Photo Credit: Penn Residential Services
By: Kyle Cortes
Where to sleep, study, and survive your first year at Penn.
Congrats! Welcome to Penn! Before you step foot in a lecture hall or find your favorite study spot, you have to make your first major decision: where to live. The freshman dorm you choose sets the stage for your entire first year. It dictates your morning commute, your late-night food options, and the people you will inevitably bump into at 2 a.m. With the housing portal closing soon, here is an unfiltered breakdown of your options to help you make the right choice.
The Quad (Fisher, Ware, and Riepe College Houses)
The Quad is Penn’s most iconic freshman experience, a reputation well earned. Spread across three college houses—Fisher, Ware, and Riepe—the Quad houses more freshmen in one place than anywhere else on campus, which means more opportunities to meet people, more spontaneous hallway conversations, and more of the chaotic, “everyone-is-new” energy that makes the first weeks of college feel surreal. The architecture is beautiful in that classic Ivy League way—all red brick and courtyards—and the location is about as central as campus gets. Wharton, College, and Nursing students are all within comfortable walking distance, but SEAS students will have a longer hike to the Engineering Quad.
Set to be fully renovated by Fall of 2026, all houses will be fully open, with meaningful upgrades. New A/C units, furniture, lounges, and overhauled bathrooms with fully private stalls and showers address what used to be the Quad’s biggest cons. The rooms are the standard dorm size, but are still comfortable. If you want a single room in a freshman dorm, select the Quad first; 36% of bedspaces are singles (51% in Fisher, 47% in Riepe, and 20% in Ware).
McClelland serves as the Quad’s in-house dining option, located in Ware. While it is generally positively regarded, the menu never changes, so it becomes very repetitive after a few weeks (sushi, udon bowls, popcorn chicken bowls, etc). Other than that, there are few dining options nearby, except for 1920s Commons, which has a negative reputation recovering from a recent food safety scandal, but does offer good variety and the best hours on the west side of campus. Additionally, Gourmet Grocer—also known as “Grommons”—offers basic grocery needs.
For those who prioritize social life, living in a single room, and meeting new people above all else, the Quad is a good choice.
King’s Court English College House
KCECH—as it’s universally called—is two buildings under one College House: King’s Court and English. Originally built as luxury apartment buildings in 1915, the buildings are very old and show it. Mechanical issues are quite common (the third-floor of English House flooded this past year), pest problems (rats and roaches) are real, and the facilities lack the polish of almost every other college house on campus.
What KCECH does have, though, is one of the best dining halls on campus, in my opinion. The English House Café serves bespoke smoothies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on weekdays, with late lunch running until 4:30pm, two hours after every other dining hall closes.
KCECH also has some of the best programming of the housing options for first-years, taking its residents to Washington D.C. to see the cherry blossoms, Six Flags, the beach, and the Wissahickon Valley Park, among others. Additionally, every Wednesday night, KCECH hosts “study breaks” for residents, complete with dessert, snack, and drink options for residents, which always attracts a line out of the door of the Class of 1938 Lounge. As such, KCECH residents form a cohesive community.
The rooms are larger than Quad equivalents, complete with sinks in English House, but 98% of bedspaces are in doubles. The bathrooms are also—after the Quad renovations—the oldest out of the housing options for first-years, lacking floor-to-ceiling bathroom stall and shower doors.
For those who care about where they eat and what their house actually does, KCECH is a serious—and often overlooked—option.
Hill College House
Hill is the “all-in-one” college house. The rooms, known as “shoeboxes,” are not cozy or efficient. Instead, they are very tiny, even for one person! And you will probably have a roommate since only 8% of bedspaces in Hill are singles. But what Hill lacks in room size, it makes up for in everything outside of it. Hill has many floor lounges, a large study lounge with group study rooms (GSRs), a kitchen and club lounge, a (small) fitness center, a dance studio, a computer lab, a seminar room, a large atrium, two outdoor terraces, one of Penn’s two package/mail centers, and a dining hall—all under one roof. Because of this, residents tend to spend a lot of time outside of their rooms, getting very close to each other as a result.
While the dining hall is not the best on campus, in my opinion, it gets the job done and is open more hours than any other option on the east side of campus. That matters more than you would expect, especially on days when the weather is bad and leaving the building sounds unbearable. The food is not amazing, but the hours and variety are convenient.
Location-wise, Hill sits on the far east side of campus, near Lauder House and English House, which means excellent access to other dining options and a short walk to the engineering buildings and David Rittenhouse Laboratories (DRL). If you’re taking a math course your first semester—which, odds are, you are—Hill’s proximity to DRL is useful for that 8:30 a.m. lecture you can’t afford to sleep through. For Wharton and Nursing students, though, the location is less convenient. If you plan on travelling via train at 30th St Station for a quick weekend trip to New York City or Washington D.C., Hill is very close and convenient to walk to and from.
For SEAS students wanting a quick walk to the Engineering Quad or those wanting an all-in-one living experience, Hill is a great choice.
