Penn Students Taking Questions Forum

[lostmyname]

Edit: get a bicycle then you options open up!

seriously.

[r6_philly]

My house payment (mortgage + taxes) isn't much higher than some of the mid level apartments... You can get down to $750-900 in still decent areas for bigger 1 bedrooms. Penn is just over inflated. I get home in about the same time as my classmates who walk. Although I do pay for parking.

[Veyron]

Those communities are grossly over priced. Actually anything over $1100 in Philly is grossly over priced.

And yet, people live there, fancy that.

Also, you might be surprised even as a philly native but if you want to live within walking distance of the LS in a decent building be prepared to pay out the ASS.

there are a lot of people at penn with varying budget constraints. some of us don't have parents to support us, some of us don't want to borrow more money than we need to...and some of us DO. that's fine either way. but to imply that $1100 isn't overpriced in philly is inaccurate, because it definitely is. you can certainly live in center city for less than that -- maybe not *much* less, but definitely for 1000 or so. you can also live in west philly for substantially less than that. and even those people who pay $1100 may live in walking distance.. but that could be 25-30 minutes.

Oh, you've got me wrong, it is WAY overpriced for Philly, but a normal price for the area 10m > from the LS.

[s0ph1e2007]

center city or university city and why?

[r6_philly]

Oh, you've got me wrong, it is WAY overpriced for Philly, but a normal price for the area 10m > from the LS.

I think you should say within 5 blocks of Penn's campus. 10m can get you far in Philly.

[Veyron]

Oh, you've got me wrong, it is WAY overpriced for Philly, but a normal price for the area 10m > from the LS.

I think you should say within 5 blocks of Penn's campus. 10m can get you far in Philly.

Not when you're walking with 30lb of books young padawan.

[r6_philly]

center city or university city and why?

A lot of non-Wharton, non-law students live in UC because it is cheaper. You can always take Penn Shuttle. They have on-call door to door service, and they have bike/foot security escort to off campus locations in UC, so safety is not a big deal. The area is not ritzy or hip like center city.

Center city west has most of the hip bars that young professionals frequent. Penn shuttle serves up to 20th street. You can also go farther east and find cheaper apartments all the way to old city, but you would have to take a bus or bike.

[r6_philly]

Oh, you've got me wrong, it is WAY overpriced for Philly, but a normal price for the area 10m > from the LS.

I think you should say within 5 blocks of Penn's campus. 10m can get you far in Philly.

Not when you're walking with 30lb of books young padawan.

My bookbag is heavier than carrying my son in his backpack carrier + gear, I think it has to be over 30 lbs. Books + laptop + water + lunch + misc. I carry everyday to work and school. Besides, if it is too taxing get a wheelie back

fix: 1 typo, created 2 more.

[lostmyname]

Oh, you've got me wrong, it is WAY overpriced for Philly, but a normal price for the area 10m > from the LS.

lol you mean < except that doesn't really even make sense as a sentence.

and no, it's NOT normal EXCEPT if you live in a doorman building. which is definitely not compulsory for a large portion of law students. there aren't many 1 BRs in university city, but there ones that do exist are definitely around 800 or so. you can DEFINITELY find a living situation that costs less than that within walking distance to the school. you can't easily get that in the rittenhouse square area, but not everyone lives there.

[lostmyname]

center city or university city and why?

university city is nice for 1st year if you want easy access to the penn shuttle, and more laid back, slightly crunchy, college-town style activities. i really like university city... but i also don't live there.

center city is nice if you want lots and lots of bars and easy access to shopping (i assume that with a username s0ph1e you're a woman). after first year, it gets nicer because a lot of off-campus pro-bono activities/opportunities are in center city, and you don't have to be on campus as much at all unless you choose to be on campus.

[Veyron]

Oh, you've got me wrong, it is WAY overpriced for Philly, but a normal price for the area 10m > from the LS.

lol you mean < except that doesn't really even make sense as a sentence.

and no, it's NOT normal EXCEPT if you live in a doorman building. which is definitely not compulsory for a large portion of law students. there aren't many 1 BRs in university city, but there ones that do exist are definitely around 800 or so. you can DEFINITELY find a living situation that costs less than that within walking distance to the school. you can't easily get that in the rittenhouse square area, but not everyone lives there.

Links to such buildings (need to find something for next year).

[r6_philly]

Look for private landlords.

