<p>My D is waitlisted at UPenn... she'll know by July1st. Chances are she won't be selected... The question is what if she is? Both she and I are seriously considering turning down the offer in favor of UNC... is that a crazy thing to do, being Ivy League and all?
The reasons are many, but mostly we don't want her in a cutthroat environment during her undergraduate years... we've decided to leave that for graduate school.<br>
People tell us we're nuts to turn down U Penn... are we? Opinions, please!</p>
<p>how are you nuts? its a perfectly reasonable decision. those who think you're being ridiculous need to get a life and stop focusing so much on rankings. think about it: is it better to attend an ivy league and get C's or to attend a top ranked public school and do well, with a more relaxed environment. unc has a great balance of academics (a lot of top ranked departments, very well rounded) and social life/sports. its an amazing college town with beautiful weather and friendly people. plus, it's about $15k cheaper each year if you're OOS, which i assume you are.</p>
<p>i was waitlisted at cornell but told my parents that i would never, ever give up a UNC experience for a competitive, possibly suicidal four years at cornell.</p>
<p>miss--- I agree, agree, agree... </p>
<p>I didn't know about the "$15k cheaper each year if OOS..." Great news, but could you explain that??? How do I find out more about this?</p>
<p>The explanation:</p>
<p>The annual projected cost of attendance at Penn is projected at $46,480. The annual projected cost at UNC for an out of state student is $32,004.</p>
<p>Of course, these figures do not take into account the effect of any financial aid.</p>
<p>haha thanks tyr =]</p>
<p>With respect to your original question, I do not think your D would be "nuts" to choose UNC over Penn. They are both very good and well-respected schools, either of which would offer plenty of opportunities. She should choose the one where she feels she would be most comfortable and be in the best environment for her. I am sure that others would disagree based on the simple fact that Penn is considered an "ivy". </p>
<p>FWIW, the winters in Chapel Hill are a lot milder than those in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>she wouldnt be nuts but i wouldnt recommend making that choice. penn students are a happy bunch. the main differences are quality of undergraduate instruction, student body (size and quality), job/internship opportunities/prospects, urban vs. suburban setting. this has nothing to do with penn being an ivy. that really makes no difference on its own.</p>
<p>b4nnd20,</p>
<p>You have made some pretty bold statements. Can you provide any factual support for your assertion that there is a qualitative difference in the instruction provided by the two schools or than Penn provides better “job/internship opportunities/prospects”?</p>
<p>I go to Brown and sometimes regret not going to UNC, even though it wouldn't have been much cheaper (on financial aid). While the average Penn student probably does have more recruiters visiting campus than the average UNC student (speaking from experience at Brown compared to friends at UNC), you can easily get the same job from UNC as Penn if you do a little bit of searching on your own. Even then, many businesses, including ibanks which some CC kids seem so obsessed about (second only to med school), recruit at UNC</p>
<p>plus, don't forget the weather. holy hell how I hate the weather up north</p>
<p>tyr and miss...sorry, I probably read it wrong. I read " [UNC] is about $15k cheaper each year if you're OOS" and for a second there I was thinking I missed something and wishfully thought perhaps UNC became cheaper each year... by becoming in-state maybe?... whatever.</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for all the feedback. We definitely agree! Hell with Ivy League! hehehehe</p>
<p>How's Brown's open curriculum? And did you see John Krasinski when he visited Brown?</p>
<p>when you say uPenn, do u mean just the college or Wharton?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I believe that is what could be referred to as "wishful thinking." :)</p>
<p>brnnd20</p>
<p>As to the quality of of undergraduate instruction issue,I don't think you can make such a broad generalization/implication that Penn will be better because it is an Ivy or smaller in size.</p>
<p>This is a real life UNC vs Penn comparison. When my S was a freshman at UNC he was placed into an advanced calculus class after scoring a 5 on the AP BC exam. There were 35 students in his class, it was taught by a FULL professor who spoke English. </p>
