Penn or Duke Early Decision. Advice needed!

SBR
Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:26:21 +0000

I’d say the major differences between Duke and Penn in this case are 1) Setting 2) Distance

1) Duke is not in a big city like Philly. If you need something like Philly (plus convenient weekend access to other cities like NYC and DC) then you’ll want to go to Penn. On the other hand, Duke’s campus isn’t exactly lacking in the social scene either. It’s just that at Duke, you’ll spend a large portion of your time on campus vs. off.

2) Distance is important. I’m from the PA/DE/NJ tri-state area so I can somewhat relate (though my drive to Duke is ~6 hours). It’s a hassle to go home for anything beyond a major vacation because you’ll either need to fly (RDU is 30 min away from Duke by car), drive, carpool, or amtrak. Having done 3 of the 4 modes of transportation (didn’t get to do amtrak), I’ll say that driving is the most convenient (unless you can find a friend at UNC or Duke who live close by to carpool) but it’s the most tiring. My last two years at Duke, I basically went home for Christmas and that was it, no Thanksgiving or fall break or spring break because the I-95/85 traffic just isn’t worth braving if you aren’t going to stay home for more than 2-3 days.

Regarding other aspects like majors available or sports, I personally don’t think it’ll make a whole lot of difference. At Duke you cheer for the Blue Devils. In philly you can cheer for the Eagles/Phillies/Flyers, etc. Or you can roll with whatever other pro/college teams you prefer. As for majors available, unless you are dead set on something, know that goals and interests change for many people, what’s important is that a school has enough quality choices that you’ll not feel restricted in what you can pursue and I think both schools do pretty well in that respect.