<p>I understand I'm posting this in the Duke forum, and will probably get a billion answers saying Duke, and maybe 1 (if lucky) saying Penn, but I would like to see why people think I should go to Duke over UPenn.</p>
<p>These two schools were pretty much tied for first (along with Stanford, which rejected me) and I won't be able to decide if I get in off the Duke waitlist.</p>
<p>I'd recommend Penn for the simple reason that you sound like you liked both schools an awful lot and pretty much equally, and you're already in there.</p>
<p>It's not that I'm telling you Penn's the better school. It's that you seem to like it just as well, and if you're already in there then it just makes things an awful lot simpler.</p>
<p>What were you thinking of majoring in?</p>
<p>It really depends on your major. If you're going business track and you got in Wharton - that's hands down Penn. If it's medicine I'd say Duke for sure.</p>
<p>u should visit both school and see what you like</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation; in to both (SAS at Penn). I'm looking to go to med school, but not sure what I want to major in as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Opinions please?</p>
<p>Duke if you want to get into med school. They send 85% to med school whereas the national average is around 50%. And Penn's CAS really isn't that good.</p>
<p>Wharton > Duke > Penn CAS/any other school at Penn</p>
<p>That's ridiculous. Duke is on the exact same level as Penn CAS, and I'm sure med school placement out of CAS is just fine</p>
<p>Eh, I beg to differ. I know people that are pre-med at Penn CAS, and while they enjoy it, they've got a lot of really huge classes & not much individual attention. So many people that I've talked to have agreed that Penn is only better than Duke if you're in Wharton.</p>
<p>I believe Penn's med school placement is about the exact same as dukes statistically. I think it's ultimately up to personal preference.</p>
<p>Confession: Likely going to Penn myself... didn't really apply to duke, though I wish I had. Here on the west coast of Canada had only heard of Duke athletics as they share the same mascot my school used to have (go blue devils), before it was changed due to political correctness</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm sure med school placement out of CAS is just fine
[/quote]
They're basically identical, and not just on the percentages. The average-adjusted GPA for students entering med school is very close, too.</p>
<p>Uh, you think premeds at Duke are going to get much individual attention in premed classes? Think again. Unless you go to an LAC, all premed classes are going to be huge, especially early ones like intro chem</p>
<p>Actually, elpope, from my experience with gen chem and orgo classes, the professors are very receptive to students after class and during office hours. Also student TA's tend to be very kind and helpful. So if you would like individual attention, you can have individual attention.</p>
<p>I agree with what spharistic said. Wharton > Duke > Penn CAS.</p>
<p>duke25...yea we have that, too. You can talk to your professors and TA's at pretty much any school. When I took Bio, it was a large lecture class, and many people stayed after to talk to the professor.</p>
<p>The professor even held review sessions every Wednesday NIGHT (when he could have been at home), and the TAs held review sessions also. So you're right: If you want individual attention you can have it, and not only at Duke.</p>
<p>It's actually really disturbing to hear people say things like Duke>Penn CAS, or Penn CAS>Duke. What do you want to study? Each school has its particular strengths. If you were doing anthropology, choose Penn. If you were doing something for which Duke's faculty sparks more interest, choose Duke. I'm an English major at Penn, and I know that both schools have absolutely stellar, top-notch English departments (even though Duke's had some troubles about 8-10 years ago).</p>
<p>So yea, comments to the effect of one school is hands down better than the other really don't help you. Visit the schools (if you get in off the waitlist at Duke), see what you like, and then choose Penn ;) jk. Good luck.</p>
<p>I know what you mean quake. These threads are so tough to give comparison information because a) we only go to one school b) within that school there are so many different opinions/details. I'm just trying to give information about Duke and not really trying to compare it to any other school and correct some misconceptions like students not getting individual attention in classes when I know for a fact that they do. By the way, quake, Cameron>>>Palestra hehe</p>
<p>how about some data on revealed preferences? Obviously to be taken with a grain of salt, but a statistic does give you some idea...
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html</a></p>
<p><em>blinks</em> We lose to Penn less often than we lose to Brown and Dartmouth? :(?</p>
<p>PS: What's the coding for the confused face?</p>
<p>I'm more than likely doing Pre-med. I want to major in BBB(if Penn) or Neuroscience(if Duke).</p>
<p>And now that I've gotten my Financial Aid package from Penn (no loans for any of the 4 years), I believe I'm going where the money is, because I doubt Duke would send me that good of a financial aid package this late in the process.(that and people who go to Duke now also told me the financial aid isn't really amazing...)</p>
<p>I can attest to that. Duke's fin aid has been utter crap for me.</p>