Stouffer College House (Stouffer Hall)
Stouffer is split across two buildings: Stouffer Hall has traditional dorm-style rooms with communal bathrooms for first-years, while Mayer Hall has apartment-style rooms for upperclassmen. 43% of bedspaces in Stouffer are singles. Both singles and doubles are large and fresh, having completed a $35.5M renovation in 2023.
However, Stouffer lacks an in-house dining hall. As such, 1920s Commons, Grommons, and McClelland are the main Penn Dining options. Stouffer also sits atop a Wawa, Insomnia Cookies, and shops at the corner of 38th St & Spruce St. Despite not being in the Quad, Stouffer sits right next to it, meaning walking over to socialize is easy—and Stouffer Hall is also an all-freshman dorm.
For those who want more space and a quieter building without fully sacrificing proximity to the freshman social hub, Stouffer is a solid middle ground.
Lauder College House
Lauder is the second-newest building in the College House system, opening in 2016, and it shows. Suite-style rooms range from 2-bedroom to 6-bedroom configurations, all with private bedrooms, 1-2 bathrooms, a microfridge, and a shared living room complete with a 42-inch flatscreen TV. Compared to other freshman housing options, it is one of the most comfortable and has the most amenities.
Lauder also has a dinner-only dining hall serving a “Featured Entree” on weekdays. While there is little variety, it offers good quality and is open until 10PM, the latest a dining hall is open on campus.
Starting this fall, Lauder will become a four-year house now that the renovations in The Quad are complete, which means fewer freshmen and more upperclassmen neighbors. That cuts both ways: the energy will be quieter, but upperclassmen can be a valuable resource if you make the effort to meet them.
Lauder sits right by Hill and is close to KCECH, meaning great dining options and a great location for SEAS students. Wharton and Nursing students will have a longer walk.
For those who value private suite-style living and don’t need a loud floor to have a good freshman year, Lauder offers good privacy and great living amenities.
W.E.B. DuBois College House
DuBois is the smallest college house on campus and a low-rise four-year community centered on African American culture. Its size creates a tight, insular community where residents know each other. All rooms are individual, suite-style, with suites ranging from singles to quads, all with in-suite bathrooms.
It sits in Hamilton Village (also known as High-Rise Field) on the west side of campus on 39th St & Walnut St. While W.E.B. DuBois has no in-house dining hall, it is close to 1920s Commons and Quaker Kitchen (dinner), as well as Raising Cane’s, Chipotle, and sweetgreen on Walnut St.
Like Lauder, you can expect more upperclassmen neighbors than a traditional freshman dorm, which brings the same tradeoff: quieter social energy, but upperclassmen can provide valuable mentorship and advice about Penn.
For students who value community and privacy over being at the center of the freshman social scene, DuBois may be a good option.
A Note on Four Year Houses (Lauder, Stouffer, and W.E.B. DuBois)
For many, first-year houses are the better choice for freshman year, as meeting new people is important. Living among freshmen makes that easier. However, four-year houses offer better physical living conditions including suite-style rooms, private bathrooms, and sometimes even an in-suite kitchen. There is a trade-off: in four-year houses, you give up freshman social density but gain better living conditions and possibly even an upperclassman mentor who knows about Penn.
If you do choose to rank four-year options highly, be realistic about what you’ll actually get. Of the three, Stouffer is the most attainable—but keep in mind that as a freshman you’ll be in Stouffer Hall, which is effectively an all-freshman dorm, not a true mixed four-year community like Lauder or DuBois. On the other hand, Lauder and DuBois are harder to land, since Penn reserves only a small number of spots for first-years and demand is high. Rank strategically!
General Tips
- Choose your roommate well, if at all. Make sure you are aligned on living preferences—especially cleanliness—as this can make or break your first-year experience. You don’t necessarily need to select a roommate and can try your luck at a single room. Just remember that certain college houses have more singles than doubles and vice versa; trying to get a single room in Ware, Hill, or KCECH is unlikely.
- Manage your expectations. Last year, I ranked Ware, Riepe, and Lauder as my top three with a requested roommate, but got Hill as my fourth choice—mostly because I selected a roommate. This happens a lot and is out of your control. Be strategic about your rankings and be cognizant of how your preference questionnaire fits within the culture of your desired houses.
- Do your research. Before you select, make sure you know everything to make an informed decision. After you select, know what you’re moving into. If you’re moving from across the country, only bring the essentials and buy everything else once you arrive. It’s cheaper and easier to do it this way.
- Finally, remember that your experience is what you make it. While some students prefer to spend most of their time in their rooms, many others use their dorms strictly for sleeping. Instead, they spend the day in classes, exploring Philly, and socializing across campus. As a general piece of advice, I would embrace the first-year chaos and excitement and get out of your room as much as you can! Good luck with housing placements and remember, even if you don’t get your top choice, you don’t have to do anything else other than sleep in your dorm.
Kyle Cortes is a rising sophomore in Wharton from Ocala, FL. His email is ktcortes@wharton.upenn.edu
