<p>Okay, so I want to pick one of these three schools to apply early decision to(Dartmouth Upenn, or Brown). Which one is best for me as I don't know really what I want to study in college? I am thinking something in the sciences (biology, biochem, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering and what not), but I am also considering business but over all I don't really know. I want the ability to easily(well not too difficultly) double major and also possibly minor in a foreign language.</p>
<p>All other factors aside, based on what I just stated, which college is right for me?</p>
<p>I’ve really never heard of the engineering programs these schools had but check to see if your engineering speciality is ABET certified at those schools. That should narrow it down. </p>
<p>But if you’re fairly sure you want business, UPenn is the way to go because of Wharton.</p>
<p>If you have not done a lot in the field of engineering, I would recommend not applying for engineering as that field is very competitive to be accepted into. As to which one you should apply for, your stats would make it clearer and easier for you to gauge where you stand in this class of students. My recommendation would be to apply to the college where you personally think you can get accepted to.</p>
<p>Penn has the strongest engineering program of the three. But also beware that you have to apply to one of : CAS (liberal arts / pure sciences), SEAS (engineering / applied science) or Wharton (business), which constrains your options considerably. Wharton is the toughest of the three to get into.</p>
<p>Some generalizations:
Wharton is harder to get into than Brown/Dartmouth.
Dartmouth is slightly (very slightly) harder to get into than Brown which is considerably harder to get into than Penn CAS or SEAS.</p>
<p>All three schools have VERY VERY different cultures and you should try to see which fits better.</p>
<p>All three schools make it easy to double major. Brown is relatively easier due to its open curriculum (no gen ed requirements). Dartmouth makes it slightly, slightly, harder due to having a larger core curriculum, but Dartmouth (I’ve heard) has a fantastic language program. As you can see, it’s a bit of a wash here.</p>
I wouldn’t say that Brown is “considerably” harder to get into than Penn CAS or SEAS. Brown’s overall admit rate this year was about 10%, while Penn’s was 12%. Additionally, Brown’s ED admit rate was around 19%, while Penn’s was 25%. Moreover, the SAT ranges, average GPAs, etc. of both Brown and Penn are quite comparable. Furthermore, it’s generally accepted by those in the know that Penn’s overall admission stats are very close to those for CAS in particular and, in the case of the admit rate, only slightly below that for SEAS in particular.</p>
<p>At this level of competitiveness, and with the holistic approach to admissions decisions used by all of these top schools, it’s really a crap-shoot no matter how you look at it. And a 2% difference in overall admit rates (or even a 6% difference in ED admit rates) does not make either school considerably easier or harder to get into than the other.</p>
<p>Brown’s admit rate was 9.6%. Penn’s was 12.6%. You’re right that such a difference is not that large. However, considering that Wharton is considerably more selective than the overall school, one can estimate that CAS and especially SEAS’s admit rates are above 12.6% (CAS is closer to 12.6% than SEAS, though).</p>
<p>Ultimately, though, you should base your decision on which of the three schools is your top choice.</p>
<p>At Dartmouth, you would not only need five years, rather than four, to graduate with an engineering degree, it would also be difficult, if not near impossible, to double major in a field unrelated to math or science. </p>
<p>Dartmouth requires its engineering students to complete a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree prior to receiving a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree. Because of the coursework required to be eligible to enter the B.E. program, students customarily complete their A.B. degree in a related field (e.g. math or science). Getting an A.B. degree in an unrelated field, while at the same time trying to complete the requirements for entry into the B.E. program, would, according to what I’ve been told, extend the length of study beyond the five years already required for completion of the two degree program.</p>
Sorry, but that’s just not correct regarding the CAS admit rate. Those who have been following Penn admissions for many years (and who actually attempt to calculate these things) have long asserted that given the numbers that are known about Penn admissions–including the relative sizes of the entering classes of Penn’s undergraduate schools, etc.–the admit rate of CAS is roughly the same as Penn’s overall admit rate.</p>
<p>For example, kafkareborn, an extremely knowledgeable poster on the Penn forum, recently collected and collated the available data, and performed some fairly sophisticated calculations to estimate the admit rates of each of Penn’s undergraduate schools for the Class of 2015. Here are the results of his work based on various assumptions (compare the CAS admit rates in line 29 with the overall Penn admit rate in line 23):</p>
<p>Furthermore, when Penn used to release the actual admit rates for the individual schools, the admit rate for CAS generally tracked quite closely to the overall admit rate (see the breakout box in the second table):</p>
<p>While the specific admit rates for Penn’s undergraduate schools are obviously much lower now than they were for the Class of 2007, there’s no reason to believe that the proportional differences among those rates–and their respective impacts on the overall Penn admit rate–have changed significantly.</p>
<p>So bottom line: the admit rate for CAS is roughly the same as Penn’s overall admit rate.</p>
<p>it’s true that the AB/BE program at Dartmouth typically takes five years, although some do it in four and a half by taking advantage of their AP credits. But it’s not true that it’s impossible to double major. </p>
<p>“Over 25% of engineering majors carry a dual major or a minor in another subject, and all are encouraged to participate in foreign study programs. .”</p>
<p>“My first six years out of Dartmouth were spent as a nuclear engineering submarine officer. The motivation for this service, back in the 1980s, was derived from my time in Leningrad (foreign study program in Russian language) that tapped a patriotic vein within, while at the same time looking for a challenging engineering experience. I was later able to lean on my double major in engineering and Russian studies in the early 1990s, when I co-founded a company with two Russian scientists”</p>