<p>Harvard vs. Upenn: Finaid, Academics, Athletics, ECs, Location etc.</p>
<p>I am from Philly and grew up around UPenn and i love it, but it's Harvard and I wouldn't mind leaving philly and the crime. Just got in off the waitlist for H so I don't know my Finaid status but i hope they can match UPenn (damn near full ride). Any advice???</p>
<p>wharton > harvard.
all else, harvard > upenn</p>
<p>What a stupid reason to decide on a college!</p>
<p>I just rejected Stanford for Penn. Why??? Because I absolutely love Penn. It’s about fit. Where can you thrive? Where do you belong? Where are there more opportunities? Ie. getting your masters while earning your b.a.</p>
<p>And Stanford gave me a full ride, including flights (I’m from the east coast) and I was very happy to tell them that I will be attending UPenn CAS.</p>
<p>eh i’m honestly not a fan of harvard’s campus</p>
<p>and my harvard buddy who transferred from penn to harvard tells me he prefers penn’s social life</p>
<p>come to penn. period</p>
<p>i chose Wharton over Harvard.Wharton’s a better school if u wanna focus on business and not spend a lotta time doing liberal arts…</p>
<p>don’t listen to all these one-sided Penn boosters. It really depends on what you want to study. I would choose Penn over Harvard for the following majors:</p>
<p>bioengineering/ chemical engineering/systems/materials science and engineering/ digital media design (DMD), languages, financial economics (either in Wharton or SAS) </p>
<p>tie in:
computer science and mechanical engineering (edge to Harvard on CS theory), electrical engineering, English, Vagelos science programs (e.g. biochemistry and biophysics) </p>
<p>Harvard: </p>
<p>for pure math, chemistry (non-Vagelos), physics, biology, history, non-financial econ, and most of the soft stuff</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I am interested in History/English I want to double major.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in History/English, I’d say Harvard. Penn might frustrate you with the preprofessionals running around.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re from Philly, go to Harvard. Going to school in another city is definitely a good experience. This is the single factor that I would make that suggestion on</p>
<p>FWIW, I have friends at Harvard and very few of them like it. They say its overly competitive, everyone has a stick up their backside, and its a stressful environment. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Penn is the opposite. Just seems like a super chill, happy place, which is why I am attending next year.</p>
<p>At this level, the difference in prestige is negligible. Though it is present, it will probably not make a difference in your life.</p>
<p>I think it really depends. Although I am an internal Wharton transfer, I had turned down Harvard for Penn CAS. I don’t think you can honestly go wrong with either school, but moving to a new city and experiencing an arguably better social setting is probably a good thing. Visit each school if you haven’t already to get a feel for the campuses, and just go where you see yourself having the best experience. Honestly, either choice is a great one.</p>
<p>Harvard English is top-of-the-line in a way that Penn’s isn’t quite. Ditto (a little bit less) History.</p>
<p>Also agree with the personal growth stuff. If you lived elsewhere, it would be a fair fight. Living in Philadelphia, you should go to Harvard if you can.</p>
<p>
Not according to the latest US News ranking of English graduate programs–Harvard and Penn are tied at #4 (for what it’s worth):</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Rankings</a> - English - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-english-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-english-schools/rankings)</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t get that, honestly. But, as with the USNWR college rankings, there is a lot of crap in the grad program rankings that doesn’t have anything to do with faculty quality, or student quality either. And for an undergraduate looking at a department, that’s what matters (although if the grad students in a program are desperately unhappy, it will affect undergraduates, too).</p>
<p>Right now, I don’t think anyone can match Harvard’s firepower at the top of the marquee. Not Stanford, not Yale (boo-hoo), and not Penn. That’s not to say that Penn’s English department isn’t excellent – it is – but Harvard’s is really stunning.</p>
<p>The English departments are tied. That should not be an issue. It’s what YOU will get out of the experience. </p>
<p>So, I would say think of fit and of the opportunities.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can get your masters in English from Harvard.</p>
<p>Also, make sure you want to go through with the requirements. [General</a> Education Categories Program in General Education](<a href=“http://www.generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k37826&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup49198]General”>http://www.generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k37826&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup49198)</p>
<p>They have a lot at Harvard. They had a lot at Stanford too and even more at Princeton.</p>
<p>Penn has a lot of requirements too BUT there are so many ways to fulfill them and to double-count them with majors and esp. minors.</p>
<p>Yeah I hate to say it but I would choose Harvard. I didn’t even apply, but if I had and been accepted, unless the visit left a lot to be desired, I would have chosen it.</p>
<p>One thing is for certain, if you stick with Penn, you will be very popular when people find out you turned down Harvard for the College (if you’re in wharton it’s not a big deal). I find College kids who turned down Yale and Princeton all the time, but for some reason not many Harvards.</p>
<p>One thing I think Penn has undisputedly over Harvard is a lot of school pride, without the superiority complex that comes with going to an Ivy. It is definitely refreshing to be a part of.</p>
<p>I used to think that my first choice schools were Harvard and Stanford. It was wonderful when I had the opportunity at my fingertips to go to Stanford, to go to California, to fulfill my dream of true California freedom.</p>
<p>And it was even better when I got to ask myself: “Where are there more opportunities and where can you achieve more?”</p>
<p>Penn.</p>
<p>I can tell you that no school has freedom like Penn and if you’re only looking for a name, then maybe you should have applied to Oxford too.</p>
<p>You need to see beyond the name and understand where you can excel and not just be another guy hiding behind the Harvard name, instead of making your own. </p>
<p>And, re: English; Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams are Penn graduates</p>
<p>I love Penn, but not Williams Carlos Williams. Here are two terrible poems of his:</p>
<p>“This is Just to Say”</p>
<p>I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox</p>
<p>and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast</p>
<p>Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold</p>
<p>“Red Wheelbarrow”</p>
<p>so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow</p>
<p>glazed with rain
water</p>
<p>beside the white
chickens.</p>
<p>I live near harvard and go every week for an extension school course…</p>
<p>…and I would DEFINETLY say Penn. Not that harvard is bad at all, but it just doesn’t have the same feel as Penn. For example, Harvard yard will have kids chillin’ on the grass doing homework, while locust walk will be alive with people trying to get you to come to this and that. The latter is much more interesting and lively.</p>
<p>Plus, Penn has MUCH better sports fans than Harvard (how could you pass up seeing the toast zamboni at Quaker football games?)</p>
<p>Harvard is Harvard…</p>
<p>But Penn is far better undergraduate experience. If you got into Harvard for undergrad you can probably get in for grad school, which is the way Harvard is best experienced.</p>