ED to Duke vs. Penn vs. Cornell

scotchman
Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:24:50 +0000

Rising senior and these three are my top choices. I’m thinking about applying to engineering, so Pratt for Duke, SEAS at Penn and CoE at Cornell. I’m having a hard time choosing which one to apply to. To be honest, I like them equally and I would be ecstatic to go to any. I’m leaning towards Duke and Cornell. If anyone could tell me more about the differences between these schools (social life, atmosphere, etc.). Also, am I competitive enough for ED(for any of these schools)?-

Stats:
Male, from competitive public HS in MA (class of ~400, about 15-20 to ivies and 40 to top 20 schools each year)

GPA: 3.82 UW, 4.6 W
Rank: My HS does UW ranks, so I get penalized a bit. I’m around the top 10%- give or take 3/4 spots
SAT: 2010 (retaking later, but will use ACT)
ACT: 33 (36 M, 35 Science, 31 Writing, 31 Reading)
Subject Tests: 790 and 770 on Math lvl 2 and Physics subject tests.

EC’s: I’m not going to go in much depth but I have a fair amount of ECs related to engineering and science. I have leadership positions in clubs, have gone to state/nationals in competitions and have worked in labs (I intend on sending an additional rec from mentor and/or research abstract)