Former Penn student here. My only advice, if those building/dorms are still alive - please avoid Grad A and Grad B towers.
Otherwise, congratulations to all who got accepted and who are attending! Penn / Wharton was life changing for me. (MBA graduate here - so can’t relate to undergrad though we did share some classes with them).
Network network network! That’s what you’re in there for 
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They are not housing undergrads in Sansom Place (a.k.a Grad A and B).
They did when the quad flooded this year as temp housing
Yes, as swing space. It was also used as a temporary solution for athletes who needed to be on campus before their dorms reopened following winter break. But it’s a contingency, no one is assigned there.
just gave away my age, i guess… good to know no more students living there 
I wonder if those couches (filthy already then) have been reupholstered, to say the least, even for temp shelter in emergencies
I think grad students are still assigned to live there. I remember the parents of the athletes forced to stay there for winter practice were livid about the conditions of the place.
The two towers fomerly known at various times as “Grad Towers” and “Sansom Place” are apparently in the process of transitioning to privately owned apartments targeted at Penn grad students:
https://facilities.upenn.edu/maps/locations/accolade-chestnut
yes, i was ASSIGNED to live there… never again! (moved out to Center City ASAP - 18th and market then! haha)
Sansom was used as isolation housing for students who tested positive for Covid during the height of the pandemic. My D19 was cautious anyway but even more so because she did not want to move to Sansom. Apparently, it’s still an awful place to live.
A little late to post but my DD was accepted in the Regular Decision round into CAS for Neuroscience. Super excited! It was a tough year - many waitlists (Cornell, Vanderbilt, Northwestern).
Happy to help any future applicants with any stats/Qs.
wow! talk about insult to “injury”… what a place to house covid students in… i mean, ok, you don’t care how it is if you’re that sick… but still… seriously, anyway, end of rant - those days are decades old for me haha. just good to hear things are not being used that much anymore eg Grad A/B towers
Thought I’d ask for advice on this forum. I am struggling to choose between UPenn engineering and Duke engineering. I go back and forth every day between the two schools and May 1st is 10 days away. I would love to hear feedback and opinions on why I should pick Penn engineering over Duke engineering.
There is no objectively right or wrong answer to such a question. But some issues to consider:
Are the costs equivalent?
Suppose you decide not to do engineering (as many people end up deciding)–would you prefer one or the other in that case?
Which location/setting do you prefer?
Yes the costs are equivalent. From what I understand at both schools transferring from the college of engineering to the college of arts and sciences is much easier than the other way around. At Penn I can take classes at Wharton which is attractive. However, I like Duke’s location better than Penn’s because I am from a small town but on the other hand living in Philly will expose me to a lot more stuff and I feel I would grow more as a person there
So understanding you are deciding between two fantastic options and can do no wrong, I feel like you just articulated more pros for Penn than Duke. So maybe that should be your choice.
But if confronted with the prospect of choosing Penn your instinct is then to say, “No, I don’t want Penn to be my choice!,” then do Duke!
Because really you can do no wrong here.
Thanks. I appreciate your thoughts. I am terrified of making the wrong decision but it’s comforting to hear you say there is no wrong decision.
I mean, seriously, I would be hard-pressed to try to identify two schools that were closer peers than Duke and Penn, including for engineering. So it is very much a matter of taste at this point.
Do you think the fact that one is an Ivy League while the other isn’t makes a difference when it comes to the job market after graduation?
No.
Penn is an Ivy because it was close enough by bus to Harvard and Yale and such to play football with them. Duke is like 6+ hours drive farther south, so too far.
And that’s it. Next-step gatekeepers will not care that Penn is in that sports conference and Duke is not.
While I agree that Penn is not HYP, I think it does carry some weight over Duke in reputation. But that being said it should not be the only reason you pick it. Were you able to make it to Quaker days? I have a first year at Penn and he came down to Penn or Bowdoin. It was a hard choice but they have been extremely happy there.