<p>In terms of academics, U Penn is almost certainly superior, but what about in terms of curriculum ease, particularly in the biological sciences? Which university has a more easy grading system? What about average GPAs? Are both based off a bell curve? Thanks</p>
<p>upennizzle is better for sure, penn is sort of known for grade deflation, and grading systems are dependent upon ur profs...</p>
<p>I'm in the same boat as you. Penn or Duke, that's the question.</p>
<p>same here... ah this is so difficult! what about for music/french and the humanities... which school's departments are stronger?</p>
<p>I also was faced this dilemma between these two fine schools. Both schools have very similar academics with UPenn having edge in business but duke having the edge in pre-med(bio is better here), engineering(BME #2), other sciences, humanities, etc. Although Penn is an ivy and a great one at that but Duke has better school spirit; I found considerably less spirit at Penn. The undergraduate enrollment of Duke is lower by ~ 4000 (6066 vs. 10047) If your an international, Penn has definatly an edge with 20% getting in. Partywise, both are "crunk" plenty frats/ etc. SATwise, i think Duke would have a higher median SAT but i'm not 100% sure on this one. WSJ ranks Duke as #6 top " Feeder" school to graduate schools vs. Penn as 16. Duke places 99% into law and 86% into med. Both are clearly excellent schools with Penn #4 and Duke tied for #5 in US news undergrad. Furthermore,both are extremely pretty and have excellent people who will help shape the world. Neither is a walk in the park to get into with 21.86% admission rate at duke and 21.2% at Penn. In my opinion, I would recommend Duke (i mean i did lol) unless you are very bent on going to an ivy, a mere sports league but i can't say. You'll do fine either way though both are la creme of the college universe.</p>
<p>sunnydballer or anyone--i'm curious what your take on UPenn vs. UChicago would be. any suggestions? thanks</p>
<p>i doubt uc is anywhere near as fun as upenn is</p>
<p>Oh, Chicago vs. Penn. What a familiar dilemma. :)<br>
Hard to say since it relies a lot on your personal preferences for college experience since the schools are so different.<br>
Chicago's Core vs. Penn's flexibility?
More rigorous courseload vs. relatively easier courseload?
Atypical college experience vs. more typical college experience?
Theoretical vs. Practical (well, depends on your major..)
etc etc...
What are you planning on majoring in? That should be a huge factor...</p>
<p>As for Duke vs. Penn. I wouldn't say Duke has the edge over Penn for a majority of the humanities <em>at all</em>. Pre-med is excellent at both schools; I couldn't say which is better, but whichever one is, it will not be by a big margin. For music, I would imagine Penn's location in Philly would be a huge plus over Durham. Speaking of location, do college visits if you haven't, cause Durham and Philly? Worlds apart.<br>
Lastly, Penn's medical school placements are very high, as with law school, etc. WSJ ranks by dividing # of students enrolling in top graduate schools with # of students in class. Doesn't seem like a very viable ranking system. Besides, Wharton students usually work after undergrad, then MBA later, and Penn's size puts it at a distinct disadvantage for such ranking styles.<br>
Having considered both, well, you can probably guess which one I picked. Both are very reputable universities, but slight personal preferences count for a lot. For a little bit of superficiality, I had a really hard time crossing off Duke for ED because the campus architecture is <em>gorgeous</em> (the gothic towers!!). :)</p>