<p>Rising senior and these three are my top choices. I'm thinking about applying to engineering, so Pratt for Duke, SEAS at Penn and CoE at Cornell. I'm having a hard time choosing which one to apply to. To be honest, I like them equally and I would be ecstatic to go to any. I'm leaning towards Duke and Cornell. If anyone could tell me more about the differences between these schools (social life, atmosphere, etc.). Also, am I competitive enough for ED(for any of these schools)?-</p>
<p>Stats:
Male, from competitive public HS in MA (class of ~400, about 15-20 to ivies and 40 to top 20 schools each year)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.82 UW, 4.6 W
Rank: My HS does UW ranks, so I get penalized a bit. I'm around the top 10%- give or take 3/4 spots
SAT: 2010 (retaking later, but will use ACT)
ACT: 33 (36 M, 35 Science, 31 Writing, 31 Reading)
Subject Tests: 790 and 770 on Math lvl 2 and Physics subject tests.
Courseload: Most rigorous. 6 APs and 2 colleges classes by graduation</p>
<p>EC's: I'm not going to go in much depth but I have a fair amount of ECs related to engineering and science. I have leadership positions in clubs, have gone to state/nationals in competitions and have worked in labs (I intend on sending an additional rec from mentor and/or research abstract)</p>
<p>These are the three schools that I was deciding between and I ended up picking Penn over Duke and Cornell (but I’m not engineering). On the academic front, if you are interested in any engineering that is NOT bioengineering, Cornell is probably strongest. If you are interested in bioengineering, Duke and Penn are probably very good fits, and you should probably consider Johns Hopkins as well. As an anecdote, I once dreamed of working at the JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab, jointly run by Caltech and NASA). I asked a friend who worked there: where do you hire from, and what majors? He said “half mechanical engineers, half aeronautical engineers, from Cornell, MIT, Caltech, or RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).” So the air is thin at the top, and I do think Cornell is significantly stronger in engineering than Duke or Penn.</p>
<p>Obviously, there are other factors at play. If you love basketball, Duke is a ton of fun (my mom is a Duke alum). If you hate cold weather, you probably shouldn’t go to Cornell. If you hate the idea of living in a big city, Penn is probably a bad fit for you. Don’t underestimate the importance of things like weather, location, size, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not big for the whole “chance me” thing, but you seem like a strong applicant, as long as you don’t send the SAT I scores. The national competition and the research experience should help you a lot. Good luck!</p>
<p>Cornell has the edge over Duke and Penn in most areas of engineering, but make sure to research the particular engineering programs (e.g. biomedical engineering, chemE, etc.) at each school to be sure. </p>
<p>All three have excellent job/grad school placement regardless. All three engineering programs are of similar selectivity (essentially you need 750+ SAT math scores (and go for close to 800 on Phys/Chem/Bio SAT subject tests) and outstanding achievement in the most rigorous science/math course load possible at your hs; research and demonstrated interest in science and engineering (Siemens, Intel, etc.) also would enrich your application… there’s obviously a lot more I haven’t mentioned but you get the idea).</p>