[s0ph1e2007]

center city or university city and why?

university city is nice for 1st year if you want easy access to the penn shuttle, and more laid back, slightly crunchy, college-town style activities. i really like university city... but i also don't live there.

center city is nice if you want lots and lots of bars and easy access to shopping (i assume that with a username s0ph1e you're a woman). after first year, it gets nicer because a lot of off-campus pro-bono activities/opportunities are in center city, and you don't have to be on campus as much at all unless you choose to be on campus.

and because I have a hot guy as my tar haha
so would you say that most 1Ls live in CC?

[lostmyname]

university city is nice for 1st year if you want easy access to the penn shuttle, and more laid back, slightly crunchy, college-town style activities. i really like university city... but i also don't live there.

center city is nice if you want lots and lots of bars and easy access to shopping (i assume that with a username s0ph1e you're a woman). after first year, it gets nicer because a lot of off-campus pro-bono activities/opportunities are in center city, and you don't have to be on campus as much at all unless you choose to be on campus.

and because I have a hot guy as my tar haha
so would you say that most 1Ls live in CC?

of my friends i would say an equal number lived in UC and CC. i'm really not sure. i think it would be a good idea to visit both neighborhoods just to get a feel of what you like. cc definitely feels more like city life, uc is somewhat more laid back. i would think that if you don't have a bike (which i do) it's easier to get home late at night in UC after a long day of studying, but the penn shuttle to CC really isn't that inconvenient or anything.

oh, one other important thing: there's a really conveniently located fresh grocer in uc at 40th and walnut, but while there are a number of grocery stores in cc, they aren't very good. there IS a trader joe's (which i love) but they of course don't carry the full range of supermarket stuff.

[Veyron]

2 and 3 L's. I must choose one from column A and one from column B for next semester's electives. Are any of the following not graded on a mandatory curve? If they all are, which ones take the least work/are easiest for someone with a LA background (and/or, if firms care, which ones do they like best - litigation focus)? TYIA

The regulatory electives are:

Administrative Law (2 sections)
Antitrust Law
Environmental Law
FDA Law & Policy
Legislation


The perspectives electives are:

Comparative Law
Intro to Intellectual Property Law & Policy
Intro to Jurisprudence
Law & Economics
Law & Society in Japan
Legal History
Privacy and Data Protection

[Shooter]

Hi Penn people,

This isn't exactly relevant to the current discussion, but what did you guys write about for your personal statements? How important were they in the process?

It seems like I have the numbers for Penn, but my life isn't particularly interesting and I haven't done anything profound. Does the Penn admissions committee like serious essays, lighthearted essays, etc.?

[Veyron]

Hi Penn people,

This isn't exactly relevant to the current discussion, but what did you guys write about for your personal statements? How important were they in the process?

It seems like I have the numbers for Penn, but my life isn't particularly interesting and I haven't done anything profound. Does the Penn admissions committee like serious essays, lighthearted essays, etc.?

Penn is very weird in that they put lots of wight on essays for people that have the #'s. They like to see from your essays a clear reason why going to Penn Law in particular will advance your career objectives (whatever those may be).

[Shooter]

Is it possible to write a lighthearted personal statement (that maybe isn't particularly relevant to law), and use the supplemental essay to explicitly state why Penn is the perfect place for your legal education?

[Veyron]

Is it possible to write a lighthearted personal statement (that maybe isn't particularly relevant to law), and use the supplemental essay to explicitly state why Penn is the perfect place for your legal education?

Yes, as long as by lighthearted you mean about something less serious that still reveals your character - but don't add jokes to your lighthearted essay. If you do this make double sure to write the 5 year plan.

[sperry]

I spent about 30 minutes on my Why Penn essay, it was total crap, and I got in with not insane numbers. I don't think they care too much.

[Mike12188]

I spent about 30 minutes on my Why Penn essay, it was total crap, and I got in with not insane numbers. I don't think they care too much.

What exactly are "not insane numbers" ? I'm ED there now and very, very nervous.

[Veyron]

I spent about 30 minutes on my Why Penn essay, it was total crap, and I got in with not insane numbers. I don't think they care too much.

Yah, and I bet his 1L year, he didn't bother to do the readings, just read the E&E the week before the exam. Graded onto law review

[amkid100]

Hi Penn people,

This isn't exactly relevant to the current discussion, but what did you guys write about for your personal statements? How important were they in the process?

It seems like I have the numbers for Penn, but my life isn't particularly interesting and I haven't done anything profound. Does the Penn admissions committee like serious essays, lighthearted essays, etc.?

