<p>I'm a transfer student having a hard time deciding between two great schools: Dartmouth and UPenn. Below are my top reasons for attending/ not attending each school:</p>
<p>UPenn:</p>
<p>Pros:
More technical programs which match me better (e.g. bioengineering)
Outstanding access to the culturally-rich city of Philadelphia
Great undergraduate research opportunities
Wonderful career services/ alumni groups provide many opportunities for finding a job</p>
<p>Cons:
Located in a poor part of Philadelphia
While there are more resources available to undergraduates in terms of research, they are often more difficult to secure as more people are vying for the same opportunities
Harder to meet with professors outside of the classroom</p>
<p>Dartmouth:</p>
<p>Pros:
Smaller school with subsequent smaller class sizes that places the emphasis on undergraduate
Pristine outdoor location - provides many outdoor recreational outlets
D-Plan allows for amazing flexibility and study abroad opportunities
Great language program</p>
<p>Cons:
Fewer technical majors (how good are the basic science majors as compared with other top-tier schools?)
More difficult to reach a larger city - for reasons of transportation to and from home and social outlets
Drinking is huge</p>
<p>I grew up in a more rural community and don't know how big of an issue it would be to live/ study in a larger city. If there are other germane items I left out which would help anyone analyze my current situation better in order to provide advice, please let me know. Thanks for any and all help!</p>
<p>And, professors are NOT ‘harder to reach outside of the classroom’</p>
<p>I had tea outside of class with one that taught a seminar I was in as a freshman… and it’s not like I was the best student in the class (far from it), I just wanted to talk to him about job stuff and he invited me to tea lol.</p>
<p>Other than the research thing and the professors thing, the pros/cons look pretty true</p>
<p>I would probably come in with either first or second semester sophomore status and heard that in many classes (especially introductory level courses, how many of these would I be taking? - just an estimate of course) professors are often really busy with their personal schedules and that usually one must schedule an appointment a week ahead. Does this hold true?</p>
<p>I chose UPenn over Dartmouth, among other schools, easily. I come from a rural area too and that was all the more reason for me to want the advantages of the city.</p>
<p>Also the Penn “bubble” is in a safe, good area, so you should probably visit it and then decide.</p>
<p>There are great research opportunities for everyone. Penn prides itself on that.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply SusieBra. While perusing the other threads under UPenn, I read many of your other posts and wondered why you choose UPenn. You obviously eliminated some really great schools in your process, some which are arguably better in various areas than UPenn. For you, was it something that just clicked when you visited UPenn’s campus or did you objectively hash it out in some pro-con madness and knew where you wanted to go more or less before getting in the car? Again, I appreciate your reply.</p>
<p>I am also admistted as a transfer student and now I have a really hard time making decision! But my case is Upenn Systems Engineering vs Brown Applied Math vs Northwestern Industrial Engineering. I would love to go to grad school directly from undergrad. Please help me decide!</p>
<p>“You obviously eliminated some really great schools in your process, some which are arguably better in various areas than UPenn.”</p>
<p>Various areas? Meaning U.S. News rank?</p>
<p>That’s ridiculous. That should not be a factor in determining where you will attend college.</p>
<p>You will find people at Penn who turn down tons of great schools because Penn is better for them. You will find people at Dartmouth and Brown who do the same. It’s a question of fit. </p>
<p>Basically, I sat down and made a list and just went school by school. To be VERY brief, it was something like this:</p>
<p>brown: no requirements, very liberal but 4 years but not enough opportunities
cornell: cold
darmouth: remote and not enough opportunities for my future career goals
duke: the south is a completely different culture
princeton: grade deflation and required labs would hurt my gpa, which would hurt my chances at grad school.
upenn: would let me get my m.a. in romance languages (i am fluent in 3) and take courses at the law school. maybe bfs program but i want to protect my gpa. high rises = no communal bathrooms = peace.
stanford: (got in off waitlist) sunny and warm- nice environment to study in, but no M.A. programs for romance languages and tons of useless requirements.</p>
<p>the winner? Penn</p>
<p>The school alone can’t get you the grad program or the job, so you have to ask youself: “Which school will prepare me the best for my career, for my goals?” For me, the answer was Penn. You’ll have to answer that question for youself though.</p>
<p>I would choose Penn over Dartmouth any day but it ultimately comes down to fit. I just want to point out that while the D-Plan is pretty cool, I’ve heard that it can be difficult to make truly close friends because chances are you won’t be around anyone for more than a semester at a time. Also, I have some friends there now, and drinking isn’t just huge, it’s basically the lifestyle there. They do love it there though.</p>
<p>ORFEboy: Brown has one of the best programs in applied math. It also has a very strong math department with some really famous professors. If you want to do applied math, then Brown might be a great option.</p>
<p>However, my personal opinion is that it is better to study pure math in undergrad and then move on to applied for grad compared to just going with applied all the time. The reason for this is that it’s a lot easier to pick up the applied side after you know the theory well than to later patch holes you might have on the pure side.</p>