If those are your interests, you genuinely sound like the perfect Penn candidate! I am wondering what is making you second guess yourself? Both Duke and Northwestern are incredible schools but given your interests, Penn’s programs seem much more well tailored to your goals. Neither Duke nor Northwestern has a program like LSM that is as well established, as well supported, and as deeply integrated into the fabric of the University. Even if you weren’t accepted to LSM but you were accepted to Wharton or the College, you could still create an education that is almost identical to the coordinated dual degree program because Penn’s one university policy allows you to easily take classes, do research, or participate in the intellectual life at all of Penn’s undergraduate and Graduate/Professional Schools (which sit on one, contiguous, green and urban campus). In contrast, if you are hoping to do research at Northwestern Med or their hospital, you’d have to travel all the way into Chicago and I’m not even sure that its an option that’s readily available to NU undergrads or Duke undergrads. Furthermore, Penn is the only of these three schools with an undergraduate business school (Wharton) with resources, faculty, and staff that are uniquely dedicated to your undergraduate education. While you can do a certificate at Kellogg, it’s only a four-course program and it doesn’t culminate in an actual degree. In contrast, even if you aren’t enrolled in Wharton, you can take as many classes as your schedule can handle and you can take them both at the undergraduate and graduate level, giving you unparalleled access to the best minds in business education in the world. At Penn you can also do a “university minor” which would allow you to take courses from two of penn’s undergrad schools (in your case, wharton and the college) despite only being officially enrolled in one of the schools. Also, for a student with your interests, you shouldn’t overlook the value of having the new Pennovation Works center on campus: https://www.pennovation.upenn.edu/ – they’re doing exactly the kind of theoretical yet practically minded work for which an LSM degree prepares you. I can absolutely see you taking advantage of Pennovation Works and so many of Penn’s other opportunities.
Penn’s career services are also uniquely equipped to help students with your interests because they’ve been placing LSM students in the careers of their desires since the program’s inception. And there is no school that is better for placing students in business career tracks, including healthcare related business careers, than Penn. Because of Wharton’s presence on campus, all of the best recruiters come to Penn and, because all Penn undergrads from Penn’s four schools (College, Wharton, Nursing, Engineering) share one career services, every student has access to the same opportunities and careers, regardless of the school in which they pursue their majors. And some hyper-selective companies will actually only recruit at Harvard, Penn, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford (http://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-princeton-and-yale-2011-1). And while its true that the recruiters come because of Wharton’s unparalleled reputation, they do hire from all of Penn’s undergrad schools. I was the beneficiary of our single-career-services policy as I was a student in the College who landed a job at one of those firms that only seriously recruits from the aforementioned schools and I wasn’t alone. You can find comprehensive data on where Penn students take their jobs on the career services website and I encourage you to compare the Penn data to whatever you can find from other schools’ websites (i’ve looked at the other schools websites and you won’t find anything nearly as comprehensive).
And finally, as much as NY and Philly are both in the northeast, they are so, so, sooo dissimilar. While Philly has many of the same amenities as NY, their vibes are worlds apart. Philly is much more laid back and significantly more manageable. It is much less crowded and sooo much cheaper. The art, food, culture, concerts, clubs, etc. are much closer together, much more inclusive, and much more accessible regardless of socioeconomic background (and age!)-- i wouldn’t worry about duplicating your New York experience in Philly. Sometimes its shocking that philly is only an hour from NYC…
Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have about Penn. I considered all of these schools but ultimately chose Penn for many of the reasons you mention above!