<p>I'm a junior and am looking at all three of these schools...I was looking for comparisons based on social life/student life and mission/focus of the particular schools. Obviously all three are excellent academically, I'm trying to discriminate between them to find a personality fit.</p>
<p>I can only speak for Dartmouth:
1) Huge frat scene, emphasis on beer, very little drug use
2) Work hard/play hard (although all schools say that)
3) Small, intimate (some might say incestuous!) student body, but big enough where you do meet new people each term
4) Great interaction with profs.
5) Really nice dorms</p>
<p>Anything more specific? I would be happy to answer questions.</p>
<p>Is Dartmouth any more "liberal-artsy" than the other Ivies or is that just an unfair stereotype?</p>
<p>Well, I guess it probably is... but not with a negative connotation. The school is much more focused on undergraduate education than the other Ivies, but that is a good thing! (For an undergrad, anyway!)</p>
<p>I have been accepted to Cornell ED this year, so I do not have any first hand knowledge, just from what I know and when I visited, but I would have to say Cornell is the best of the three. Everything about Cornell is great. However to make an informed decision you should know that Cornell is generally considered to be the hardest out of the 3 to get a higher GPA while attending, and also it may be the coldest of the 3. I also love the small town aspect. Also it is the best engineering ivy if that is your intended major. I hope you make a great and informed decision, and be sure to visit each school this summer.</p>
<p>Oh yeah for business Cornell AEM is very very good, and also UPENN Wharton is one of the best business schools in the country, if you are looking for business.</p>
<p>I've been on all three campuses....but only actually "visited" Cornell and UPenn. I liked that Cornell was more spacious and green, but Penn's campus in a city concept intrigued me as well. It's so hard to choose when you love them for different reasons!</p>
<p>I'm looking for pre-med.</p>
<p>About the city aspect, when I visited Cornell some of the students there told me that since it is in a small town environment a lot of the activities take place on campus which they really liked, as opposed to UPENN which is right in the city, and its maybe not as close as a social environment as D-mouth or Cornell would be, just to think about that, i'm not sure who is good for pre-med btw.</p>
<p>If you want pre-med, Cornell offers the best education for the hard sciences, but as you said before, all three schools are excellent (and similar) academically. I know Cornell has a ton of school spirit, especially during hockey season, and that it has a good social life on the weekends. Dartmouth also is known for a large frat scene. When I visited Dartmouth I loved the campus, but felt there wasn't as much to do as at Cornell and Penn. I would choose Penn if you want a city atmosphere, and Cornell if you like the outdoors and a good collegetown. Dartmouth is great for outdoors and frat life, it also had the best nurturing environment for undergraduates.</p>
<p>As for pre-med I would rate them all 100% equally, there is no difference at all when you get to this level. People who think a better graduate 'bio department' at one ivy will set them up for a better med school than another ivy are flat out wrong. Any of these schools will put you in a good position if you do well.</p>
<p>I can speak for Dartmouth since I went there. Dartmouth is small and very tightknit. The frat scene is actually pretty fun because Dartmouth is so tightknit that most people go everywhere and there are no 'lists' at doors, etc. Also, there are many scenes, for example Tabard is the "alterno-grungy-hippyish house" and Tri-kap the "urban" house. Yet everyone seems to get along really well. Also, a big outdoors scene for people who love that stuff. Dartmouth is also very homey and just gives you this feeling of comfort. Professors are great and invite you to dinner, etc. Its very easy to do study abroad, there are a TON of grants/ scholarships for research for undergraduates. I lived in a hut in the pacific to do my anthropology thesis research and didnt spend a dollar! Other people did bio research in Africa, etc. Overall its a very comfortable place with a lot of friendly atmosphere, and there is a spirit about the place that has everything to do with the strength of the community and not as much to do with big sports.</p>
<p>One negative though is that it has a lot of "normal" people. Friendly outgoing types, so more timid people might not like it as much.</p>