<p>I'm currently an international high school senior considering the option of ED application to both schools' engineering programs. I'm looking for a liberal arts engineering education (probably majoring in Chemical Engineering; in Dartmouth's case I'd pursue a modified Engineering Science major and for UPenn the C.B.E ) because I want to graduate and enter the financial or management consultancy industries. It's more the engineer MINDSET that I'm after.</p>
<p>Both schools seem to be great for this purpose, I'm just having trouble deciding between which one to apply ED and give more preference. My dad attended Tuck's MBA program, so I guess that helps legacy-wise but I believe UPenn's degree as a Bachelor of Engineering would need one year less than Dartmouth's (and may be more highly regarded).</p>
<p>Does anyone have some advice that could help me choose? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Dartmouth’s ABET-accredited engineering degree programs (Bachelor of Engineering) nominally take more than 4 academic years (12 quarters) to complete. There is also the non-accredited 4 year option (Bachelor of Arts) for people who do not want to work as engineers (presumably those whose real goal is finance or consulting that recruits heavily at Ivy League schools).</p>
<p>All ABET accredited engineering degree programs have substantial liberal arts requirements (typically 25% in math and science and 20-25% in humanities and social studies, although Brown requires only 13% in humanities and social studies).</p>
<p>Beyond that, the schools are very different in environment. Dartmouth is a small school in a rural area where fraternities and sororities are a major presence with about half of the undergraduates joining them. Penn is a larger school in a not-very-nice urban area; about a quarter of its undergraduates join fraternities and sororities.</p>
<p>I’m having a hard time understanding why, if you’re interested in engineering, you’d be looking only at Dartmouth and Penn when there are so many stronger engineering options out there?</p>
That depends on one’s perspective. Many students actually prefer an urban environment like Penn’s, and Penn’s immediately surrounding neighborhood (University City) and adjoining neighborhood (Center City) are actually quite nice, with lots of great restaurants, shopping, nightlife, and cultural assets. And literally BILLIONS of dollars in recent and ongoing commercial and residential development.</p>
<p>Has it become significantly nicer since the 1990s when I visited Philadelphia and noticed that there were no nice areas within the city limits? The area where Penn and Drexel are seemed to be more run down than most.</p>
<p>Regarding ucbalumnus’s comments regarding Penn’s (and to for that matter Drexel’s) surroundings, while there would have been merit in the observations 25+ years ago they are not valid today. I encourage ucbalumnus to visit the area surrounding Penn, and also the Center City and South Philadelphia areas 1-2 miles south of campus. He’ll see a vibrant, appealing and distinctly “Philadelphia” urban area.</p>
<p>My recent experience and observations are very much like those of 45 Percenter.</p>
<p>I wish I knew how to quote, but to address the question:</p>
<p>Bclintonk, I am limited to very few options of schools in the U.S. (primarily Ivy League) because I require a generous amount of financial aid to attend university over there.
From what I’ve read, I believe both Dartmouth and UPenn are my best shots, with Cornell in third place. I honestly doubt I could be admitted into Princeton and its excellent engineering department.</p>
<p>As for the others who spoke about location, I don’t really mind. I care more about my education and can find a silver lining to most any place in the States haha.</p>
<p>On a side note, would anyone say it’s better for me to reach and attempt to enter Princeton? Maybe Cornell’s engineering is a better fit for me and my goals, with a slightly less rigorous acceptance rate (in relation to its Ivy peers)?</p>
<p>Thanks for any help! I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>If you don’t think that your stats are good enough for a shot at Princeton then I don’t know why you think they would be good enough for Dartmouth or Penn either. The score differences are 1 point on the ACT composite and ~20-30 points on each SAT section. And obviously they all have extremely low admit rates.</p>
<p>You have the right idea with EDing at either Dartmouth and UPenn–probably your best two (realistic) options for what you’re looking for. Environment, as was mentioned, should probably dictate that decision. Nonetheless if you are truly impartial UPenn ED might be your best bet. They love ED applicants, and the distinct engineering college helps with that too. Both are great schools with connections to the finance sector.</p>
<p>To Barrk: I feel I’m a person who would fit in much better to those schools, plus I’ve been told legacy students are valued into Dartmouth admissions. I know scores would be very similar, but as a student I believe they would value certain other qualities that differ from Princeton.</p>
<p>To Jazzed: Thank you for your input. I’ll definitely consider those factors into the decision; hadn’t thought about Penn’s views regarding ED.</p>
<p>Well, even in the 1990s, there were many nice areas and neighborhoods within the Philadelphia city limits: Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Manayunk, Rittenhouse Square, Society Hill, Washington Square, Queen Village, and Fairmount Park, just to name a few (there were and are many more). Like most big cities, Philly has ALWAYS had nice areas within its city limits, and it would be a rather simplistic and uninformed view to think that it didn’t. For example, Philly ranks among “The Top 10 U.S. Cities With Quality Outdoor Space”:</p>
<p>So your visit in the 1990s must have been severely limited in scope, to say the least. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>And yes, University City–the neighborhood around Penn and Drexel–has seen an amazing transformation since the 1990s, to the point where it has become a leading national model of how urban universities can transform their surrounding neighborhoods. For example, here are a couple of articles about it from The Washington Post (2006) and The Boston Globe (2009):</p>
<p>And here’s a 2010 article about the wonderfully diverse restaurant scene that has blossomed in University City in the past 20-30 years:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> Gazette | The Omnivore’s New Dilemma (Which exotic University City restaurant should we try tonight?)](<a href=“Penn: Page not found”>Penn: Page not found)</p>
<p>AND, if you REALLY want to get a feel for what University City is like these days (and who wouldn’t? :p), here’s a series of videos put together about 5 years ago:</p>
<p>And since the economy began to rebound, there has been–and continues to be–literally BILLIONS of dollars of new development begun or announced in University City, and property values have skyrocketed there.</p>
<p>Wow, Philly seems to be quite the place according to those articles. I honestly do prefer a less frat-oriented social scene, so UPenn’s looking good at the moment.</p>