<p>I think there is probably more anti-pre-med sentiment at Chicago than at Penn. At Penn, going to medical school is considered a perfectly admirable, honorable thing to do, and I doubt anyone would give you a hard time for aspiring to go to medical school. At Chicago, there is a streak in the institution that views going to medical school and becoming a doctor as money-grubbing, anti-intellectual behavior (as opposed to doing fundamental research in biology and biophysics, or working in public health). That isn’t limited to undergraduates – in fact, it’s probably less prevalent among undergraduates than elsewhere in the university (except, of course, the medical school), but the attitude certainly exists among undergraduates, too.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that Chicago is a terrible place to be a pre-med, but it may mean that Penn feels like a more supportive environment, where at least you don’t have to pretend to be apologetic about what you want.</p>