AChaturvedi

Hm. I guess I should hurry. If you don't mind my asking, how did you search? I also have a friend who's looking for apartments for me, and I've been using phillyapartmentco and craigslist. And the Penn Off Campus website although that's not too great. The Eastern State Penitentiary is a National Historic Landmark! I believe it actually held Al Capone at one time. I would *not* like to live next to an actual penitentiary =) I believe they put up a great Halloween show, though, which sounds like fun. Senior year of college, my room overlooked a graveyard, I'm used to spooky places =)

Thanks Strangefox and michpc! Here's a google map link to the exact place, in case that gives folks a better idea of which area I'm talking about (re safety)... http://maps.google.com/maps?q=719+corinthian+avenue,+philadelphia&hl=en&sll=40.713956,-95.712891&sspn=26.97687,55.634766&z=16 I'm also wondering--am I too early or too late to be apartment hunting for the Fall? I"ve seen some sites that say it isn't a good idea to search before July and others that say that most people are done searching by March! I really don't know if I should go for the first decent place I find or hold out in the hope of somewhere better say, in University City where the Penn shuttle goes...

I'll be starting grad school at Penn this Fall, and have been apartment hunting. I'm presently abroad so I can't do this in person but I luckily have a friend in Philly who's been and will continue to check out apartments for me. Only trouble is that he's as new to the place as me! As of now there are a couple of places I"m considering and would really appreciate any advice. There are two high rises in Center City--Chancellor and Adelphia--which seem affordable. But, for the same price, I'm getting a lovely 1 bedroom apartment with a deck (and that's important to me because I smoke!) in the Fairmount area. Now I've read some not-so-nice things about that area but I've also read that the area where the apartment is (Corinthian Avenue) isn't too bad. The online consensus seems to be that the area just north of Girard is not safe...Corinthian Ave seems to be just south of it. I don't know enough about Philly to figure out whether that makes it a dangerous area too. Safety will really be a deciding factor for me, especially since I'm a woman who'll be living alone. I've tried finding stuff in the University City area but so far haven't chanced upon anything nice. I also don't fancy living in an area that's too full of undergrads. Center City *does* seem nice, but it's a bit on the pricey side...which I *can* manage but I'd rather not have to!

Congrats! I got an email from Penn today--on the wait list. Have no idea what that means though. Haven't heard from Cornell (although their deadline was REALLY late), Michigan (also late) or Georgetown. Since I've been notified by Penn, I'm hoping/expecting to hear from Georgetown soonish too since they had the same deadline. *fingers crossed*