Prospective students unconcerned about crime

Despite the negative publicity that Penn has recently garnered for its high crime rate this fall, prospective students are taking it all in stride.

That's the general consensus expressed on a cool, gray Wednesday afternoon, as a group of high school seniors and their parents make their way down Locust Walk during a campus tour.

While prospective students acknowledge that West Philadelphia is often associated with safety concerns, none of them are letting that deter them from applying.

Charlie O'Reilly and Daniel Armal -- friends and potential applicants who both hail from New York City -- are among them.

As they follow their tour guide out of Franklin Field, they explain that they don't consider Penn's location a negative.

"We both go to school in Manhattan, so we see everything," O'Reilly says. "Plus, we haven't seen the bad parts here."

According to Jodi Buyyounouski, director of on-campus programs in the University's undergraduate Admissions Office, O'Reilly and Armal are not the only ones who haven't voiced concerns.

"We haven't had many questions about the crime," she says. "The security and safety on campus has been very reactive and responsive.... I don't see it as hurting the [number of] applicants."

If prospective applicants' parents' opinions are any indication, that may be a correct assessment.

"It's common sense where you go and don't go," says Christine, Armal's mother, as she surveys the lower Quadrangle from the balcony outside Ware College House.

My daughter has "enough city-savvy to handle herself," says Steve Budihas. She's a "New York City kid."

Sandy Richardson, who is accompanying her son Evan Dryland on the tour, agrees.

"We're used to D.C.," Richardson says. "There are no issues here that we don't have at home."

But Cindy Hogan, whose son Chris is from Westwood, Mass. -- a small town outside of Boston -- is slightly concerned.

"It's my job as his mother to worry about him being safe."

Despite this, most parents and prospective students consider Penn's urban environment -- whether or not it comes with high crime rates -- an advantage.

"We love Notre Dame, but there is no life outside the campus there," says O'Reilly's mother Teresa.

Armal's mother also notes that the accessibility of Center City is an advantage.

"It's the best of both worlds," she says. Daniel "needs to be in the city.... Otherwise, he would go crazy."

David Abraham, a prospective student visiting from Chicago, notes the University's closeness to other major cities as another plus.

O'Reilly, who is considering a range of campus types, from urban schools like New York University to rural ones like Dartmouth College, notes that although Penn's campus isn't very "traditional" -- it has no open fields like those at suburban and rural schools -- he still likes it.

Armal suggests that the green space that Penn does have is at least "something," especially compared to other urban universities such as NYU.

This isn't the only thing that students seem to be drawn in by as they continue to walk across campus and observe student life.

Budihas notes that Penn provides "as good a mixture of academics and student life as you'll find anywhere."

And as the group enters Franklin Field, many say they are drawn in by Penn's athletic offerings.

O'Reilly and Armal wonder if just anyone can make the teams, and seem surprised to hear that most of Penn's athletes are recruited and that the University is considered a competitive Division I school.

But before these students can participate in Penn's social and athletic offerings, they first need to deal with the strenuous application process -- and an admit rate that hovers around 20 percent.

While Armal considers his chance to be accepted "pretty good," O'Reilly says that getting in might be a "long shot" for him.

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