not sure which letter you're referring to, but an email was sent out last week about loans. my pennkey letter has a date of may 28; i received it in the (physical) mail june 1.

i can't decide which pennkey username to go with. all of my auto-generated options suck.

[turtle22]

Is this an e-mail or a physical letter? I haven't gotten an e-mail in quite a while from Penn...

not sure which letter you're referring to, but an email was sent out last week about loans. my pennkey letter has a date of may 28; i received it in the (physical) mail june 1.

i can't decide which pennkey username to go with. all of my auto-generated options suck.

After you set up the pennkey, and then the lawkey, you can change your email settings, including "Set a personal (fullname) email address for yourself, in the form ben.franklin@law.upenn.edu. "

[turtle22]

Which I just did myself, and someone has to approve it first, but hopefully you can get something better than the crappy pennkey options they gave you. Maybe "its.lost@law.upenn.edu"...

(Sorry, I love bad jokes)

[lostmyname]

haha, not sure I want to totally outself to the TLS/Penn community. I ended up doing that...I probably have the most ridiculously suited name for attending Penn Law. When/if you see it, I'm sure you'd recognize why.

[sjp08]

So even if your auto generated pennkey is some weird combination of letters in your first and last name, your law e-mail can be firstname.lastname@law.upenn.edu? Or something like that?

[lostmyname]

indeed! you may choose your penn law email address, but you're supposed to have at least 2 names in it, as in, b.dogood.franklin@law.upenn.edu or benjamin.franklin@law.upenn.edu. when i set up my pennkey it gave me a number of auto-generated choices...they all just happened to be rather unfortunate.

[absworkoutplan]

Hey, guys! I havn't posted much since getting in back in November, but i'll be attending Penn law as well.

I got my pennkey thing in the mail as well, but have been too lazy to get around to actually doing it yet.

Anyways, I havn't started doing loan-related stuff and feel I may be getting too late. I never filled out a FAFSA as I wouldn't get need-based aid, but I believe it's necessary for getting loans through Penn at ALL, correct?

I'm assuming I just fill that out and have it sent to Penn, and then start looking at the private loan options through the school. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong.