<p>is it social suicide for a transfer? </p>
<p>if you decide to later on move back onto campus and actually get a decent room or do current on-campus residents get priority? </p>
<p>i’ve already looked through the off-campus housing listings on the penn website and many seem to be comporably priced to some of the on-campus options. (i know utilities are extra, but still) how does doing this compare with living on campus? </p>
<p>the reason why i ask: i got put into one of the predomiately freshman dorms and i really don’t feel like living in another cramped double room for another year. (been there, done that, etc.)</p>
<p>what do you mean by “later move back onto campus” - when would you consider a move back into a college house? for instance, it appears that this year housing is massively cramped (i believe the yield this year must be very high) and you may not find a room at one of the three room transfer periods.</p>
<p>at the beginning of next year, in-house residents have priority for staying within their house, but transfers between houses are equal to you in terms of chances of getting assigned to their desired place.</p>
<p>however, if you do live off campus, depending on the place, it won’t be bad; you probably won’t spend a lot of time at home anyway.</p>
<p>when i say “later move back onto campus,” i mean the following year. i just don’t want to get an appartment and then if i want to move back to campus the next year be automatically at the bottom of the waiting list. </p>
<p>i’m not worried about trying to get back into my current college house, so the advantage of early sign up i guess isn’t there. </p>
<p>does anyone have any experiences with living off campus (or knows of any experiences?) are utilities a big problem? transportation to school? </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>generally, off campus housing is fine. transportation would be a bike or your feet, since it’s really not that far (unless you’re late), unless you’re really lazy or really loaded and want to pay $1.30 each way to take a trolley from 40th and baltimore to 37th and spruce, or the respective septa buses, during the day.</p>
<p>depending on the landlord, utilties may or may not be included.</p>
<p>since you’ll be off campus and it’s west philly, be wise about safety (although there are security guards at major intersections until about 43rd and spruce) - you can also take pennbus west at nights, or request a walking escort to get you home.</p>