<p>USNews Rankings trump everything. Really, we all hate to admit how much we pay attention to them, but the fact is that we do. </p>
<p>In any event, they are both mid-tier Ivies (i.e. not HYP) and fine schools that appeal to very different people. If you want a liberal arts school, go to Dartmouth. If not, choose Penn.</p>
<p>what type of person would choose hanover over philly? seriously?</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Brown are the armpit hair and crotch hair of the ivy leagues. Higher # of applicants doesn't mean anything.</p>
<p>Penn applicants are self-selective. Only the best apply. In Dartmouth...meh, everyone applies.</p>
<p>That makes no sense at all. Like zero.</p>
<p>Funny hvcops comment sorta undoes lauke's comment. I.e., as hvcops notes, a more select group of people would choose a LAC in Hanover over a research uni in Philly. I.e. more self-selective. The opposite of "meh...everyone applies"</p>
<p>I don't understand what the debate is...U.S. News says it all</p>
<p>..........who revived this thread?</p>
<p>hcvops
posted it waaaaaaaaay after the last poster.</p>
<p>This thread is idiotic, I don't know of anyone with access to recent college rankings who would take it seriously.</p>
<p>HOLY WOW.</p>
<p>This has gotten completely ridiculous. First and foremost, I agree that arguing about this is completely unnecessary and is going nowhere. Neither school will "win" in the end... if there even is an end to this.</p>
<p>Penn and Dartmouth are completely different schools in so many ways. That is the most important thing here. Everyone has their own opinion on which is better (including location, size, specific majors, etc), and that's in their own terms.</p>
<p>But for all you nit-pickers, I'd like to say that almost everyone who is spitting out "facts" are also incorporating their own bias and ignoring certain other "facts." Those of you who have uttered the phrase "everyone I know...." do not understand that everyone you know does not actually mean everyone. It really just means a very tiny percentage of the big, actual picture. Every person is subject to a different group of people, and different regions in the country recognize Dartmouth more than Penn, and Penn over Dartmouth. I agree with the fact that the small percentage difference in the acceptance rates does not factor in considering that the sizes of both schools are so drastically different. And for those who claim that higher SAT scores means smarter people... give me a break. It is common knowledge that the SATs do not define intelligence and have many, many flaws. They carry some weight, but in a more general sense.</p>
<p>And let me remind you this thread is supposed to deal with overall selectivity, not best school in general. Best selectivity does not have to mean best school.</p>
<p>Also, after reading this entire thread, I must say that I love ilovebagels.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And let me remind you this thread is supposed to deal with overall selectivity, not best school in general. Best selectivity does not have to mean best school.
[/quote]
agreed. look at washu. they play with the numbers to increase yeild and sats and lower acceptance rates. some school just play the game. other school like chicago dont.</p>
<p>CHICAGO FTW!!!!
it was my third choice after penn and dartmouth. hahaha. but now that i'm thinking about it, dartmouth was such an outcast in my list of schools...all mine were like mediumish schools in large metropolitan areas.</p>
<p>so yeah...i second dancer16's post 100%.</p>
<p>^ I hope/presume that includes the part where dancer16 said</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, after reading this entire thread, I must say that I love ilovebagels.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's the key takeaway here, folks ;)</p>
<p>Wow. I actually came on this site because of the latest US News Rankings looking suspect (2009 rankings). Penn is ranked very high, while Dartmouth has fallen quite a bit!</p>
<p>I am a Managing Principal of a consulting firm who has been working in this industry for over a decade. And no matter how much all of you bicker, all I can say is this:</p>
<p>The quality of graduates at Dartmouth is superior to the graduates of Penn… even when including Wharton undergrads! This is the prevalent opinion of many of my associates.</p>
<p>Wharton MBA is a totally different story. Top notch. Especially with regard to finance. (Tuck is also top notch… but seem to produce better strategic management consulting folks as opposed to the truly amazing financial geniuses that get produced at Wharton…)</p>
<p>The breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm for learning that I have seen from all my encounters with Dartmouth graduates is almost inspiring.</p>
