<p>My parents are only letting me apply to one more school on my already long list of schools. This leaves me with Brown and Penn.</p>
<p>I am considering a major in Chemistry, Poly Sci, Chemical Engineering, and History. My main focus is on Chemistry. I would consider a pre-med or pre-law track. </p>
<p>I am not that into partying, but I am not one to only study. I still want to have fun, just not by partying and drinking heavily. </p>
<p>Political leanings do not bother me. I will find enjoyment working with conservatives or liberals. </p>
<p>I also want to go to the school where I can get into a great grad school. </p>
<p>If there is anymore info that might help with recommendations, just ask. Thank You!</p>
<p>I’d say Brown because if you really can’t decide and like them equally, Brown is notorious for grade inflation so your GPA would be higher making it easier to get into grad school.</p>
<p>However, if you already have a long list why are adding these two so important? What’s important is that you have your first choice (likely ED), a few others that you really like, and a few safeties you’d be comfortable going to if all else fails. Once you have those, the rest of the list is just gravy.</p>
<p>You sound like someone with diverse interests in both the humanities and the sciences.</p>
<p>Brown, with its Open Curriculum, would give you the greatest freedom and flexibility to explore your budding interests, even encourage you to find new ones.</p>
Not so. Both provide excellent pre-grad preparation.
So is Penn. Useless post.</p>
<p>There are a number of differences between them. A few examples:
[ul][<em>]Curriculum - As mentioned, Brown’s selling point is its open curriculum. Penn has the one university policy, through which undergrads can take courses in the other undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools.
[</em>]Location - Philadelphia vs. Providence. Take your pick. I consider both pretty urban, but Penn’s location is more overtly so.
[<em>]Size - Due to its numerous schools, Penn is much larger than Brown. Neither campus is very big, but Penn’s is slightly larger.
[</em>]Greek life - Somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of Penn students join a frat or sorority. The number of Brown students doing so is miniscule.[/ul]
…etc. That’s just scratching the surface.</p>
<p>Have you read about either of them? Visited? Gone to an information session in your area? Picking a college is rather like picking a house; it’s a highly personalized process, you shouldn’t let someone else do it for you, it’s generally not a good idea to pick one without thoroughly checking it out first, and you’ll literally be living with your choice for a while.</p>
<p>I would disregard academics and focus on the other factors, as that’s primarily where you’ll find major differences.</p>
<p>You really ought to go visit the 2 schools. If you can’t do that, you may find the Collegiate Choice videos helpful ([Collegiate</a> Choice Walking Tours Videos - college videos, campus tours, virtual college tours, college planning,](<a href=“http://www.collegiatechoice.com/]Collegiate”>http://www.collegiatechoice.com/)). These are made by somebody just walking around as if in a tour group but with a camera and mike. They are not school-produced marketing products.</p>
<p>I heard that Penn’s Chem program is extremely difficult and almost impossible to get an A in. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing though.</p>
<p>Maybe you should evaluate whether you want to take one of the schools you already have on your list off the list to add in both Brown and Penn. </p>
<p>Neither one will have an advantage in grad school admissions. Both have partying (don’t know the extent at Brown, but it is aplenty at Penn). Both have a preponderance of liberal students. </p>
<p>Basing a choice on simple factors like that is not going to help. You need to look deeper.</p>