[Papa John]

Several people in this thread have commented on how cold Philly is. Was the great weather in Palo Alto really that big a selling point for many of us?

My college choice came down to Stanford versus Dartmouth. I'll admit that, as a 17 1/2 year old who had spent nearly his entire life in the Midwest, weather and the general lure of a mystical land called California were indeed factors in my decision. As far as Penn goes, I hold it in very high esteem for a number of reasons, all based on academic reputation and output. So I suppose it's a compliment that the only negatives I can come up with are (1) the winter weather in Philadelphia is worse than the winter weather in NorCal and (2) the quality of football played at Penn is worse than the football played at Stanford.

I never intended to put down Penn as a world-class, academic institution. But, for a number of personal reasons, I would still choose Stanford over Penn (or Dartmouth) today if I had that choice.

[Papa John]

Several people in this thread have commented on how cold Philly is. Was the great weather in Palo Alto really that big a selling point for many of us?

My college choice came down to Stanford versus Dartmouth. I'll admit that, as a 17 1/2 year old who had spent nearly his entire life in the Midwest, weather and the general lure of a mystical land called California were indeed factors in my decision. As far as Penn goes, I hold it in very high esteem for a number of reasons, all based on academic reputation and output. So I suppose it's a compliment that the only negatives I can come up with are (1) the winter weather in Philadelphia is worse than the winter weather in NorCal and (2) the quality of football played at Penn is worse than the football played at Stanford.

I never intended to put down Penn as a world-class, academic institution. But, for a number of personal reasons, I would still choose Stanford over Penn (or Dartmouth) today if I had that choice.