Off the waitlist at Duke - unsure what to do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Many people confuse Penn with Penn State.

bone head comment

DP from Pennsylvania -- you'd be shocked at how true this is in the general public.

This is the most original and best advice ever!

Except, most people outside the east coast don't know Duke. It's an easy coast thing.

??? Educated people know Duke. This is not 1970.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Many people confuse Penn with Penn State.

bone head comment

DP from Pennsylvania -- you'd be shocked at how true this is in the general public.

This is the most original and best advice ever!

Except, most people outside the east coast don't know Duke. It's an easy coast thing.

??? Educated people know Duke. This is not 1970.

Same. Educated people know the difference of Penn and Penn State.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

Then you are pretty narrow-minded. I got into and visited both Penn and Duke and loved both. Most people are able to like and appreciate a broad range of options, including colleges.

Same with our kid, the final two out of many T10 admits. It’s common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

Then you are pretty narrow-minded. I got into and visited both Penn and Duke and loved both. Most people are able to like and appreciate a broad range of options, including colleges.

Same with our kid, the final two out of many T10 admits. It’s common.

So, your kid just applied to top 10 schools…really not much thought beyond that.

I guess at least let’s be honest folks. That there isn’t much more than the ranking involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think kids are generally happier at Duke. Better food. Better weather. And Penn is thought to be cut-throat because of low grading. (I don't know if this is also true of Duke, but Penn has the reputation compared to, say, other Ivies.)

Grades are not too different:
Median at Duke , 3.75 for A&S, 3.6 for Engineering
Median at Penn: A&S 3.6, Engineering 3.4, Wharton 3.8

A student is compared to their undergrad/school peer group, not to other institutions (for med and law). Both get below average students into med and law school; both get top half of the class gpas into T14

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

Then you are pretty narrow-minded. I got into and visited both Penn and Duke and loved both. Most people are able to like and appreciate a broad range of options, including colleges.

Same with our kid, the final two out of many T10 admits. It’s common.

So, your kid just applied to top 10 schools…really not much thought beyond that.

I guess at least let’s be honest folks. That there isn’t much more than the ranking involved.

?? No . They applied to all schools that had the right peer mix plus liberal arts based STEM studies with small classes and top grad outcomes. 6 of those happen to be in the top 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

It's because both are close enough to DMV and considered prestigious.

DMVers are way more interested in Duke than some other places I've lived. And Penn is only a few hours away. Bet each has lots of alums in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke has prettier women by some margin

Stupid reason to pick a college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Many people confuse Penn with Penn State.

bone head comment

DP from Pennsylvania -- you'd be shocked at how true this is in the general public.

Agreed. I had a friend whose dad went to Penn. It enraged her.

I think the trolls on this site that confound the schools deliberately are ex-Pennsylvanians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke. Many people confuse Penn with Penn State.

OMG are you from urban baby???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

I think they are extremely similar FWIW. Know lots of Duke-Penn couples too. They attract similar kinds of people.

Yes…many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

Then you are pretty narrow-minded. I got into and visited both Penn and Duke and loved both. Most people are able to like and appreciate a broad range of options, including colleges.

Same with our kid, the final two out of many T10 admits. It’s common.

So, your kid just applied to top 10 schools…really not much thought beyond that.

I guess at least let’s be honest folks. That there isn’t much more than the ranking involved.

?? No . They applied to all schools that had the right peer mix plus liberal arts based STEM studies with small classes and top grad outcomes. 6 of those happen to be in the top 10.

What is "the right peer mix"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

I think they are extremely similar FWIW. Know lots of Duke-Penn couples too. They attract similar kinds of people.

Yes…many.

Not a single poster has elaborated at all how they are similar. People just randomly agree they are.

Anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it on DCUM there are so many Duke or Penn threads? They are ranked similarly...and that's 1000% where the similarities end.

I just don't get it. I see few Duke or Vanderbilt threads, yet seems like those would be two schools that make more sense to choose between.

For the life of me, I can't imagine someone who really likes Duke liking Penn and vice versa...and I also can't imagine picking one school because it is ranked #6 vs #7.

Then you are pretty narrow-minded. I got into and visited both Penn and Duke and loved both. Most people are able to like and appreciate a broad range of options, including colleges.

Same with our kid, the final two out of many T10 admits. It’s common.

So, your kid just applied to top 10 schools…really not much thought beyond that.

I guess at least let’s be honest folks. That there isn’t much more than the ranking involved.

?? No . They applied to all schools that had the right peer mix plus liberal arts based STEM studies with small classes and top grad outcomes. 6 of those happen to be in the top 10.

What is "the right peer mix"?

The mix that only exists in schools ranked 1-10…but falls off a cliff for school 11.

Also curious what “liberal arts based STEM srudies” means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS recently got off the waitlist at Duke and isn't sure what to do, currently committed to Penn. DS will visit Duke but anyone with experience at both schools? Studying math and statistics.

One at each. Very different physical campus and surrounding area atmospheres but very similar top outcomes, MBB recruits at both, both are top law and top med feeders; both have easy to access kind professors, majority small seminar style classes, and both my kids have had no problem getting research as early as freshman year. There are highly competitive yet collaborative peers at both, social /partiers at both(within reason; neither is a party school). Being a sports fan is much more of a thing at Duke (basketball), with over half the undergrads very invested.

From the earlier pages, i posted this, as I have a kid at each.
They are very similar in the above ways. Forgot to add both have their corresponding med school on campus, which is a huge plus for premeds as well as engineering (both have lots of collab between med and engineering research groups).
Some people do not care much about weather or proximity to a city, they focus on the education factors, such as peers, class size, professor availability, extent of interdisciplinary focus, opportunities on campus such as arts, music, research and more. They are extremely similar on all these factors.