Obviously reading the thread title, the clear answer is Stanford. I can see that as well. However, throughout the application process, I really fell in love with Penn; I never gave myself the chance to look into Stanford because I never thought I would get in. Now, I’m faced with a very difficult decision; going to the school I’ve come to know and love, or going to Stanford, the school which will surely be better for my future. Even now, I’m leaning towards Stanford; everybody I know wants me to go there and would probably be disappointed if I chose Penn (which is ridiculous). Now, I really don’t care what they think; I want to be happy during my college career. I am going to Stanford’s admit days, but not Penn’s; I just need someone who knows both schools well to assure me that I will be happy at Stanford. I don’t want to make a mistake. Thank you in advance! 
You can’t really go wrong in my opinion, loo at both schools and pick where YOU would be happy (assuming financials are similar).
Both schools are great. Congratulations! It does not seem like you really mean to ask what to do, as your title asks. The body of your post sounds like you are really excited about Stanford! I do find the aversion towards Penn to be a little confuzzling, though. Both are top schools, and either great for your future.
Penn and Stanford are both amazing schools, and you cannot go wrong.
You will NOT be unhappy with either choice.
I would give an edge to Stanford for most fields… though one exception is if you got a one of those joint engineering/Wharton honors programs… i have known folks to turn down Harvard, Stanford and MIT for that program.
But if that’s not your program… I would go for Stanford. But know that it is okay to choose Penn too. You wouldn’t be the first or only person to make that choice.
Stanford. I’d only give it a second thought if your school at Penn is Wharton. If you do go with Penn though – play it off as an east coast vs. west coast decision; that you always saw yourself at an east coast ivy. People do that all the time when it comes to choosing or not choosing Stanford vs. an ivy.
Statements like this make me want to close my laptop, sigh deeply, and wonder once more how so many are so ill-informed in a time of such readily available information.
Penn is a GREAT university. Aside from computer science and related tech fields, I cannot think of a single field in which you could not go as far (or further) at Penn as at Stanford. Penn has some amazing facilities that any university would envy – Stanford has nothing that comes close to touching its world-renowned anthropology museum, for example.
You’ve indicated in past posts that you’re interested in English. Penn is at least as strong as Stanford in English, and the Kelly Writers House is well-known and a terrific resource for aspiring writers. If you like Penn better, I can’t think of a single reason why you should worry yourself to death over picking Stanford instead.
@warblersrule is correct… for English and humanities, Penn is equal to Stanford (and Harvard and Yale and Columbia and…)
@warblersrule I can do without the condescending and rude attitude. If you’re going to be nasty when giving advice, don’t give it.
To give more details:
-I’m probably majoring in Communication now. Is it harder to switch schools at Penn? (I got into CAS). However, I am thinking about doubling with Business or Economics. I’m not sure how easy that would be at either school.
-I know they are both amazing universities. HOWEVER, it does have an effect when everyone I know seems to be unclear about what the University of Pennsylvania is.
-Finances are equal for both schools.
I’m pretty sure Stanford’s admit days will make me fall in love with the school. For now, my plan is to go to them, and if I hate it (very unlikely imo), I’ll just enroll at Penn. Thank you for the answers, you’ve all been very helpful so far.
“HOWEVER, it does have an effect when everyone I know seems to be unclear about what the University of Pennsylvania is”
Really? You are going to base an important decision like this on the ignorance of others about an ivy league institution? There are many good reasons to choose Penn and many good reasons to choose Stanford, so you can’t go wrong either way. But the reason you’ve listed is one of the most illogical I’ve seen.