1. Where is everyone living? 

Penn has six first-year College Houses: Riepe, Fisher Hassenfeld, and Ware in the Quad — where renovations were recently completed after a three-year process — in addition to Hill College House, Kings Court English College House, and Lauder College House.

First years can also live alongside upperclassmen in Gregory, Stouffer, and Du Bois College Houses. Some students live in program communities, including the Benjamin Franklin Scholars program in Hill College House. By default, students in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business reside in Kings Court English College House.

2. What is New Student Orientation?

New Student Orientation, better known as NSO, is a week of information sessions, activities, and social events welcoming first-year students to campus.

Events include a gala hosted at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and preceptorials which are non-credit programs led by Penn faculty and staff that range from Penn Museum tours to walks around Philadelphia neighborhoods.

3. What is a CU and how do I add, drop, or withdraw from a class? 

Instead of credit hours, Penn measures courses in course units, or CUs. Most semester-long classes are worth one CU, while some are worth more or less.

The number of CUs students enroll in each semester varies by school and program. First-year students in the College of Arts and Sciences cannot take more than 4.5 course units their first semester, while first years in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Wharton School can take up to 5.5 CUs in the fall. 

Even though Advance Registration has ended, students can continue to change their schedules through Path@Penn.

Students can add and drop courses until the course selection period closes on Sept. 8. The drop period continues through Oct. 5, while Nov. 2 is the final day to withdraw from a course. A withdrawal appears on a student’s transcript as a “W” but does not affect their GPA.

4. When do I declare my major? 

College students are expected to declare a major by the spring of their sophomore year, while Engineering students must declare by the end of their first year.

Wharton students typically select concentrations as part of their economics degree by the end of their sophomore year, although decisions can be deferred until the end of junior year. School of Nursing students do not declare a major.

5. How do I find out if a class is hard?

Penn Course Review, developed by the student-run Penn Labs, allows students to compare courses based on instructor quality, difficulty, and workload.

The site is accessible with a PennKey and draws its ratings from end-of-semester course evaluations administered by the Office of the Provost.

6. Where can I go to study? 

Penn has 19 libraries, including Van Pelt-Dietrich Library and Fisher Fine Arts Library.

Study spaces are also scattered throughout academic buildings. Select rooms in buildings like Huntsman Hall and Amy Gutmann Hall are restricted to students in the Wharton and Engineering schools, respectively. Other academic buildings are open to all Penn students. The Academic Research Building, located adjacent to the Quad, offers two additional floors of study space.

7. What do PPE, M&T, BEPP, and all these other acronyms mean?

Penn has an innumerable list of academic acronyms.

PPE refers to a philosophy, politics, and economics major, while HSOC stands for health and societies. BEPP refers to Business Economics and Public Policy, and OIDD stands for Operations, Information and Decisions.

M&T refers to the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, a dual-degree program jointly run by Wharton and Engineering.

For other acronyms, the College Dean’s Office maintains a PennSpeak glossary — and the DP has its own guide to Penn lingo.

8. Where can I print for class? 

All library locations and most College Houses have machines to copy, print, and scan. The cost to print is around seven cents per page for single-sided printing, and five cents per page for double-sided printing. Printing is paid through students’ PennCash account, which can be reloaded at any time. 

Free printing is available to Wharton students in Huntsman Hall and is available to all students at the Kelly Writers House.

9. What dining halls are there? 

Penn has six residential dining halls across campus.

Kings Court English House, Hill House, Lauder College House, and 1920 Commons offer all-you-care-to-eat dining. Falk Dining Commons in Steinhardt Hall offers kosher dining.

Quaker Kitchen in Gutmann College House, which offers a gourmet meal that rotates weekly, operates differently. Students make reservations in advance through the Penn Eats Mobile app. Quaker Kitchen also offers Culinary Sessions where students can learn to cook from a lineup of guest chefs. 

10. How does my meal plan work?

First-year students choose between two meal plans, which offer a different combination of meal swipes and Dining Dollars.

Meal swipes can be used at Penn’s all-you-care-to-eat dining halls and do not carry over between semesters. All first-year dining plans also include 10 guest swipes per semester.

Students can track their remaining swipes and Dining Dollars through Penn Mobile, an app developed by Penn Labs that also offers a (at times unreliable) estimate as to what point in the semester their dining plan might run out.

11. Where can I use my dining dollars?

Dining Dollars work like cash and can be used at several locations across campus, including Gourmet Grocer, Pret a Manger, and Starbucks at 1920 Commons.

Other locations that accept Dining Dollars include Houston Market, Accenture Cafe in the Towne Building, and Joe’s Cafe in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. From September through May, students can also use Dining Dollars at the University Square Farmers Market on Wednesdays.

Unlike meal swipes, unused Dining Dollars carry over from the fall to the spring semester.

12. Where can I get groceries?

Several grocery stores are located within roughly a mile of Penn’s campus. That includes ACME Markets at 40th and Walnut streets, GIANT Heirloom Market at 34th and Chestnut streets, Trader Joe’s at 21st and Market streets, and Aldi at 44th and Market streets. 

For a closer option, Gourmet Grocer located inside 1920 Commons accepts Dining Dollars and offers select items.

13. Where can I get coffee?

Coffee options on and around campus include Williams Cafe — a student-run cafe in Williams Hall — as well as Pret a Manger, Starbucks, The Board and Brew, Green Line Cafe, Haraz Coffee House, and Port Coffee Co.

14. Where can I do laundry? 

Each College House has washers and dryers that residents can use for free.

Students can check machine availability through the Speed Queen app by creating an account and entering the location code “quaker.”

15. Is there a gym on campus? 

Pottruck Health and Fitness Center, located at 3701 Walnut Street, is Penn’s main recreation facility and is accessible with a PennCard. It includes four floors of weight and cardio equipment, an Olympic-size swimming pool, basketball courts, and a climbing wall.

