<p>I agree with MOWC. There's nothing to do in Durham off campus and you need a car to get around. For a young person, Philly offers more. Around Penn, there are eateries, bookstores, retail stores, etc. catering to students. At Duke, nothing like that exists, at least nothing you can actually walk to. BTW, I had one child attended Penn and one attended Duke.</p>
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BTW, I had one child attended Penn and one attended Duke.
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<p>But why should we listen to your experience with both when we can just continue projecting our own personal experiences across both schools? ;)</p>
<p>^ Rumor, innuendo, and hearsay: The 3 pillars of sound decision-making. :)</p>
<p>i think the people at duke are similar to those at penn in terms of the large douche bag to non douche bag ratio and frats and stuff.</p>
<p>Average</a> Weather for Philadelphia, PA - Temperature and Precipitation
Average</a> Weather for Durham, NC - Temperature and Precipitation
There is never more than a 3 degree difference in the average monthly low. Yes, the highs in the winter are more different, but when you are avoiding cold the lows are what count.</p>
<p>Agree about the need for a car at Duke. There are some pretty neat areas around it, but a car would be a necessity, whereas most people at Penn go the entire time without a car and can still take full advantage of the city and surrounding areas.</p>
<p>And finally, if you are in fact interested in Atlantic City, being 21 really isn't necessary..just a good fake! :)</p>
<p>^^ I would seriously recommend against using a fake ID in NJ. It is a felony and they are serious about it. A Penn student is serving a probation right now from an arrest at a Jersey Shore bar. Legal fees were $5K just to get the probation and keep it off his record- after a night in jail.</p>
<p>Yea def not worth it. I know someone who got screwed for this. Definitely don't, heh.</p>
<p>It could be worse. You could try using a friend's US Passport, and then wind up breaking Federal laws as well.</p>
<p>I may or may not be speaking from experience...</p>
<p>With gas getting more and more ludicrously expensive, I'm happier not to have to pay for gas (not to mention insurance, parking fees...oh, and the car itself!)</p>
<p>hi! so i'm making the same choice between duke and upenn (for biomed engineering), and i am totally stuck too. </p>
<p>i'm coming from Vancouver, Canada and i absolutely hate small towns; would durham be a bad choice for me?</p>
<p>^No, Durham is a medium-sized city. There are plenty of bars, clubs and restaurants.</p>
<p>^^but a dump of a medium sized city. At least Philadelphia is big enough to have positive aspects.</p>
<p>Compare:</p>
<p>Durham's (pop ~ 200,000) skyline: Image:Durham</a> Skyline.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
<p>Philadelphia's (pop ~1.45 million) skyline: Image:Philadelphia</a> skyline August 2007.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
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^^but a dump of a medium sized city. At least Philadelphia is big enough to have positive aspects.
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<p>hahaha, yes, exactly. Philadelphia has some great historical, cultural, and social sites</p>
<p>theres plenty of time to woo southern girls after you get your ivy league degree.</p>
<p>The OP made his final decision and ended up choosing Duke so I don't know why this thread keeps getting bumped.</p>
<p>Also, MomofWildChild and ilovebagels, have you ever been to Durham? It's really not much worse than most urban areas in the country. I think it's a pretty sufficient college town because there are some nice places to eat and a decent selection of thrift shops. Actually, it has better clubs than most college towns I have been to. There's also several shopping malls nearby that provide students with all the brand name stores their hearts could possibly desire. Also, Duke students can go to Chapel Hill if they are really bored. What more does a college student need?</p>
<p>I actually barely ever venture off campus other than to eat on a fancy occasion or hit the clubs. There's so much going on the campus itself in terms of guest speakers, cultural celebrations, concerts, parties, etc. that I hardly find a need to step out of the confines of the Duke campus. The same is absolutely true of Penn so I'm surprised that you actually have the time to fully explore Philadelphia.</p>
<p>^^ I have been to Durham several times and found it very uninteresting and fairly dead. That said, I am NOT one of the people that thinks a college has to be in a major city. I was very impressed with Williams and Cornell. However, to pretend that Durham adds anything to the Duke experience is just silly. Duke's strengths do not include Durham. You are correct, Durham may offer everything many college students need (a mall and a few bars). There ARE students who want more of a city experience and choose Philadelphia, NYC or Boston. My main concern with Durham is the poor town/gown relationship and the racial issues. Remember, this is the city that brought us the lacrosse team issue.</p>
<p>Durham= West Philly - the gentrified parts, just as one small city. Ever think you might not go off campus BECAUSE of this? I explore Philadelphia because there are actually things to explore.</p>
<p>I really haven't decided yet</p>
<p>Penn and duke is still up in the air</p>
<p>I really wish I spent more than 14 hours in each town becuayse I only saw the campus and not much else
though I did like the urbanness of Penn
the dorms just... Bug me</p>
<p>Fight on</p>
<p>^ Did you see the Quad when you were at Penn? Most freshmen live in the Quad and, IMHO, it's pretty phenomenal:</p>
<p>Even Grammy-winner John Legend digs the Quad :) :</p>
<p>imo Quad's overrated.</p>