<p>People, professors, and facility what do you know</p>
<p>[Fiske</a> Guide to Colleges 2010](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Fiske-Guide-Colleges-2010-26E/dp/1402209606]Fiske”>http://www.amazon.com/Fiske-Guide-Colleges-2010-26E/dp/1402209606)</p>
<p>[The</a> Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, 2009](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-Colleges-2009-Students/dp/0312366914]The”>http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-Colleges-2009-Students/dp/0312366914)</p>
<p>I suggest consulting these two books first. Your local library should have them. After reading the sections on UVA and Penn, you can come back with more specific questions. As it stands now, your question is entirely too vague.</p>
<p>no offense meant, but this is like comparing an Italian car to a Toyota. entirely mismatched.</p>
<p>^ RML… I’m curious … are you implying one is significantly worse than the other or are you saying that they are totally different so comparing them is impossible.</p>
<p>Penn>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>UVA</p>
<p>Once again, people assuming tiny differences in U.S.News rankings equal significant differences in quality. What sorts of things would Penn professors know that UVa professors wouldn’t know? This is Elizabeth Banks vs. Jessica Alba…not Ferrari vs. Carolla.</p>
<p>Hey! Well I just wanted to give you my opinion based on my knowledge of the schools and my preferences.</p>
<p>Penn > UVa</p>
<p>Location- IMO Philadelphia is a more appealing city than Charlottesville. While I have been to the latter, I love the urban atmosphere of Philly and I would rather live there. Also Penn is more north than UVa and I like that.</p>
<p>People- I would want to go to a school that is diverse and has a variety of people. Luckily both have a good mix but because UVa is a state school I would prefer Penn considering I’m not from Virginia and I would want more that 33% to be out of state. </p>
<p>Academics- These schools are really great academically. I’ve heard that Penn has a more pre-professional atmosphere. Also Penn’s admissions is more selective so the students must be top notch and I’m sure the professors match.</p>
<p>Athletics- UVa clearly wins. Which I feel is the biggest downfall of Penn</p>
<p>In conclusion, if you want an urban location with more OOS and reputable academics then Penn would be best but if you want a southern town location and academics that are less pre-professional and a great athletics to enjoy then UVa would be best. This is just my comparisons of the schools and like everyone else’s advice take it with a grain of salt.</p>
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<p>one is significantly worse</p>
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<p>Incidentally, Elizabeth Banks went to Penn.</p>
<p>But yeah, while the actual difference in quality of the core Arts & Sciences institutions is minimal, Penn has more external factors working its favor–eminent grad schools, the great alumni network, the city…</p>
<p>Take the good advice in post #2 and come back later when you have a better idea of what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>One is a state school with a private school feel; the other is a private school that people feel is a state school:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/842560-not-penn-state.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/842560-not-penn-state.html</a></p>
<p>One is pre-professional; the other is liberal-artsy. Both are good for the humanities; one is better for the sciences (by default). Personally, not a fan of either.</p>
<p>FWIW, this thread alone should give you a fair indication about which student body is more insecure, obnoxious and full of themselves…</p>
<p>For example:</p>
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<p>and</p>
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<p>UVA is a great school, is cheaper than Penn (particularly for in-state) and for many will be a better fit than Penn. However, Prodigal’s comments notwithstanding, Penn overall is objectively better (though again we’re comparing great schools and it is hard to go wrong with either). Question for the OP: Which is a better fit? Assuming the fit is equivalent and that Penn may be a qualitatively better school, is the qualitative difference between the 2 great schools worth the extra cost (assuming after FA, there is an extra cost)?</p>
<p>By the way, the comment about Penn sports is off-base. Up until very recently, Penn was the dominant athletic program in the Ivy League, at least for team sports. It had Princeton have dominated the league basketball championships for about 30 years. Penn mens BB games (including road games) are often sold out. Penn football had a very dominant team until recently. UPenn Lacrosse is Division 1 just like UVA, and of course like other schools in the Philadelphia area, track is a big deal at UPenn. If a prospective student likes spectator sports, you have ample opportunities at UPenn.</p>
<p>"prospective student likes spectator sports, you have ample opportunities at UPenn. " </p>
<p>Top spectator sports at Penn:</p>
<p>1.Basketball.
2. Running away from muggers.
3. Football.
4. Bowing to political correctness.
5. Laughing at the Haverford guy who somehow got into the party.
6. Trying to corral Wharton students’ smugness.
7. Lacrosse.
8. Counting how many times one can say “No, not Penn STATE” the most times in 60 seconds.
9. Counting how many times one can say “Ivy is Ivy, there are no tiers of Ivy” the most times in an hour.
10. Trying to convince Princeton people that Penn is their true rival.
11. Doodling “HYPPSM” in their notebooks.</p>
<p>I am very familiar with both schools. I actually like Charlottesville a lot better than Philadelphia. The UVA campus is gorgeous and there are a lot of outdoorsy things to do in the area. Academics at both schools are excellent. Penn has the edge in prestige, but not in the South. UVA has a lot of students who are every bit as pre-professional as the Penn students- perhaps more med/law oriented than i-banking, but still aiming for those sorts of careers. UVA is a state school, and state schools have funding concerns these days. It will have a majority of students from in-state (which to me is not a bad thng). I have a kid at Penn and he feels he could have been very happy at UVA. </p>
<p>The sports info above is not current or correct. The football team was great this year (well, as great as an Ivy team can be) and won Ivy. The basketball team is horrible and the coach has been fired. Basketball is not selling out. Track is not all that big because Penn isn’t great. You THINK it is because of Penn Relays, which is a really cool event but ignored by most Penn students. Wrestling gets more press than running at Penn. UVA has a great running program.</p>
<p>Wharton students are much less smug now that they can’t get jobs due to the economic collapse.</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean about bowing to political correctness (Schmaltz). I haven’t observed much of that. UVA is more conservative than Penn, but academia isn’t all that conservative anyway.</p>
<p>MWC, when I said recent poor performance I was thinking about the dreadful Penn basketball team this year. Boy how the mighty have fallen! I remember whenever the Penn basketball game came to our campus, it was always a sell out.</p>
<p>^ But Denzel Washington now attends many Penn basketball games (both home and away). That, alone, should make the games sell out again. :)</p>
<p>^^ That alone would lead to me going to the games!</p>
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With the over-50 ladies crowd?</p>
<p>MOWC, maybe your son can become buddies with Denzel’s son, and then you and D can get together at Parents Weekends and swap funny parenting stories. ;)</p>