The Fox Fitness Center at Franklin Field also has weight and cardio equipment. Franklin Field’s track is open for recreational walking and running in lanes one through four from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays.

16. Where do I go when I’m sick?

Student Health and Counseling provides medical and mental health services to Penn students. Their medical office is located at 3535 Market Street and their counseling resources at 3624 Market Street.

For medical emergencies on campus, students should call Penn’s Division of Public Safety at 215-573-3333 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Penn’s student-run Medical Emergency Response Team, commonly known as MERT, also works with DPS and the Philadelphia Fire Department to provide pre-hospital emergency care. 

17. What safety resources does Penn have?

DPS patrols campus and the surrounding area and operates several safety services.

More than 300 blue-light emergency phones are located on and around campus, and DPS operates a 24-hour walking escort service which can be reached by calling 215-898-9255.

Students are also automatically registered for UPennAlerts, the University’s emergency notification system.

18. What’s a PennCard, and what is a PAC Code?

Your PennCard is your University identification card and is used to access College Houses, libraries, recreation facilities, and other campus buildings and services.

Your PennCard Access Code is the four-digit number used with your PennCard to access residential buildings. 

19. What are WUCC, WUFC, and WITG?

Many Penn student organizations — particularly Wharton-affiliated groups — are better known by their acronyms.

WUCC is the Wharton Undergraduate Consulting Club, WUFC is the Wharton Undergraduate Finance Club, and WITG is the Wharton Investment and Trading Group, a few of the more competitive clubs on campus.

Last year, Wharton banned multiple rounds of interviews for these and similar pre-professional clubs as part of an effort to reduce stress during recruitment.

20. What are IB and consulting?

Investment banking, commonly shortened to IB, and consulting are two career paths pursued by many Penn graduates. 

Among the Class of 2025, 20.4% entered investment banking roles, and 12.2% entered the consulting industry.

Recruiting for junior-year internships in both industries can begin during sophomore year, and firms often recruit Penn students through campus events and informal conversations known as “coffee chats.” 

21. How do I join Greek life? 

Recruitment for Penn’s fraternities and sororities takes place during the spring semester.

Students must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.50 and register before winter break to be eligible to join a registered Greek organization.

22. What are Castle, Owls, and Theos?

Several Penn fraternities and off-campus organizations are commonly known by nicknames.

Castle refers to Psi Upsilon, one of Penn’s oldest fraternities. The Owl Society and Theos are off-campus fraternities that are not officially recognized by Penn. 

Other fraternity nicknames include Fiji for Phi Gamma Delta, Elmo for the co-ed St. Elmo Club of Philadelphia, and Hall for St. Anthony Hall.

23. What does SABS mean?

“SABS” stands for “see and be seen” and is used by students to describe a favorite Penn pastime, spending time sitting in high-traffic campus spaces where they are likely to run into other students.

Common SABS spots include the tables on Locust Walk outside of Pret a Manger and the ARCH.

24. What is Sidechat? 

Sidechat is an anonymous social media platform designed for college communities.

At Penn, students use it for campus humor and discussions as well as to share information about classes, student organizations, events, parties, and local recommendations.

25. What is Penn Marriage Pact?

Penn’s Marriage Pact is an online matchmaking service that operates at colleges across the country, including Penn. Students answer a questionnaire and are paired with another Penn student through an algorithm.

Penn’s main Marriage Pact round typically takes place in October. In 2025, 4,935 students, comprising more than 45% of Penn’s undergraduate population, participated in the program. 

26. What Penn traditions should I know?

The Econ Scream is one of the first traditions many first years encounter. The night before the first ECON 0100 midterm, students gather outside College Hall to scream at midnight.

During Homecoming, students throw pieces of toast onto Franklin Field during the third quarter of the football game, a tradition known as the “Penn Toast.”

Spring brings Penn’s Social Planning and Events Committee's annual Spring Fling concert and Hey Day, when juniors march down Locust Walk wearing red shirts, carrying canes, and biting into red hats to mark their transition to seniors.

27. What athletic events should I know about?

Penn is a Division I school competing in the Ivy League with 33 varsity teams.

Football games are held at Franklin Field, including the annual Homecoming game. Basketball is played at the Palestra, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary and is nicknamed the “Cathedral of College Basketball.”

In the spring, Franklin Field hosts the Penn Relay Carnival, the oldest and largest track-and-field competition in the United States. Past competitors have included Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, and Usain Bolt.

28. What does BYO mean? 

BYO — bring your own — restaurants are a staple of Philadelphia dining, allowing customers to bring their own alcoholic beverages, a popular option among Penn student clubs and organizations. Some frequently visited spots include Pattaya Thai Cuisine on campus, Ambrosia Ristorante in Fitler Square, and Ken’s Seafood Restaurant, which offers both Chinese food and karaoke in Chinatown.

29. How do I get around Philadelphia?

SEPTA connects campus with Center City and other parts of Philadelphia through trolley, subway, bus, and regional rail routes.

Trolley stations are located along the western edge of campus, while the Market-Frankford Line can be accessed at 34th and Market streets.

Rittenhouse Square is also about a 25-minute walk from campus. Farther east are destinations including Reading Terminal Market, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the National Constitution Center, and Old City.

30. How do I join clubs? 

Penn has hundreds of student organizations covering interests from performing arts and cultural groups to community service and pre-professional activities.

The Student Activities Council hosts an activities fair on College Green near the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, and the Wharton Council holds a separate fair for Wharton-affiliated groups.

Recruitment varies by organization. Some clubs are open to anyone, while others require written applications, interviews, or auditions. Penn Clubs maintains an online directory of organizations and also serves as an application platform for many of them.

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