@gibby No, Penn upper-classmen choose to live off campus, they are not forced. There is not significant demand for on-campus housing amongst upper-calssmen. The majority of students really want to go off campus from their sophomore year onwards. That is the culture at Penn. But there is a lot of good off-campus housing essentially right on/near campus and it is quite organized and frankly not hard to get at all.
@YonceKnowles Not helpful advice at all. We all know Harvard is more prestigious than Penn, of course it is. But if someone feels much more at home at Penn and really thinks like he will fit in better there, is the difference in quality/opportunities etc that substantial (or even meaningfully there) that Harvard is the only and clear choice? I would get it if it was Harvard vs a 2nd-ter school, but not vs Penn.
@JHS yeah I feel I misunderstood what you were saying. but i agree with you. Penn is definitely more conventionally social than Harvard. But what I was trying to say is that for a very big chunck of the people at Penn, their idea of fun is not crazy frat parties or really sceney nightclubs downtown where you get drunk and go crazy. I think we agree haha.
Regarding the opera/classical music it is surprisingly quite popular especially amongst Asian kids at Penn haha.