Renting one of the older units that have not been remodeled. For the price, an excellent deal. Also, the apartment is on the Market St trolley, making convenient access to campus.
The downside is the noise. If you are on the north side of the building, there is a Comcast tower going up for the next 3 years so you will constantly hear loud construction noises 6 days a week. On the South side, regular city noises. The management is generally accommodating helped us transfer the lease from the north to the south side.

The apartments are huge, and that is great for families, especially in the winter. It doesn't have so many amenities (under current construction) but overall is the best one in terms of sq.ft / price

Huge apartment, tons of closet space, gym and pool. 1 block from trolley. Online rent payments

There is a rooftop pool and good gym. There is 24hr security and a doorman who receives packages. The apartments are very large and spacious. Full kitchen with dishwasher, laundry (washer/dyer) in apartment, several extra closets for storage, space for several couches and a dining room table. Maintenance is very responsive ... can replace a lightbulb or a broken refrigerator on the same day you submit a request. Some of the larger/three bedroom units have balconies. There is a Trader Joe's 3 blocks away and a well stocked independent grocery across the street. A few things people might consider a drawback ... the apartments that face south look right into office buildings across the street, the fire alarms are extremely annoying and go off often in the middle of the night, the toilets in the building are old and have a tendency to run. Additionally, the location is not the best in center city ... it's a bit far off Rittenhouse to really be right in the middle of things, and there aren't many good restaurants close by. On the whole, however, I would definitely recommend this apartment building.

Good value for the money. Convenient location. Spacious apartmet. Two minitues walk to trolley.

Very spacious rooms and friendly staff. Convenient to the trolley for commuting to school.

The Sterling is a very affordable option within Center City. The residence is one block outside of Rittenhouse, which will make you slightly outside the Wharton bubble. However, all Rittenhouse locations are really easy to get to and the building is centrally located to a lot of other good Philly spots i.e. Reading Terminal, Art Museum, Logan Square. You are also one block away from the regional rail line and the trolley. The maintenance staff here is pretty bad and the building is old. Although I have not had any major issues in the apartment that would make me really mad about the maintenance staff. I am married, so having a washer/dryer unit in the apartment was definitely a plus for my wife. Also has a good pool, workout area, and business center.

Large space, a bit further from Rittenhouse AIMCO will nickel and dime you for everything tough 2 min. walk from trolley

The Sterling would be a great place to live, if it weren't for the management. It's affordable, one block from the trolley, and the rooms are huge. But the building is managed so poorly it's unbelievable. The coordination around signing the lease, getting access to the loading doc, and our keys was unbelievably difficult when we moved in. Every maintenance request is a chore and the response times on anything remotely important is staggeringly slow. Elevators break down and are out of commission for weeks, packages aren't handled correctly, and any sort of change is a process. They're not even taking advantage of the easy ways for them to make money with higher rents and less concessions. If you really need a cheap place and want to get to campus fast, you should be excited about living here. If you care at all about the time wasted in dealing with the management office and getting things fixed on your apartment, find somewhere else to live.

Jacked up the rent by 10% after 1st year to put lock on, rude mgmt staff won't negotiate anything, old building , don't give back the depositHowever, value for money, the most convenient place in center city( block away from 19th street Trolley, 7-Eleven that's in the building 24x7, restaurants in the bldg, walkable to Amtrak, suburban station). Good security guards, good for families.