ED to UPenn or Duke? - Page 3

happyman2 · 06-29-2012, 08:19 AM

I appreciate the sentiment (and the username lol) but I want to reiterate that Duke is more selective than Penn in both rounds of admission. I just want to clarify this for future reference. Also, OP, you might want to consider the social aspects of both these remarkable universities before committing to either one of them.

definemyself · 06-30-2012, 04:13 AM

OP,
First of all, please discard the advice people giving on this thread and threads like this, including alumni who are too proud of their schools, or even Ivy League interviewers, and worst of all, the other rising seniors like you, who only hear stuff here and there, and who are clueless like you (just take a look at their past threads). The game for those Ivy League alumni has changed since their times. Like you, they are clueless and merely conjecturing speculations.
Second, I have been accepted to PennRD this year. My SAT weren't stellar, so were my ACT. Don't let these people tell you that your " 30 ACT" and "top 1%" aren't impressive. It's true, they are not. But you have much more to offer, extracurricular wise and in life experiences. College admission isn't set. I took no math and science this year and still got into Penn. These top colleges want interesting people, but you have to be interesting in a way that is appealing and top notch. Do something different, and take that to a high level of development.
Penn vs Duke? Do you care about prestige? If yes, go ahead and apply to the higher ranking, Ivy League one. But I'll let you in on one secret: People will forever confuse Penn with Penn State, and think of Duke as an athletic school.
If you can, visit the school, lurk facebook and talk to students of the culture of the school. Both of them are similar, and each has its pros and cons. Penn is situated in a city, where Duke is kind of isolated, but both are in the same bad neighborhood. Penn is one smart school that likes to party, and so does Duke. It all depends where you want to be: The south or the northeast? Find out about their strengths and weaknesses. Early rate? They're kind of the same.
Good luck.

happyman2 · 06-30-2012, 04:36 AM

Rankings fluctuate. In 2005, Duke was ranked 13 spots higher in the world rankings than Penn. The difference between Duke and Penn on US News is only one percentage point. Historically, Duke has been ranked higher on US News, and is more selective than Penn. Duke also offers a better return on investment according to data from payscale, and has been documented to have more lay recognition. Duke and Penn split cross admits 50-50 according to Parchment.com and this is in spite of the fact that Penn has arguably the best undergrad B school in the world (which means Duke's college is more than likely beating Penn CAS in cross admits). In light of these facts, how can you assert that Penn is more 'prestigious'? If anything, the facts indicate that Trinity is a notch above Penn CAS (I do not dispute that Wharton is arguably more prestigious than both). I can't believe you're even playing the ivy card, that has become so passé. Ever heard of Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, Caltech, Northwestern, JHU?

DrGoogle · 06-30-2012, 10:15 AM

Quote:

While Penn is also a spectacular school, I've never personally heard anything that remarkable about its strength in medicine.

Penn medical school is highly regarded, I believe it's in the top 5.
Best Medical Schools | Research Rankings | Top Medical Schools for Research | US News Best Graduate Schools

The Official Ranking of US Medical Schools

definemyself · 06-30-2012, 02:21 PM

@happyman2: Why can't I play the Ivy card? I'll tell you why. Because I can. Boo yah!
By the way, did you really read into what I said up there? Here it goes:

Quote:

Do you care about prestige? If yes, go ahead and apply to the higher ranking, Ivy League one. But I'll let you in on one secret: People will forever confuse Penn with Penn State, and think of Duke as an athletic school.
If you can, visit the school, lurk facebook and talk to students of the culture of the school. Both of them are similar, and each has its pros and cons. Penn is situated in a city, where Duke is kind of isolated, but both are in the same bad neighborhood. Penn is one smart school that likes to party, and so does Duke. It all depends where you want to be: The south or the northeast? Find out about their strengths and weaknesses. Early rate? They're kind of the same.

happyman2 · 06-30-2012, 05:01 PM

definemyself, clearly Penn is outdoing itself by selecting students of your caliber. Boo yah is the epitome of eloquence. Try using it in debates, it may help Penn do better.

cortana431 · 06-30-2012, 05:57 PM

Quote:

People will forever confuse Penn with Penn State, and think of Duke as an athletic school.

So what? Any learned individual, particularly and especially employers, whose opinion matters more than some some random person, wouldn't make that mistake and recognize those 2 schools for their rigor and strengths.

definemyself · 07-01-2012, 01:33 AM

@cortana: My point was, prestige between that of an Ivy League school of Penn and Duke, is insignificant, because if the OP's sole purpose was to aim for the more prestigious school of the two, his or her endeavor might not be necessary. I believe happymanof2 didn't read between the lines, and thus came to the conclusion that I was only for prestige.
@happymanof2: Okay. Cool story. Thanks.

happyman2 · 07-01-2012, 02:19 AM

^ it was just some friendly ribbing. No need to get overtly perturbed

definemyself · 07-01-2012, 03:59 AM

@happyman02: hahah? who's overtly pertubed?

Jara123 · 07-01-2012, 08:23 AM

Cortrana. Unfortunately not. My mom's favorite story is how the VP of one of her clients, a Fortune 100 company, told her that when he asked the hiring manager why he didn't pick "The guy from Penn" the hiring manager said "Why, is that supposed to be a good school or something. Isn't it a state school?" And the hiring manager had a Masters Degree from Michigan.