<p>^ Cue7, I agree with everything you said (I usually do ;)), but if you look at the orignal post and the apparent intent of the OP, I don’t think he/she was asking about the overall character or academic diversity of the schools. Instead, as evinced in post #1, he/she seems to be seeking a generalization of how professors approach teaching (theoretical vs. practical) at each of the various universities. Such a generalization cannot accurately be made (such as his/her conclusion that “Columbia and Cornell are very practical, and Brown is theoretical”).</p>
<p>Your analysis, on the other hand, is significantly more nuanced (and accurate), but is not the gross generalization that the OP seems to be seeking about “the way they teach” at Penn, and whether Penn “is a theoretical or practical school.”</p>
<p>And by the way, while the History Department at Yale may be more highly ranked than Penn’s (although not by much on a relative basis, as Penn’s History Department is generally ranked among the top 10 or so in the country), that doesn’t mean that a Yale professor’s approach to teaching a particular undergraduate course will be more “theoretical” than the approach of a Penn professor teaching a comparable course at Penn. And that was precisely my point (and also yours :)).</p>