Penn is very weird in that they put lots of wight on essays for people that have the #'s. They like to see from your essays a clear reason why going to Penn Law in particular will advance your career objectives (whatever those may be).

I'm EDing as well and very very nervous.

I just wrote my 5 yr. plan and unfortunately, don't have very concrete career goals. is it ok to talk about how utilizing the resources at penn law would help me get there? or do they really value a concrete plan in this essay?

also, i'm not sure what kind of a sense you have of the ED pool, but do you think it's possible to get in with a high 160's and a not stellar gpa? when I look at the 25-75 spreads i'm squarely in the middle on both, which is encouraging, but lawschoolnumbers.com and TLSers make it seem like there's no way to get in w/o a 170+. what are your thoughts? (and yes, i know that lsn.com and tls.com are not representative samples, but forgive this entire post as just the anxiety speaking).

[czelede]

Hi Penn people,

This isn't exactly relevant to the current discussion, but what did you guys write about for your personal statements? How important were they in the process?

It seems like I have the numbers for Penn, but my life isn't particularly interesting and I haven't done anything profound. Does the Penn admissions committee like serious essays, lighthearted essays, etc.?

Penn is very weird in that they put lots of wight on essays for people that have the #'s. They like to see from your essays a clear reason why going to Penn Law in particular will advance your career objectives (whatever those may be).

I'm EDing as well and very very nervous.

I just wrote my 5 yr. plan and unfortunately, don't have very concrete career goals. is it ok to talk about how utilizing the resources at penn law would help me get there? or do they really value a concrete plan in this essay?

also, i'm not sure what kind of a sense you have of the ED pool, but do you think it's possible to get in with a high 160's and a not stellar gpa? when I look at the 25-75 spreads i'm squarely in the middle on both, which is encouraging, but lawschoolnumbers.com and TLSers make it seem like there's no way to get in w/o a 170+. what are your thoughts? (and yes, i know that lsn.com and tls.com are not representative samples, but forgive this entire post as just the anxiety speaking).

Someone mentioned on one of the other Penn threads (acceptances/denials threads) that ED appears to have a lower acceptance rate than RD - in 2008, they took something like 15 of 250 applicants? Don't know how accurate those numbers are, but they were purported to have been reported to the incoming 2009 students (maybe someone in this thread can speak to that).

But as for the 25-75 spread, you can't always just look at that...the 170 trend appears on TLS/LSN because even though the 25 is 166 and the 75 is 171, the median is still 170. However, as to your specific numbers I think there was a 3.8/168 that was deferred and later accepted RD, so it's definitely a possibility.

[amkid100]

Hi Penn people,

This isn't exactly relevant to the current discussion, but what did you guys write about for your personal statements? How important were they in the process?

It seems like I have the numbers for Penn, but my life isn't particularly interesting and I haven't done anything profound. Does the Penn admissions committee like serious essays, lighthearted essays, etc.?

Penn is very weird in that they put lots of wight on essays for people that have the #'s. They like to see from your essays a clear reason why going to Penn Law in particular will advance your career objectives (whatever those may be).

I'm EDing as well and very very nervous.

I just wrote my 5 yr. plan and unfortunately, don't have very concrete career goals. is it ok to talk about how utilizing the resources at penn law would help me get there? or do they really value a concrete plan in this essay?

also, i'm not sure what kind of a sense you have of the ED pool, but do you think it's possible to get in with a high 160's and a not stellar gpa? when I look at the 25-75 spreads i'm squarely in the middle on both, which is encouraging, but lawschoolnumbers.com and TLSers make it seem like there's no way to get in w/o a 170+. what are your thoughts? (and yes, i know that lsn.com and tls.com are not representative samples, but forgive this entire post as just the anxiety speaking).

Someone mentioned on one of the other Penn threads (acceptances/denials threads) that ED appears to have a lower acceptance rate than RD - in 2008, they took something like 15 of 250 applicants? Don't know how accurate those numbers are, but they were purported to have been reported to the incoming 2009 students (maybe someone in this thread can speak to that).

But as for the 25-75 spread, you can't always just look at that...the 170 trend appears on TLS/LSN because even though the 25 is 166 and the 75 is 171, the median is still 170. However, as to your specific numbers I think there was a 3.8/168 that was deferred and later accepted RD, so it's definitely a possibility.

Where did you find that 170 median info? They don't publish the GPA or LSAT medians on their website as far as I could tell.