<p>Although I myself am an HYP grad, I would easily consider Dartmouth among the best “educating” schools in the Nation. The amount of knowledge that little college in hanover is able to stuff into those minds in 4 years is remarkable! They seem to know at least a little about everything. They just “seem” more elite.</p>
<p>It seems as if Dartmouth is teaching people how to think whereas Penn is teaching them skills… The Penn undergrads, especially from Wharton, seem to know a lot about business terms, methods, and techniques… But they did not strike me as thinking out of the box… Being a consultant is not about your ability to wade through business terms, it’s about ideas that drive companies to succeed. In this regard I have been more impressed with dartmouth undergrads.</p>
<p>A good undergraduate education should give you a good framework/latice upon which you can hang methods and techniques. Those can be picked up anywhere. But you can’t only focus on the methods and techniques! Those are not extensible!</p>
<p>When I was in school, Penn was the doormat of the Ivy League (but this was a long time ago). </p>
<p>According to US News, Penn as an institution has come a LONG way… </p>
<p>Still, I have yet to be impressed by the quality of their undergraduates. </p>
<p>Which leads me to question the US News rankings. What kind of statistics are they using? The school rankings do not seem in line with the quality of undergraduates. </p>
<p>Perhaps the fact that Dartmouth self-selects, whereas UPENN is more of a school where everyone applies has something to do with it…</p>
<p>In anycase, I don’t have a horse in this race. Argue all you want, I am just giving you the opinion on the “street” regarding the perception of graduates from the various schools.</p>
<p>An interesting exercise would be to compare the graduates from top ivy’s to top liberal arts colleges…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I must ask…why would a managing principal of a consulting firm waste his/her creating a new account on CC and bumping a page 20 thread to make a clearly erroneous statement about “the opinion on the street”? </p>
<p>and how stupid does this managing principal have to be to make a an account name like “tewkewl”</p>
<p>10 bucks says this guy is a high school student who just got into Dartmouth</p>
<p>^ Especially since his/her “expert opinion” is refuted by by the numerous prominent consulting firms that continue to hire loads of undergrads from Wharton, the College, and SEAS:</p>
<p>[Wharton</a> Undergrad Career Surveys](<a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys.html]Wharton”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys.html)</p>
<p>[Penn</a> College of Arts and Sciences Career Surveys](<a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/college/careersurveys.html]Penn”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/college/careersurveys.html)</p>
<p>[Penn</a> SEAS Career Surveys](<a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/seas/surveys.html]Penn”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/seas/surveys.html)</p>
<p>Then again, how valuable are all of those boring statistics compared to one individual’s personal “experience”? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>if he’s (she’s) really a managing principal, let’s hear some stats on clients and services</p>
<p>Dartmouth is harder to get into than Penn, I mean you’re talking a 12% acceptance vs. 17%. Penn has fallen lately.</p>
<p>Tewkewl = ■■■■■.
He/she has only 1 post, and claims to be someone who would NEVER waste their time on a site like this.
Why are people hating on Penn lately?! Rejectees?? It’s annoying I wish they’d get over it >.<</p>
<p>Lol tewkewl wouldn’t call himself/herself “a HYP grad” if he/she was legit.</p>
<p>As someone who chose Penn over Dartmouth, Brown and Columbia - and as someone whose friends have consistently made the same choice - I find tewkewl’s sentiment HIGHLY suspect.</p>
<p>He may or may not be a managing principal (read: business philistine) with a 4th grade level taste for screen names, but he is certainly wrong about the quality of undergraduates. I can tell you that at least on the input end, the matriculating freshman at Penn are almost UNIFORMLY of higher quality than those at Dartmouth. Classmates of mine who end up at Dartmouth are usually the ones that were waitlisted or rejected from Penn. THIS MEANS THAT THEY WERE WORSE STUDENTS.</p>
<p>I won’t rule out the possibility that Dartmouth magically teaches their students some study skills that Penn doesn’t - but I find this highly unlikely. And I would definitely favor Penn grads over Dartmouth grads, in any hiring scheme.</p>
<p>Tewkewl is “tew” behind the times, and if he doesn’t revise his hiring strategies soon, his consulting firm will be destroyed by his ineptitude, and the comparative ineptitude of his Dartmouth staff.</p>