<p>I understand that some of these posts asking for comparisons of different colleges often end up being dominated by subjective views, but honestly, I’d love to receive any advice offered. My acceptance to the University of Pennsylvania came as a surprise, and I am planning on visiting the campus this coming Friday. I’ve visited once before, but I didn’t stay long enough to get a feel for the school. The colleges that I am considering are: Penn, Duke, Dartmouth, and the University of Chicago (from which I received a full-tuition scholarship).</p>
<p>I am looking for a well-rounded school with good Pre-Medical Advising. As of right now, my plan is to attend medical school, but life is unpredictable and I’d like to graduate with an education that will prepare me for any profession. I live in Chicago and have lived there my entire life, but I am happy to leave the big city for a small, quaint environment. That is not to say I prefer one over the other, I am merely saying that the size of Dartmouth and the size of Durham do not bother me. </p>
<p>So among the schools I listed, which one do you believe I should attend? Money is not an issue, but it’s still hard to turn down a full-ride. Thanks in advance for any thoughts on the matter.</p>
<p>Didn't you get into WashU and JHU? Why are you not considering them if you're Pre-med? Sorry since that doesn't really help answer your question ^^; I was just curious.</p>
<p>Haha, yeah I've asked myself that question multiple times :) ... I guess everything is on the table right now. I was just attempting to limit myself to a few options, but if WashU and JHU are really better schools for Pre-Med, I guess I probably should have mentioned them as well.</p>
<p>Ask PhillySASer his opinions about Penn premed vs the other colleges. He's a current premed and can probably answer the question better than kaseyditz. Hopkins gets a reputation for being cutthroat while the other schools are more on the competitive side. Also, Hopkins screens applicants (while they are the weakest applicants who are probably not going to get into med school, Hopkins screens none the less). </p>
<p>However, considering the amount of money you got from Chicago, and the fact that it is on the same level academically and in terms of name recognition as Penn, Duke, and Dartmouth, you really should strongly consider going there. If not, pick between Penn and Duke because both are pretty fun places, and the only thing that should be part of the decision is if you want urban and northern or smaller and southern.</p>
<p>as another pre-med, i can say that penn med, as do all the penn grad schools in general, tends ever so slightly to favor its own undergrads.</p>
<p>penn has great pre-med advising...</p>
<p>and as one of the best med schools (ranked #3 for research and such), penn med and the hospitals around it have excellent research opportunities... and they're all situated right on campus, so they're very accessible (in addition to all the science / engineering research labs)</p>
<p>tennisfan, I have the same problem but have decided to go to princeton. I believe you shoud go where you really want to spend the next four years since the quality of the education you get from the schools you're accepted to might not have a signifiant difference!! You've earned it</p>
<p>I would find it very hard to turn down a full ride from Chicago in this situation, even if fun goes to die a slow, agonizing death there.</p>
<p>Chicago is not a major premed school however, and while I'm sure you would do fine going there, it might lack some of the infrastructure that a Penn or a Duke would (I consider these two of the three best premed schools in the country along with Stanford).</p>
<p>However, if money is a nonissue for your family, I think you're decision should ultimately come down to whether you want to leave home and what sort of environment you want to be in (urban or rural, etc.). I'm a philly native and came to Penn, and I think it was a great decision as it gives me a far greater degree of flexibility regarding doing things over the summer and going home is no big deal, though I don't very often. Any of those schools will give you an excellent, well-rounded education (I'd have some concerns about being premed at Dartmouth regarding things like hospital access though), and will get you into med school provided you do well.</p>