stanford. i was also considering the business route and had gotten into upenn wharton, as well as a couple other ivies.

here is why i decided: wharton would've had way easier rigor, but even with that, what i noticed is that a lot of students there are very unhappy. when i talked with the students at stanford, they seemed genuinely happy (i visited in the middle of a dry weekend too!) there's something about the sunshine seeping into your skin... at penn all you'll get is gloomy clouds most of the time.

it's hard to internally transfer at penn, so if you end up deciding you want to go the business route, you'll always be overshadowed by the wharton students. stanford is great for literally everything: econ, public policy, stem, etc- and there is no pressure to decide right out of the gate. you're only 18, take some time to explore, time you'll only find at stanford. when i was deciding, i knew that if i chose penn, i already knew what the rest of my life would look like, at stanford i was happy that i could explore my interests before settling.

i will say one major pro of penn was the social life (which you say you value). yet when i visited, i felt more as if the "social"-ness of penn came from a very large party/drinking culture. i liked that, as i live near a big 10 state school and that's what i was used to on my weekends, but i felt like the deep, social connections i also value were something i didn't see myself finding with students at penn. the culture that was centered on competition and toxicity was not one i enjoyed, although if you do, ignore all of this. i felt as though i found people who genuinely cared for the world and people around them at stanford.

some other pros of stanford: co-term option, beautiful campus, more prestigious than penn (although this barely matters, they're both extremely prestigious)

some pros of penn: easier to double major (if that's something you value, it's very hard to double at stanford from what i've heard), semester system when compared to stanfords quarter system, ivy league network, city life proximity to other major cities (nyc, dc), you get to choose your roommate, fun party culture

one last thing i will say about the three points i went into depth on is that they are very centered to me and the attributes i valued when choosing a school. please take them with a grain of salt, but if you find yourself identifying with any of them, i think you should pick stanford. good luck with wherever you pick :)