<p>i know that prestige shouldn’t be a large contributor to one’s decision, but it definitely does play a small part. can people comment on the current prestige and any trends?</p>
<p>They're top universities and prestige between the two is some serious hair splitting.</p>
<p>as seen here, 2/3 of students choosing between brown and penn choose brown
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html</a></p>
<p>some people consider the fact that the majority of students choose brown over penn, the fact that brown has always had a lower acceptance rate than penn, and brown's track record of winning more rhodes scholarships and other prestigious fellowships than penn, as indications that brown is more prestigious than penn</p>
<p>I agree with dcircle. OTOH, you should pick where you will be happiest because that will make a bigger difference in your life!</p>
<p>well if prestige is a priority, then i suppose the brand name of wharton - if you're doing undergrad business - does count for a lot. but wharton aside, i think upenn and brown are roughly equals when it comes to prestige.</p>
<p>
[quote]
as seen here, 2/3 of students choosing between brown and penn choose brown
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is total nonsense as far as anyone knows. You should really read the Revealed Preferences article, which is where NY Times got the table from, to understand how difficult it is to make such statements based on their statistical model.</p>
<p>Some people consider prestige to be getting into a school that's hard to get into. In that case, Brown is more prestigious than UPenn, though this year, by only 2 or so percentage points. I think this also depends on what you intend to study and which school you would be going to at UPenn.</p>
<p>Penn state? ;)</p>
<p>any comparisons of the urban studies at brown v. penn? [thanks!]</p>
<p>Penn pioneered urban studies when WEB DuBois (yes, THAT WEB DuBois) was a visiting researcher who wrote the first work of urban sociology--"The Philadelphia Negro," I think it was called.</p>
<p>There are also urban studies/psci classes in which doing things around the city is an integral part of the syllabus.</p>
<p>Urban studies are usually better, with, you know, an urban area as a lab of sorts. Especially when the city happens to be a one with historic significance and a rich heritage, and tragic plot twists and turns.</p>
<p>Penn also has the institute of urban research
<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/penniur/%5B/url%5D">http://www.upenn.edu/penniur/</a></p>
<p>Egyptology, Brown probably has an edge. But for urban studies, you're better off with Penn, the urban school.</p>
<p>A lot of people who pick Brown over Penn do so not for presitge but because the open curriculum is totally sweet (which it is). Frankly this should be more of a concern to you than prestige.</p>
<p>Penn has an incredible urban studies department.
<a href="http://urban.ssc.upenn.edu//%5B/url%5D">http://urban.ssc.upenn.edu//</a>
Penn's Museum also has the largest collection of Egyptian artefacts outside of Egypt and the world's second largest sphinx (the largest being in Giza, Egypt). Many of Penn's history professors specialize in ancient Egypt and are leaders in the field. Dr. Zahi Hawass is the current Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, and is a recent Penn alum...he often comes back to campus for visits and guest lectures and did so most recently when visiting the King Tutankhamen exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.</p>
<p>Penn is not "the" urban school. There are many (including Brown). This, of course, has nothing to due with the strength of the urban studies department.
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Urban_Studies/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Urban_Studies/index.htm</a></p>
<p>Again, a museum has little to do with the strength of the actual department, but Brown's anthropology and RISD's art museums also have extensive egyption collections. However, Brown has the only undergraduate program in the country devoted exclusively to egyptology.
<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Egyptology/undergrad/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Egyptology/undergrad/</a></p>
<p>Actually, the Revealed Preferences Survey supported the 65/35 split, Brown's way, for common admits with Penn. The short answer is that Brown is the more prestigious school. The Revealed Preferences Survey is not a perfect measure, but it is the most comprehensive, rigourous, date set/methodology collegiate rankings system extant. What it is a testament to is the fact that students give word of mouth feedback to their schools and communities about their collegiate experiences, so it not only measures the preference for schools in a static context, but preferences over time. Having said what I just said, some students would have a better experience at Penn, and some at Brown. It really is about fit. If you like a school, you are more likely to do very well there, setting the stage for great jobs, top tier graduate schools, and top echelon professional schools.</p>
<p>
Nope. That dubious honor belongs to the British Museum. Penn does have a large collection, though. Don't get me started on Zahi, LOL!</p>
<p> [quote=dcircle] However, Brown has the only undergraduate program in the country devoted exclusively to egyptology.
I've always thought that's stretching it a bit. At one point the "department" had one professor and one or two adjuncts, compared to NELC departments with 3-4 Egyptologists and more courses. In any case, they're both good with Penn focusing on archaeology and Brown on language. </p>
<p>
Penn has an edge, as well as having a superb anthropology department. Brown, on the other hand, would allow you more flexibility to branch out and explore related subjects. Your preference, really.</p>
<p>They're not going after prestige, they're going after zero requirements.</p>
<p>and Providence is not a city, nor is Brown an urban school.</p>
<p>Providence population: 176,862
Philadelphia population: 1,463,281</p>
<p>Is there some rule that says that an area must have over a million inhabitants to be considered a city or something? Sheesh. (Providence's website, by the way, is labelled 'City of Providence.')</p>
<p>In all the New England states, city status is **conferred by the form of government, not population. Town government has a board of selectmen for the executive branch, and a town meeting for the legislative branch. New England cities, on the other hand, have a mayor for the executive, and a legislature referred to as either the city council or the board of aldermen.</p>
<p>Well Johnny K has proven himself a moron. Anyone else want to step up to the plate?</p>
<p>Traditionally one offers at least a TOKEN rebuttal before denouncing someone (in an ad hominem attack no less).</p>
<p>I guess that was too much for modestmelody to pull off. it would appear your modesty is entirely justified.</p>
<p>City Politics taught by Professor Malone (or is it Marone) is possibly the most popular humanities course at Brown outside of economics. Our Urban Studies department offers a multitude of excellent programs and combined with our strong public policy department leads to having a rich and strong program here. That combined with the fact that Brown, which most certainly is in an urban neighborhood (and I'm from right outside of NYC), is actually in a small enough area and is a powerful enough force in this area that most of our students are able to get involved directly in the city government and politics on very high levels (for instance, our urban education masters program is spent primarily working with the city), actually makes Providence an invaluable place to study this material. Having a small, yet vibrant city where students can be directly and strongly involved in local government in a place that matter where you can get a tremendous amount of strong hands on experience does not make Providence nor Brown's program laughable. Do you have any sense of how much of Providence and Rhode Island's government is served by Brown interns and Brown graduates? It's very clear that UPenn has a strong program but is it possible to recognize the power of your school's program without attempting to explain the faults of a program you're entirely unfamiliar with?</p>
<p>Right, so admit you know that UPenn has a strong program and talk about why, but don't talk about Brown because it's not your area of expertise and you're just making yourself look like you're informed when you don't have a clue.</p>