<p>His best friend from HS is at Penn and was taking the exact same course at the same time. His class was 300 strong taught by a grad student who barely spoke English. By that I mean it was difficult at best to understand him and according to my S's friend VERY difficult to follow on complex problems etc.</p>
<p>I don't think there is any way you could say that the quality of undergrad instruction at Penn was superior to UNC in this case.</p>
<p>RioMom</p>
<p>They are two very different undergrad experiences. Weather aside (and it is certainly not something to dismiss) Penn's campus is VERY urban, surrounded by some of the toughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia and all that that implies. The core of the campus itself is remarkable in the way that it is an oasis in the middle of the city but you can't get anywhere without being IN the city. Dorms are old, often converted high rise buildings with 10x10 rooms.</p>
<p>Academically (Wharton aside) I think you will find that there is little difference between the two schools. Your D's situation is a bit unusual for this site because often on CC we see examples of OOS kids accepted at Penn, Cornell or Columbia and either turned down or wait listed at UNC.</p>
<p>If I were going to give one broad based definitive edge to UNC I would say it is the balance between academics and school spirit/social activities that the school is honestly quite proud of. Often their literature speaks of this balance and I remember from our "Explore Carolina" session that the then Admissions Director said the phrase "work hard, play hard" more than once. </p>
<p>On the other hand if you are Jewish, and your D seeks a very active community, the edge might turn to Penn which has the highest undergrad Jewish enrollment of all the Ivies at 29.2 % whereas UNC is about 4%. UNC and Duke share many Hillel activities so it is not like she would necessarily be lacking an active community at UNC, just nowhere the depth and breadth that exists at UPenn.</p>
<p>Rio-stand firm with what your d thinks is the best edu. envior. for her. Both are great edu. institutions. What is the
best fit for her? So she may turn down an Ivy. She will not be the first.</p>
<p>It no doubt is a difficult decision, but I would choose UNC (considering EVERYTHING including finances and academics) over anywhere. Your daughter isn't silly. :)</p>
<p>ok I just came back from UNC orientation (CTOPS) and I absolutely love the school. Don't get me wrong, I applied Early Decision to uPenn (Wharton) and didn't get in. It was my dream school but I "settled" for UNC....</p>
<p>um yea...UNC is amazing. It really is a public ivy. so many resources. friendly atmosphere (compared to the competitive ivy league lifestyle) and of course southern hospitality haha</p>
<p>but its really upto your daughter. I loved uPenn's campus, and carolina's is almost as good as uPenn's. finances...carolina gave me about 12,000 in aid (6,000 grants scholarships, 6,000 in work study and loans)...so its not bad for a public university that costs 16,000ish a year.</p>
<p>Penn will obviously have more money to give away...but they are also private.</p>
<p>visit the campus and just observe life at UNC. People are just so school spirited and so friendly. not saying uPenn is full of rude people...but the atmosphere is so much different.</p>
<p>HOWEVER! if ur daughter got into Wharton at Penn, I would not turn it down. it is THE BEST business school in the WORLD...Carolina's kenan-flagler is top 15, but compared to Wharton its not as good.</p>
<p>But if its anything but Wharton (business school)...then I would definitely choose unc over penn.</p>
<p>Here's a link to an article I read on the Parent's Cafe pages. Its dated 6/22/07. Philadelphia has had over 200 murders already this year. UPenn is right next to one of the roughest, most crime ridden sections of Philadelpia.</p>
<p>As I said in an earlier post, does she want hard core urban life?...if so, Penn wil provide it. If she wants something a little less "real life" and perhaps a bit more idyllic, Chapel Hill is hard to beat.</p>
<p>Two great schools. I start at UPenn School of General Studies in the fall (as a communications major), but UNC is a great school with a quality journalism program and a top-ranked rep, similar to UPenn's. If you are accepted to UNC you can afford to turn down an Ivy (unless it's Harvard, Yale or Princeton)</p>
<p>actually, kenan-flagler's undergrad business program is ranked top 5 by us news world report 2007...but i agree, wharton is something special. i probably wouldnt turn it down if i were serious about business</p>