<p>I'm currently a university student in Australia and planning to go on exchange to the states.
My options are: San Joe State University, Central Washington University, Northeastern University, Arizona State University and Purdue University.
I am currently majoring in Business and Journalism and looking for the real college experience!
Somewhere I can make many new friends and socialise.
Thank you!</p>
<p>San Jose*</p>
<p>Arizona State is good at both business and journalism. It’s a huge school, which you may or may not like. It’s probably the biggest party school of the bunch.</p>
<p>I live about an hour from San Jose State. It’s kind of a commuter school and there’s nothing special about the campus, but if you want to experience Silicon Valley, it’s a good place to go.</p>
<p>Purdue is mostly an engineering school.</p>
<p>My vote goes to Arizona State with Northeastern being second and Purdue third.
Reasons for favoring ASU: It’s not terribly far from a major US city, has well attended sports games (in the US, college sports are a big deal), a strong journalism program, pretty solid business school, and great parties. In many ways it’s the stereotypical American university.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your advice 
I heard northeastern didn’t have a football team which would not give you the full college experience, but i think being in Boston would be awesome. Also northwestern was an option, which is close to chicago so that would be incredible. However Purdue also sounds awesome… agh a tough decision.</p>
<p>Northwestern is by far the strongest school academically. If you have the option to go to Northwestern, I would highly recommend doing so.</p>
<p>Also I went to a school without a football team as well as one with a huge football team. Both schools offer the full college experience, albeit in different ways.</p>
<p>Ellensburg is an interesting town, if a bit off the beaten path. CWU is nothing special. The vast majority of the students there will be Washington residents. But that’s not to say you wouldn’t get the quintessential 21st Century American college experience. Bring your parka and skis if you choose Central. And be aware that Central is about a 2-hour drive from Seattle and Western Washington.</p>
<p>If you want the stereotypical American college experience with Big Football, tens of thousands of students lots of majors and classes, a sprawling campus, etc., Purdue is probably the closest to that. It’s not “mostly” an engineering school - it is well known for the strength of it’s engineering programs, but only 20% of students major in engineering, which means 80% major in something else. West Lafayette is a medium-sized town and Lafayette, right across the river, is a small city. Indianapolis is the closest major city, about an hour away by car. Chicago is about 2 hours away. You might be able to get a regional bus like Megabus or Greyhound if you want to explore. Most Purdue students are from Indiana, but a little over 30% are from out of state - although they are likely mostly from other close Midwestern states like Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, etc.</p>
<p>Arizona State is also going to be relatively similar as far as the stereotypical American college experience, with the difference being that it’s in a suburb of Phoenix - so you’ll get more of an urban experience while still having big sports and the huge sprawling campus, etc.</p>
<p>Northeastern is medium-to-large and located right in Boston. The good thing about the Northeast is the public transit is much better than than anywhere else in the country, so from Boston you could also see New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. (and smaller in-between cities like New Haven, if you wanted) through a network of relatively inexpensive buses and trains. Boston is about 4 hours from New York by bus/train, about 6 hours to Philadelphia, and about 8 hours to D.C. It’s not going to be the stereotypical Big Football/huge campus in a college town kind of experience, but Boston is a great college town in its own right. There are tons of colleges and universities in the immediate area and during the school year it’ll be swarming with college-aged students. Also, it’ll probably be easier to get around off-campus in Boston than in West Lafayette or even Phoenix (although I am not familiar with Phoenix’s transit system).</p>
<p>When I was studying abroad I was more concerned about exploring the country that I was in - specifically the urban areas - so I selected based primarily on location and not the strength of the university the program was through, because frankly it doesn’t matter (unless you want to work in the States). So if I were a non-American student trying to select a university, I would personally pick Northeastern because of it’s location in Boston and the ease of seeing other American cities. No, you won’t get the Big Football kind of experience, but many college students go to universities without Division I football teams (which is the big football division with televised games and full stadia) and still have a great time making friends and hanging out. And Storrs, CT is about 1.5 hours from Boston; if you wanted and found a way, you could do a weekend road trip to experience a Big College Football game (Storrs is where UConn is located).</p>
<p>Phoenix does have a light rail system with a station at ASU. It’s not a system that covers a lot of the city, but it will at least get you to the airport and downtown.</p>
<p>Thanks so much guys, i think i’m leaning towards Arizona State. I was really keen on Northeastern but I just found out from my university they don’t offer exchange the time I am planning to go. I really was hoping to go to San Diego State or San Francisco State, but yet again not offered. Purdue is still on the cards though…</p>