<p>pros vs. cons of both? what made you decide on one versus the other?</p>
<p>I had a very difficult time deciding between Dartmouth and Penn. I was admitted to Wharton, so I guess that made the decision a little easier to make, because I just decided that I didn't want to commit to business. Both have a strong Greek scene, but Dartmouth's is much more inclusive, and you must wait until sophomore fall to rush, which is really nice, even if you know you want to go Greek, because you have time to meet tons of friends outside of your house, and really just explore all social options. On the whole, kids are more laid-back at Dartmouth, and there are fewer popped collars, and the attitudes that accompany such fashion statements (sorry to anyone who pops their collar, it's just a personal thing, no offense, I'm from the midwest, so it's not something I ever really experienced before coming out east). But Penn is only a few blocks from downtown Philly, so you have SO much to do. At Dartmouth, it's either frats, watch a movie, or hang out with friends/doing something random. Not too much to do, which was one of the big draws of Penn. It really depends on the environment you want rural vs. city, and the size of the school you want, small/medium vs. medium/large (I like the personal attention Dartmouth's size gives its students). The care is exemplified by each school's admitted student program in April. 'Penn Preview Days' were one day affairs, with no overnight option available, unless you are a minority student. Dartmouth has a 3 day extravaganza, where you arrive Wednesday afternoon and leave Saturday morning, immersed in Dartmouth culture. Visit both if you can, otherwise apply to both RD, and if you get in to both, visit the admitted student days and check it out. I obviously have more pros for Dartmouth, because that is the one I chose, but visiting helped me so much, I always recommend it as a must!</p>
<p>There is a lot more to do than just go to frats, watch a movie or hang out with friends. There is so much to do that it becomes hard to find time to do homework, and that's if you don't count doing the above. Philly may have a lot of things to do, but you must be really picky in your activities if you don't have enough to do at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>No, I definitely wasn't complaining that there wasn't enough to do, I'm definitely very very busy, I wasn't even factoring in extracurricular activites/clubs, but the fact still remains, there is no where near the variety at Dartmouth that you can find in Philadelphia, in terms of shows/arts especially (yes, things come to Hanover, but NO WHERE NEAR what comes to Philly), etc. But as I basically said above, Dartmouth's other strengths far outweigh this, at least in my opinion. But again, you need to visit both and decide which environment you would prefer.</p>