Moooop, no – that’s why I advised the OP to decide based on fit.
The overall feel of the campuses and surrounding areas are very very different…ND has a tranquil campus in a residential neighborhood, while Penn’s campus is bustling and has its share of locals hanging around, combined with lots of businesses right across the street from the campus. Some might find the area around Penn interesting; others might find it a tad too gritty.
Definitely look into the Catholic community on Penn’s campus- it’s actually thriving. So is the interfaith community. You’d be surprised what you might find upon closer examination of those liberal, harpy, ivy league monsters ;). Also there are conservatives across all 4 of Penn’s undergrad schools- not just Wharton. In fact, I don’t think Wharton even has a higher concentration of conservatives. The President of the campus Republican/Conservative group is usually a College of Arts and Sciences student. Penn as a whole is DEFINITELY not mean and it is much more collaborative than competitive. Students take being social just as seriously as they take their academics. They won’t be ripping pages out of library books; they’ll be sharing their notes with you when you miss class and asking you to join their study group. If you are nervous about the competitive atmosphere then I definitely encourage you to visit and talk to students. Several of my closest friends at Penn were Pre-Med and they had very positive experiences overall. They’re now at Penn Med, NYU Med, Columbia Med, Harvard Med, and elsewhere. Someone I knew, but was not close to went on to pursue her MD-PHD in this program: (http://www.hms.harvard.edu/md_phd/program/). If you look at the current students enrolled in the program they went to Harvard (6), Yale (3), Penn (2), Dartmouth (2), Stanford (1), MIT (1), Cornell (1), Duke (1), Tufts (1), and big state schools (http://www.hms.harvard.edu/md_phd/student/current_trainees14.html) with lots of research. This is anecdotal evidence but it’s also not a coincidence that the schools doing the most research also produce students that go on to the best MD-PHD programs in the country.
Anyway-- as has been said, definitely go where you’ll be happy. But I also encourage you to consider stepping outside of your comfort zone as college is the best time in your life to learn from those around you and to teach them about your own perspective.
And yeah, in terms of research opportunities, few schools compare to Penn, especially in the [medical] sciences.
@kellets, are you able to go to the Admitted Student day gigs? I think this would be helpful to you in deciding. My D is a freshman at ND and loves it there and has not felt any type of competition at all. That being said, of course Penn is a fabulous school as well. You really can’t go wrong. I hope you get a chance to visit each again. Please let us know what you decide!