Wharton Class of 2014 - Admitted Students Thread

I'll stay in Philadelphia between 11 and 17 April to attend the welcome event. I'd like to find someone to split the hotel cost.

The best rate that I can find for two people is $50 per night at Radisson Hotel Philadelphia Northeast (18.5 miles from Downtown). I can get this rate from my loyalty program. Their regular price is $140.67.

We can also rent a car together to commute between the hotel and the downtown.

Thanks for starting this thread.

You're absolutely right. Two weeks is too short. I need to make up some story for my boss to take a week off.

Welcome guys and nice to meet you here. Me too, trying to figure out if there is a chance to get a tourist visa in 10 days and come. A bit mission impossible but worth trying. A current student told me try to come cos its lots if fun and socializing and, importantly enough, you can secure housing from now. Not easy thing to do that by email. Any of you planning to attend the summer program in english (SIIB)? I am tempted.

Cheers

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Congrats Wharton admits! There will be many happy hours and mixers coming up. I believe there was one last night in NYC for a spring mixer. Best to you all.

I went to Kellogg's admit weekend in February and there was no time to do anything else besides the planned activities. I'm sure Wharton's Welcome Weekend will be just as jam packed.

I live in Philly so luckily I don't have to worry about finding a flight or booking a hotel. I'll probably start looking at apartments in the next week or so. I currently live in the mainline suburbs about 20 minutes away from campus. I would love to not have to move but I can't afford my current place without income (and refund checks are not enough). I think I want to live in Rittenhouse, but I will definitely need a place with washer/dryer in the unit. I know that will be more expensive so I'm hoping to find a roommate. I'm still debating on whether or not I'm going to keep my car. Wow! There's a lot to tackle in a very short period of time.

Yeah a lot lot to tackle. I think in a few days when we land back on Earth from the admit asteroids we will start to feel the urgency to get organized and plan ahead

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Congrats everyone on getting admitted to Wharton. I will be attending the Welcome weekend and look forward to meeting everyone in two weeks! Where are you guys planning to stay? 3 nights of hotel + air ticket seems very expensive right now!!

Guys, I think I read on the S2S discussion board that some people are looking for roomates or stay in some current students' flats. Could be great introduction to Wharton!

I keep you posted on my plan to come and cant wait to meet you! :D

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I'm looking at housing and it seems like a lot of the nicer places (mainly in the Rittenhouse area) being rented out are by fairly recent Wharton grads (class of '08 to '10) who I guess decided to buy.

I spoke with my parents and they're interested in buying a place if I go to Wharton and renting it out afterwards, esp since the housing market is pretty cheap right now (although who knows if it's bottomed out), and interest rates are so low which is perfect for a 5 year ARM

anyone here know approx. how much a studio or 1 BR in center city goes for ? what about taxes / assessment? thnx -- hope to meet you all at Welcome Weekend

Any admits based in China on this forum? I am not going to be able to make it to Welcome weekend, but would be happy to organize our own out here.

I've been thinking along the same line! You can just google real estate Philadelphia and you will find enough websites.

I found a few houses that seem interesting.

https://www.realestate.com/detail/252-52 ... -PA-19111/

Let's say the negotiated price would be $180k. With 4% interest rate, it would be $600 per month interest payment. I don't know if it is obligatory to pay principal back every month. Any way, with 3 bedrooms for 3 people, each one pays only $200 rent-equivalent.

The one below is even much cheaper. $100k for a three-bedroom house.

https://www.homegain.com/homescout/homes ... 2/26011103

Or this one. Ridiculously cheap.3 bedrooms for $48k. Probably in some criminal neiborhood.

https://www.homegain.com/homescout/homes ... 15/5263945

I am really interested. The problem is that I neither am a US citizen/greencard holder, nor have income in the US. I don't think any bank would lend me money. (The only possibility that I can see is to overborrow student loans and use part of it, plus my savings, to finance the house purchase.)

BTW, I have done something similar in the Netherlands. I bought a house and rented two bedrooms to students. Effectively I paid 0 rent.

axolotl -- glad that I'm not the only one with this idea on my mind. I was however thinking more along the lines of buying like a 1 bd room or 2 bd room condo (when I say buying, I mean my parents buying cause I have no $). in that case, we'll need to pay not only the principal and interest... but also fees that you will never get back (mainly 1. property tax, and 2. condo assessment fees)

also, have you guys decide on where you are staying for the welcome weekend?

I must admit that I know almost nothing about how real property works in the US. Do you have a gtalk/skype account? We can probably discuss the details better that way.


I've booked a hotel already. It's a bit far away from the campus but really cheap ($50 per night). Still, I want someone to share the room and cost with. Please see wharton-class-of-2014-admitted-students-thread-129920.html#p1067778.

sorry axolotl.. was hoping for a closer spot

I booked a room for 1 night (Friday, April 13th) at the

Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel (3.5 star)
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/ ... rtyID=1776
201 North 17th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

after tax and everything, it ended up being about $100. Please PM if any of you guys would like to share the room with me!

I think you're right. It's a bit too far.

I cancelled it and am going to sleep at a hostel.

I'm coming all the way from Seattle and I'm thinking of keeping my car. Since you leave in Philly, I'd like to hear what you think about the +/- of not having a car during your MBA. For instance I lived in DC before and for me it's a city where you really need to have a car since subway/buses suck and distances are long.

One other thing, how are you looking for a roommate? I'm assuming that we all want fellow Wharton students ideally, I'm interested in how others go about it.

Thanks!

If I have a roomie I definitely want to live with another Wharton student. As for having a car in Philly, I think it really depends on where you're living. I currently live in the suburbs. There is a bus stop in front of my house as well as a train station about a 10 minute walk from my house. I still have a car because it's faster than PT from the burbs. If you're planning on living in the city then I don't think you really need a car to get around. Parking in Philly is horrible unless you have a permit or pay for a spot in a lot.
On the other hand if you're a person who likes to explore an area and/or likes to get out of town then a car is definitely a convenient inconvenience if that makes sense.