<p>I am completely, 100 percent torn on this one. I wanted to get some other opinions, and anything will help.</p>
<p>I would like to study political science and go into International Law in law school in 4 years or so. </p>
<p>Some questions to answer:</p>
<p>What is more prestigious?</p>
<p>What is more FUN?</p>
<p>What has nicer people?</p>
<p>I posted this in Duke's forums too so that I could get more opinions.</p>
<p>haha kinda the same here.
i’m between upenn (sas)/duke/georgetown sfs
but i don’t think i’ll be able to get together enough money to attend any of the three</p>
<p>penn. definitely the best, but, in the end, it depends on match. if you look solely at academics/prestige/selectivity, Penn is for you!</p>
<p>Duke has a reputation for being a drinking, party school. They will also care more about the engineering, science research students than those wanting to major in International Law.</p>
<p>Duke has a better political science program (believe it or not) academically than Georgetown. Duke also places a little better at top law schools. In terms of overall prestige, Duke is more prestigious than Georgetown. In terms of fun, it really depends on you. Duke has a very specific kind of social culture – greek life, big drinking, segregated based on race/socioeconomic class more than its peers, southern, kind of high school-ish, etc., etc.</p>
<p>Nicer people? I would say they are about the same but I would give the slight edge to Georgetown in that regard.</p>
<p>Eh, selectivity wise, they’re all pretty much the same. Duke and UPenn’s acceptance rates are like 17.8ish%, and Georgetown’s is 18.1ish%, and name recognition, unless you’re in the south, is also pretty similar among the three. </p>
<p>I also kind of disagree with the idea that Duke is notably more prestigious than Gtown. If you live below the Mason-Dixon line, then yes, that’s probably true, but they’re about identical anywhere else. If you were just going to study law, I wouldn’t give either one an edge, but if you’re going to study International law, I think Georgetown might be slightly better.</p>
<p>But, in all fairness, they’re both such radically different schools in terms of social life that I’d make your decision on personal preferences.</p>
<p>Remember, Georgetown is Jesuit-affiliated.</p>
<p>davida1: How is Duke high school-like? I ask because I don’t want to go to a school that’s like high school…</p>
<p>i think he means Duke is really cliquey. there are different groups depending on if/what sport you play, your race, your economicc class, whether your greek or not, etc. its not as inclusive as georgetown. probably due mostly to the greek sytem, which sort of forces students to segregate</p>
<p>UPenn is definitely more selective (though not by much in #s- it’s more self-selective) than Duke and Georgetown. Penn’s acceptance rate has been 15-17% in the past few years.</p>
<p>Georgetown’s has been around 19% and Duke’s, 20-22%</p>
<p>You also have to consider the total number of applications they receive - I think UPenn receives more than Georgetown.</p>
<p>Also consider that this year, UPenn’s total number of apps increased by FOUR. Not 4 percent, but 4 more people applied than last year. This year, GU’s early applications increased by 2%, but I’m not sure of the number for total applicants.</p>
<p>remember the SFS isn’t Georgetown’s Political Science program. Georgetown College’s Government major is most similar to political science at another school.</p>
<p>The SFS is among the most famous schools for International Affairs and many students study there with the intent to move on to International Law. (Georgetown Law is top 10 for International Law; there is an overlap in faculty).</p>
<p>If ILaw is your goal, SFS in Washington, DC is the place. Socially, Georgetown’s a pretty legit party school but with a different scene from Duke and Penn because there’s no Greek life. Go to GAAP weekend (and go to the other open house weekends) and see where you’re most comfortable. I don’t think you’ll make a wrong decision if you’re deciding among these 3.</p>