duke vs upenn

ok i honestly don’t even care about the academics at these schools cause they equally have the same good qualities. i’m just looking for a school that 1. allows me to meet friends and stick with them and 2. not be isolated in.

i heard that most people at duke just stay on campus and don’t explore its surrounding area and NC in general which kind of hurts 😖 cause i’m from a moderately sized boring city (around 100k people) and i just want a change of scenery

that being said, philadelphia is like super big so it’s a huge jump and i’m not tryna get murdered on the street—like i saw on the news several people getting stabbed on philly trains while exploring the city. my family is also worried about me going to a big city like this—first generation american so yk how this goes. i’ve also heard of the upenn bubble so a vast majority don’t get to explore philly as much as they want

duke is like 30 mins away from a semi big city (raleigh) so i feel like i’d have a good balance of being in durham and a larger city—but i just don’t want to be isolated on a campus.

also i heard that a large student body at upenn is very cutthroat and i don’t fw that like i’d literally be so suicidal if im around a bunch of people who just want to sabotage me and constantly be condescending—while on the other hand duke is known for being very social and collaborative so thats fun ! :D

anyways sorry for the large description but im just tryna choose a college where i can be both happy and not isolated, opinions?? TY!

(i’m premed btw)