<p>I'm in the same dilemma and here's how I made my decision: 1) Duke is eliminated because it's in the middle of NOWHERE 2) now between Penn and Stanford, I liked how Penn is a focused school and the dual-degree program made it REALLY enticing. ... Not to mention that it's the Penn graduates who make the big bucks. I guess it's that business acuity that everyone at Penn can learn, but few people at Stanford can.</p>
<p>penn and stanford actually seem like theyre very similar. both have the reputation for being more laid back, less pretentious, and more social than other schools of the same caliber, and both have amazing academics and reputation. i think the biggest distinguishing qualities are a)stanford has amazing weather b) penn is in the heart of philly c) stanford is more techy, while penn focuses more on wharton and the college (although im doing seas, and ive heard good things about it)</p>
<p>Though I love Penn, I also feel there are indeed some pretentious people. However I feel that the majority of these pretentious tools come from St. A's.</p>
<p>Additionally, I wouldn't describe Penn as "laid back." I'd describe it as more of a 'work hard, play hard.' It's intense. But I love it.</p>
<p>making big bucks at this level of eliteness has less to do with the school than the actual major you pick, methinks. they all have great networks.</p>
<p>indeed, anonymous.</p>
<p>DUKE is NOT in the middle of nowhere. There are so many colleges in the area that there is a party almost every single night. Plus, Duke's campus is most definitely prettier than Penn's.</p>
<p>comparing dukes campus to penns campus - urban vs. rural. you cant say one is prettier than the other because they are seperate categories. its the urban vs. rural preference.</p>
<p>Urban vs. rural deals with the overall setting of those two campuses. The ambience, if you will. However, I was comparing the school's architecture specifically. And in terms of pure aesthetics, I believe Duke wins.</p>
<p>PS: It is quite unnecessary to even compare this, but it unfortunately was a factor for me in deciding colleges. lol</p>
<p>Really? i have to say that the quad is one of the prettiest college sites ive ever been to, and irvine auditorium is pretty breathtaking as well</p>
<p>If I am not entirely mistaken, either the georgian part of duke or the gothic part of duke was designed by a penn grad.</p>
<p>neither am i. duke is almost exactly like yale's architecture. the chapel and all</p>
<p>kind of cliche</p>