Penn vs Georgetown Social Experience

PennCAS2014
Mon, 27 Nov 2017 15:44:05 +0000

@Cue7 You seem to be ignoring what I’m actually saying regarding Penn/schools like Georgetown and Dartmouth, which is fine. It’s not particularly important nor is it related directly to the major points about comparing Penn/Georgetown.

The last thing I’ll say is that you keep pointing to ‘that mix of what a school can provide for its undergrads, and the network that can enliven one’s exit options (immediately after graduation and beyond)’ but you haven’t given any concrete examples of what that actually means and thus you I don’t see your reasoning for why it’s okay to consider HYPSM distinct from Columbia and Penn but why P&C should not similarly be considered distinct from the schools that have much smaller endowments, more limited networks, lower international profiles, fewer on-campus-recruiting opportunities in prestige fields, etc. etc… What are those five schools ACTUALLY offering that schools like Columbia & Penn can’t (not the opportunities they just choose not to offer because of institutional preference, but the ones they literally don’t have the capacity to offer)? Yale’s residential college system? Well that’s unique to Yale and you won’t even find that at Stanford or Princeton. Does that mean you shouldn’t pick Princeton or Stanford for fit; or do it mean that they’re using their resources differently but in ways that translate to different but equally valid opportunities for their students? Should you pick Penn over Princeton/Stanford because it’s College Houses are much more similar to Yale’s res life than Stanford’s is to Yale’s? Columbia spends more on giving its students direct access to NYC than Yale spends on the residential colleges which is arguably much more valuable from a “networking” perspective that might "enliven one’s exit options (immediately after graduation and beyond).’

Essentially, if you’re going to say that it’s okay to look past fit when it comes to HYPSM as compared to every other school, but not okay when comparing P&C to other schools, you need to give some real reasons why. And when you do, you’ll see those reasons at most mirror the difference that exist between a Penn and Georgetown. Penn is distinct from a school like Georgetown because recruiters from the business world actually do recruit more heavily and more seriously at Penn than at Georgetown; because the amount of research at Penn is SIGNIFICANTLY greater, better funded, and more highly accessible to undergrads due to Penn’s One University policy and the fact that all of Penn’s schools are on one campus; because Georgetown’s endowment is $1.4 billion while Penn’s is $12.2billion (Much closer to MIT’s is $14.8 billion and still slightly closer to Princeton’s $22.2 billion, than Georgetown’s $1.4billion); because Penn pays its professors, on average, more than Georgetown despite the lower cost of living in Philadelphia than DC which has contributed to a more successful recruitment and retainment process for profs. There are actual differences in exit options between Penn and Georgetown in the business world, actual differences in the amount and accessibility of top flight research between Penn and Georgetown, and actual differences in the amount of money Penn and Georgetown have to spend on building/infrastructure, financial aid, etc. etc. etc. Assuming you provide actual evidence that those differences exist between schools like Princeton and Penn/Columbia (which outside of endowment resources, I have yet to see), then you also must explain why those things matter when comparing Princeton and Penn, but why they don’t matter when considering Penn and Georgetown.

But again, OP, social life at both schools will probably be fulfilling. I think there are other things you might want to consider beyond social life-- but that’s up to you. I think you’ll be really happy at both from a social perspective since students at both schools are going to be fun, down to earth, and interested in making close friendships and bonds that they’ll carry with them through the rest of their professional and persona lives.