UPenn or Duke for ED?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke better for Neuroscience but Penn I think better chance of admission. Our HS double legacy ED candidates that were strong rejected at Duke. Penn takes unhooked occasionally ED.

Double legacy and strong candidates? Plural? Rejected at Duke ED?

I thought Duke liked legacies. If this is true, they must be phasing it out.

Definitely not phasing it out. But Duke primarily likes big donor and connected legacies. Even ones that aren’t that smart and they take them over smarter unconnected applicants and legacies whose parents aren’t big donors.

It kind of makes sense. At the info session I went to at Duke they said next year they’re celebrating their 100 year anniversary, so they’re still really young compared to their peer schools. They probably feel like they have to catch up a bit on resources even though their endowment is already massive. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re going for the big guns like MIT in terms of $$.

[Anonymous]

Duke also has a broader definition for legacy compared to most other schools. Undergrad, grad school, and even residency (I think) all are considered legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke better for Neuroscience but Penn I think better chance of admission. Our HS double legacy ED candidates that were strong rejected at Duke. Penn takes unhooked occasionally ED.

Double legacy and strong candidates? Plural? Rejected at Duke ED?

I thought Duke liked legacies. If this is true, they must be phasing it out.

Definitely not phasing it out. But Duke primarily likes big donor and connected legacies. Even ones that aren’t that smart and they take them over smarter unconnected applicants and legacies whose parents aren’t big donors.

How do you know this?

[Anonymous]

Not a PP. I have seen this with a triple legacy in our community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question. Setting finance majors aside, why would anyone consider Penn over Duke?

Penn is currently ranked #6 by USNWR and has incredible opportunities for students.

Duke’s location makes it undesirable for many students. It is not ivy-league and also is academically behind peer institutions. It is a southern school that attracts different kids.

With the wild swings in USNWR, a new position in #6 means nothing.

[Anonymous]

Penn is more elite than Duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn is more elite than Duke

I'd say Wharton is, but there are many academic programs where I'd give the edge to Duke. If I had to pick for my own kid based on quality of life, I'd encourage them to go for Duke overall unless they had an offer from Wharton and wanted a high-flying career in finance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are two very different campuses with totally different cultures. There is a lot of application overlap between both schools, but generally people figure out which one they prefer.

This is where the rankings completely "blind" people when they apply to schools. If Duke was ranked 40th overall vs. current ranking or Penn was ranked 40th overall vs. current ranking...nobody would apply to both.

+ 1 The post is about getting into the more perceived prestigious school rather than the quality of the neuroscience department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke better for Neuroscience but Penn I think better chance of admission. Our HS double legacy ED candidates that were strong rejected at Duke. Penn takes unhooked occasionally ED.

Double legacy and strong candidates? Plural? Rejected at Duke ED?

I thought Duke liked legacies. If this is true, they must be phasing it out.

Definitely not phasing it out. But Duke primarily likes big donor and connected legacies. Even ones that aren’t that smart and they take them over smarter unconnected applicants and legacies whose parents aren’t big donors.

How do you know this?

She doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question. Setting finance majors aside, why would anyone consider Penn over Duke?

Penn is currently ranked #6 by USNWR and has incredible opportunities for students.

Duke’s location makes it undesirable for many students. It is not ivy-league and also is academically behind peer institutions. It is a southern school that attracts different kids.

With the wild swings in USNWR, a new position in #6 means nothing.

Penn has been a consistent T10 for decades. But so has Duke, so yes the exact position doesn’t mean much. I expect both Penn and Duke will occupy the 5-8 range for a while

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn is more elite than Duke

I'd say Wharton is, but there are many academic programs where I'd give the edge to Duke. If I had to pick for my own kid based on quality of life, I'd encourage them to go for Duke overall unless they had an offer from Wharton and wanted a high-flying career in finance.

Please tell which handful of academic programs at Duke are better than Penn or many other top 25 schools? Duke is probably the most overrated school academically in the so called top 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn is more elite than Duke

I'd say Wharton is, but there are many academic programs where I'd give the edge to Duke. If I had to pick for my own kid based on quality of life, I'd encourage them to go for Duke overall unless they had an offer from Wharton and wanted a high-flying career in finance.

Please tell which handful of academic programs at Duke are better than Penn or many other top 25 schools? Duke is probably the most overrated school academically in the so called top 10.

Can’t think of any department Duke is stronger in other than BME. Duke had pretty weak Econ department too which is popular with undergrads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question. Setting finance majors aside, why would anyone consider Penn over Duke?

? For one, Penn is in an actual city. Secondly, Penn has world class academics across the board, not just within Wharton. I’ll give it to Duke, they offer the same top notch opportunities and academics as Penn and their alumni do very well in the workforce, but I’d also argue Penn is a bit more intellectual. Both schools are quite pre-professional for sure. I’ll also give Duke the happiness factor, but most of the unhappiness at Penn stems from Wharton and people who want to transfer into Wharton from CAS.

Yeah, but it’s Philly.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, Philly is shooty but Durham isn’t exactly super-safe, either. Good luck getting into either ED.

[Anonymous]

If your daughter gets into either they'll be set for pre-med, both are top feeders to great medical schools.