Many students complain of the long walk from one side of campus to another, but some even go so far as to switch housing to better accommodate their schedules.
College freshman Jackie Wexler said that she changed her living plans for next year because of the long trek to David Rittenhouse Laboratory every morning. She had planned on living on 41st and Spruce streets, but in anticipation of the many classes she’ll have to take in DRL as a math major, Wexler changed her plans and will now live in the Radian, located at 39th and Walnut streets.
“It was a 20-minute walk to and from DRL,” Wexler said. “It’d make planning my schedule very difficult, it’d make going home when I have an hour between classes difficult, and the Radian seemed a bit more convenient.”
Wexler said while she acknowledges that the Domus apartment complex and New College House are good options for housing close to DRL, she said those options are “very far from my friends, where I might go out at night, or where I might eat dinner.”
More than just being far from her friends, Wexler said that the price of living in Domus would be “incredibly high,” and she does not think it would be worth it.
Engineering freshman Gabe DeSantis plans on living on 41st and Pine streets next year in a house with eight other Mask and Wig Club members. He said that it will change his day-to-day schedule because right now he is able to come back to the Quadrangle in between classes, but he does not expect to have that freedom next year.
“I will have to get up earlier than I do now, bike to campus and stay here until classes are over,” DeSantis said.
Engineering freshman Nathan Fisher echoed the sentiments of Wexler and DeSantis. He will be living on 42nd Street for probably the next three years and the Engineering Quad is on 33rd Street.
“It sucks because I’m going to have to get a bike and get up earlier to go to engineering because that is a far trek,” Fisher said.
He agreed with Wexler that Domus and NCH are viable housing options near the Engineering Quad and DRL, but that “cheaper options” are located on the other side of campus toward 40th Street.
Both Wexler and DeSantis also noted that there are more social events on the west side of campus as opposed to near DRL.
Despite its downsides, DeSantis said he is excited to live in the Mask and Wig house next year, and he is happy to have some “distance” between his work and social interactions.
“Having a work-life balance is important here at Penn,” DeSantis said.
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