<p>Alexandre,</p>
<p>Firstoff in incorporating budgets the Penn number includes all its graduate programs, so you would have to include Dartmouth’s Medical school to compare it evenly. So it is in the billion+ range as well. My main point was that Dartmouth’s undergraduate focus rewards its students with exceptional spending per student and this leads to exceptional placement. The resources available and focused on undergrads goes beyond what I’ve seen elsewhere.</p>
<p>As for your analysis of its desirability I respectfully disagree. Many students prefer the loyalty, tightknit student experience, and actual college campus feel of a Dartmouth or Duke over a Columbia or Penn. Given the surge of apps at all of these schools and their near-equal selectivity I just don’t see how any can be seen are more desirable than the other.</p>
<p>Anyway this thread is about Penn and Duke.</p>