I don’t know a thing about Univ of Penn, but this seems fine so long as your approach is that you are trying to find a college that is a good fit for you and where you will be able to pursue your area of interest. Make sure to leave anything about admissions out of messages to professors.
Tell the professor a bit about your research and the title of the paper if you have one. Mention the name of the professor you are working with if you think that professor may be well-known and well-liked in your subfield. Ask if the professor has any undergraduate researchers and what year students generally start undergraduate research in the department.
Make sure that, even in your mind, you are doing this for your reason #1 and not reason #2. Reason #2 is almost always a graduate school thing.