Penn or Dartmouth?

judy1688
Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:29:47 +0000

I’m considering Penn and Dartmouth right now. Both are very good, but which one is better for someone who is considering med school in the future? Money is no issue; both offered very generous packages. Penn has great access to hospitals, a great opportunity for research and it looks good when u apply to med school. How about grade inflation (or deflation) at Penn and Dartmouth?

Equally important is the atmosphere/student body on campus. Both advertise ethnic and socioeconomic diversity on campus, but after visiting Penn, I would have to say that it’s not completely true. This could be a stereotype, but I felt overwhelmed by the number of white, preppy, frat-boy types and ugg-wearing sorority types. Also, a lot of HS seniors who visited came from the same ultra-expensive prep schools and seemed to know each other. They seemed very preppy as well. Coming from a quirky, arts school, I don’t know how I would function in this type of environment. As I haven’t visited Dartmouth, I can’t really compare Penn to Dartmouth. Does anyone have accurate info on Dartmouth in this regard?

My last concern with Penn is that it is much bigger compared to Dartmouth. Although people at Penn claim that class size is small and that there’s a community feeling within the large school, I can’t help but feel that Penn’s urban-ness and large size take away that community feeling. Coming from a large city, I really want a change so I’m thinking that perhaps Dartmouth is better for me. Can anyone comment on my concerns/has stats on the percentage of people on the pre-med track who gets in med school? Thanks a bunch.