<p>Like most seniors, I'm still deciding where I want to spend the next 4 years of my life. While I narrowed down my twelve acceptances to four last week, financial aid caused me to eliminate Cornell and Wesleyan from my options, leaving Yale and UPenn.</p>
<p>To complicate the issue even further, I screwed up on my Penn financial aid won't receive that for a while. Yale is insanely cheap for me (less that 2000). Is there a chance that UPenn will be as inexpensive?</p>
<p>It's hard for me to pinpoint what I want in a school but I know that I want it to be fun. I want to be around intelligent people of course but I don't want them to be too pretentious or nerdy outside of class. I really want to meet a lot of laid-back people that are willing to have fun. There needs a strong sense of community and I hope that there’s a fair amount of fun activities on and off campus (New Haven seems nice, but I don’t know Philadelphia well).</p>
<p>I'm interested in someplace that has good programs in my potential areas of study (Bio or Psych) and has many people who successfully get into med school id I choose that route. I also want a school that is mainly taught by professors (instead of constant TAs) who are accessible and helpful. Small class sizes are important too.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that it is difficult to study abroad at Yale. Does UPenn have the same problem. Studying abroad during the summer, if not the school year is a huge deal. I’m not fluent in any language besides English though so this may present a problem.</p>
<p>Any suggestions? If you can answer some of what’s specifically addressed above can you tell me a few of the things that you love or hate about either school?</p>
<p>No, I applies to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, not Wharton.</p>
<p>And on a side not, I’m not interested in which i most prestigious because I know that the difference is negligible. I just need to figure out which is right for me</p>
<p>That’s my city you’re talking about…what qualifies you to make a statement like that? Its got the best pizza in the world (granted this is neither the time nor place for the Pepes vs Sallys debate) and is a vibrant and flavorful small city. Certainly no worse than certain areas of West Philly. Honestly I am sick of the rap New Haven gets on this site…its a city–there are bad areas, thats life …</p>
I think that’s an extremely mature (and unfortunately all too rare) attitude to have. Good for you.</p>
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That’s not a comparison New Haven will win. Yale certainly has a good many things going for it, but Philadelphia trounces New Haven in virtually every aspect.</p>
<p>I agree with the others about Yale. It’s stronger than Penn in your areas, and the college system helps build a nice sense of community. There’s plenty to do to keep you busy.</p>
<p>That said, Penn is an awesome school that I would personally prefer. You really can’t go wrong with either of your choices. :)</p>
<p>People on this site are so prestige-obsessed. Sometimes I just don’t understand who exactly they are trying to impress. If you want to have a solid social life in college that revolves around parties, alcohol and cool people, then Penn is your clear choice.</p>
<p>However, if you’re nerdy and introverted, then maybe you belong at Yale.</p>
<p>I guarantee you no professional entity or graduate school will dissect the differences between Penn and Yale.</p>
<p>Who on earth overrates Philly? Nobody says anything positive about Philly in the first place! (except, of course, that it’s better than New Haven–and frankly even Baghdad would have a shot at that title).</p>
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<p>Umm…k?</p>
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Careful, going up against a Philadelphian means he’s probably armed ;)</p>
<p>Also, Dreaming Out Loud, congratulations on getting accepted to two of my most favorite schools :)</p>
<p>Study abroad at Penn is definitely not a problem. Philadelphia is a great city, and Penn is the only top-10 school to successfully balance the opportunities of a dynamic large city with a vibrant on-campus community that is still very much the center of gravity for the school. Penn also offers a broader education if you decide you want to branch out from psych and bio–they’ll let you take classes in all of Penn’s undergraduate schools, and almost all of its grad schools (why not dabble in some law classes or business classes ;)) Penn also offers connections with more hospitals for research opportunities (the Philadelphia region has a very strong biotech sector owing to the preponderance of universities and hospitals).</p>
<p>Yale, on the other hand, is Yale, and certainly nothing to sneeze at. It is a very tough decision you have to make, and I wish you the best of luck wherever you wind up.</p>
<p>One more thing: Show Penn your Yale offer and they will almost assuredly match it.</p>