Help us decide between Northwestern and Penn

[Anonymous]

Personally I’d rather be in the Chicago area and would go to Northwestern, but have to admit Penn is the better school.

[Anonymous]

They are both top 10 schools-talk about splitting hairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No question Penn. As long as you don’t stray Philly is a nice city. Other quality schools near by like Villanova if you wind up not liking Penn and they don’t abuse their cheerleaders https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/09/24/campus/judge-allows-sex-trafficking-claim-against-nu-cheer-to-proceed/

What do you mean by straying? Have you been to Philly recently? I have and I did not find any part of the city to be nice when I was outdoors. There were homeless people many of whom seemed passed out and others of whom were actively harassing me for money. What was I there for? Visiting UPenn and staying at a nice hotel in the nicest part of town.

Villanova is more suburban (not in the city), more akin to Northwestern main campus.

I am in Philly all the time. You probably think all cities are terrible because Rittenhouse square, society hill and basically all of downtown is nice/trendy.

Just say you want your kid to have a suburban or rural experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My college students feel strongly that toxic kids go to Penn. It is full of snakes and super intense, cuthroat. If your kid is like that, Penn. Otherwise, Northwestern for sure.

+1 same experience and perception here

Same for Ivy League students in general no? The kids who will shiv you in the back to further their own interests. Yuck.

No, Penn stands out even among Ivy League as the place for toxic, cutthroat kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I’d rather be in the Chicago area and would go to Northwestern, but have to admit Penn is the better school.

How do you know that one school is better than the other for one who is undecided as to major ?

Stats of incoming students is nearly identical and class sizes are smaller at Northwestern than at U Penn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My college students feel strongly that toxic kids go to Penn. It is full of snakes and super intense, cuthroat. If your kid is like that, Penn. Otherwise, Northwestern for sure.

+1 same experience and perception here

Same for Ivy League students in general no? The kids who will shiv you in the back to further their own interests. Yuck.

No, Penn stands out even among Ivy League as the place for toxic, cutthroat kids.

Not true and shame on you for saying that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My college students feel strongly that toxic kids go to Penn. It is full of snakes and super intense, cuthroat. If your kid is like that, Penn. Otherwise, Northwestern for sure.

+1 same experience and perception here

Same for Ivy League students in general no? The kids who will shiv you in the back to further their own interests. Yuck.

No, Penn stands out even among Ivy League as the place for toxic, cutthroat kids.

On what basis? More “because a cousin of a friend of my kid’s friend” said this once?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No question Penn. As long as you don’t stray Philly is a nice city. Other quality schools near by like Villanova if you wind up not liking Penn and they don’t abuse their cheerleaders https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/09/24/campus/judge-allows-sex-trafficking-claim-against-nu-cheer-to-proceed/

What do you mean by straying? Have you been to Philly recently? I have and I did not find any part of the city to be nice when I was outdoors. There were homeless people many of whom seemed passed out and others of whom were actively harassing me for money. What was I there for? Visiting UPenn and staying at a nice hotel in the nicest part of town.

Villanova is more suburban (not in the city), more akin to Northwestern main campus.

Was just there 2 weeks ago for the Love Run. Along the Schuylkill is beautiful. Locus walk is beautiful. It is like any other city with a homeless population. Again- pick what feels right to your kid.

[Anonymous]

Locust

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally I’d rather be in the Chicago area and would go to Northwestern, but have to admit Penn is the better school.

How do you know that one school is better than the other for one who is undecided as to major ?

Stats of incoming students is nearly identical and class sizes are smaller at Northwestern than at U Penn.

This isn’t elementary school. Anyone picking a college because the average class size is smaller as any criteria is really missing the forest through the trees. Needless to say neither school has large class sizes once you get past some intro courses in a major or freshman seminar classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My college students feel strongly that toxic kids go to Penn. It is full of snakes and super intense, cuthroat. If your kid is like that, Penn. Otherwise, Northwestern for sure.

+1 same experience and perception here

Same for Ivy League students in general no? The kids who will shiv you in the back to further their own interests. Yuck.

No, Penn stands out even among Ivy League as the place for toxic, cutthroat kids.

This is an accurate statement.

Penn is well known for stress related mental health issues and suicides/suicide attempts. A few years ago, the head of mental counseling at Cornell accepted the same position at U Penn and then killed himself (which generated several articles about the intense stress related culture at U Penn--none of which focused on Wharton as one might expect.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My college students feel strongly that toxic kids go to Penn. It is full of snakes and super intense, cuthroat. If your kid is like that, Penn. Otherwise, Northwestern for sure.

+1 same experience and perception here

Same for Ivy League students in general no? The kids who will shiv you in the back to further their own interests. Yuck.

No, Penn stands out even among Ivy League as the place for toxic, cutthroat kids.

This is an accurate statement.

Penn is well known for stress related mental health issues and suicides/suicide attempts. A few years ago, the head of mental counseling at Cornell accepted the same position at U Penn and then killed himself (which generated several articles about the intense stress related culture at U Penn--none of which focused on Wharton as one might expect.)

Princeton has had 8 suicides in just the last two years. UMD just had a suicide last week.

It’s a problem everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally I’d rather be in the Chicago area and would go to Northwestern, but have to admit Penn is the better school.

How do you know that one school is better than the other for one who is undecided as to major ?

Stats of incoming students is nearly identical and class sizes are smaller at Northwestern than at U Penn.

This isn’t elementary school. Anyone picking a college because the average class size is smaller as any criteria is really missing the forest through the trees. Needless to say neither school has large class sizes once you get past some intro courses in a major or freshman seminar classes.

Your two posts lead me to think about a movie title--Dumb and Dumber.

You lack knowledge and insight about both universities if you think that one school is better than the other. Same students, different locations. Really depends upon specific majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn has a top 3 med school, top 3 mba program, #4 ranked law school. Top undergraduate business school. Currently ranked #6 national university. USNWR.

The only comparable universities are Harvard and Stanford with such broad strengths.

Who cares? The student is going to undergrad why would it possibly if they have a good law school etc? Those aren’t even grad schools where grad students would interact with undergrads, if you like that sort of thing.

I would go Northwestern but it’s a question for the kid to decide

Not PP but top grad school rankings does mean more top faculty overall on campus. Penn prides itself on having research across disciplines, including UG and professional schools. With Law, Med/hospital and Business all on the same campus I agree with the poster that it is relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally I’d rather be in the Chicago area and would go to Northwestern, but have to admit Penn is the better school.

How do you know that one school is better than the other for one who is undecided as to major ?

Stats of incoming students is nearly identical and class sizes are smaller at Northwestern than at U Penn.

This isn’t elementary school. Anyone picking a college because the average class size is smaller as any criteria is really missing the forest through the trees. Needless to say neither school has large class sizes once you get past some intro courses in a major or freshman seminar classes.

Your two posts lead me to think about a movie title--Dumb and Dumber.

You lack knowledge and insight about both universities if you think that one school is better than the other. Same students, different locations. Really depends upon specific majors.

I only made one post…but I guess you are “Dumber” since you referenced class sizes which isn’t a metric anyone should remotely consider for college.

I actually agree with your conclusion…other than even major doesn’t matter in choosing between, except if one school doesn’t offer a specific major.