Just a note to say congrats! Would have been a dream come true for our kid. |
Smart kids from UMC affluent-educated families. Same types of employers recruiting. Probably not a lot of difference in your average DMV 1500+ SAT applicant after factoring in intended major. Campus differences and tolerance for Southern living and urban living probably big factors. Those are just random preferences. So not very different student body = similar schools. As someone stated above, Duke people seem more sports-oriented. Sports team success does drive apps. Basketball helped Duke rise. |
Northwestern describes it as whole brain engineering; Penn and Duke both have structured curriculum for undergrads that allows stem majors to take classes in a wide variety of areas with non-stem majors, and allows double majors, minors outside your school, as well as exposure to many interdisciplinary endeavors with faculty. Cornell for example is not at all like that. Neither are many traditional “tech” schools such as GaTech, CMU. |
You have described nearly every top 20 school which offer the same outcomes, class sizes (my kid’s Penn classes have been 100+ but maybe that’s STEM), interdisciplinary research opportunities, med school on campus (except Princeton), freshman research opportunities, etc. Being a Duke sports fan is a massive part of that experience and why it is a clear choice for many. I guess the moral is that all top 20 schools are similar with each other…other than the dozen reasons that each school is different from each other that somehow don’t matter. |
I think the traditional solution at schools without explicit accommodations is to double major. Usually the kind of people who value that much interdisciplinary education are affluent and don't mind if a kid takes an extra semester. I just met a kid like this who went to Michigan engineering and did two study abroad semesters. Both in Asia. One engineering oriented, one language oriented. Graduated at 4.5 yrs of school. |
Ivy is Ivy. End of discussion. |
Lol. Duke holds more weight than a lot of ivies. Duke and Penn are equals in terms of prestige and opportunities so the decision really comes to fit: urban vs isolated, sprawling vs large centric campus, warm vs medium weather, etc. |
OP here, thanks for all the feedback! To answer a few questions:
1. DS applied far and wide because he wasn't sure where he would get in. The priority was an academically rigorous program, and filtering based on fit after seeing acceptances. 2. DS had Duke ahead of Penn before applying so Duke is ahead right now, but he is visiting tomorrow (and getting a nice break from school). |
Congrats on these choices. I'm a biased Duke alum, I vote for Duke! It's such a fun, engaging campus, amazing academics. I am sure Penn would also be a great experience. Best of luck to your son. |
Duke.
Not a question unless HYP |
False |
Imho, the most serious students would choose Penn but it's such a small difference. Duke has more opportunity for fun. |
Educated people know UPenn is a level above Duke. Upe n is iternationally known. |
Maybe educated people from 1890? Today, Duke is world renowned and almost always a better choice v Penn (except for Wharton). |
Parchment shows Duke vs ivy is overwhelmingly <30% for Duke and >70% for an ivy. |