Penn vs. Northwestern

Penn95
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 09:34:40 +0000

@motivatedjunior cangrats! these are excellent choices. I would say Penn’s selling points are

1. it has one of the very best/top ranked hospitals and medical schools

2. the med school and hospital are right on campus and undergraduates have very easy access to research and volunteer opportunities there (two very big pluses on your med school app) (Penn really encourages and helps undergrads to do research)

3. the research done in Penn Med/HUP is world-renowned (so a research position at HUP as an undergrad will be a rly big deal on your med school app)
4.Penn Med is known for admitting one of the largest percentages of the applicants who were Penn undergrads.
so overall based on your interest in medicine you will have more and higher quality opportunities at Penn.

Now apart from Penn’s specific strengths in terms of medical school/hospital/research:
the overwhelming majority of ugrad cross admits choose Penn over Northwestern. I have also noticed that each year there are quite a few transfers to Penn from northwestern. also overall Penn’s departments are ranked higher. in terms of quality of life, Penn is known for its vibrant social life. i am not so sure how life is at Northwestern.