<p>Planning on majoring in business (either finance or economics), and both of these schools are on my college list, but I really only want to apply to one of them.
UWash is 33rd on the Undergraduate Business List, while Penn State is 38th. Does this make much of a difference?</p>
<p>Overall, which university is "better"? Consider all factors - recruitment, location, and the typical college experience.</p>
<p><strong><em>EDIT</em></strong>
I'm from SoCal, so what would being in a rural environment (Penn State) be like?</p>
<p>Being a student at Smeal I can tell you Penn State truly gives you the “typical college experience”. College Town. Outrageous parties. An athletic, outgoing student body. </p>
<p>and to your edit point. I’m from central NJ (25 mins from Manhattan). Yeah, it took a while to get used to the location. Once you’re settled its a nice town with all college kids. Although very inconvenient if you need to go to New York or Boston every so often.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would chose University of Washington, but my reasons have little to do with the atmosphere at Penn State and are mainly due to practicalities:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Based on your previous posts, your mother feels pretty strongly that you shouldn’t go to school in a rural location. UW is in Seattle, a cosmopolitan city and Penn State is in the middle of nowhere. Since you’re trying to minimize your conflicts with her, UW is probably the better choice.</p></li>
<li><p>You have indicated that money is a concern. Penn State is much more costly to get to from SoCal than Seattle. Once again, UW wins.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Penn State is alright. I always liked Joe Pa, but I’d be concerned about all of PSU’s crappy satellite campuses…some people don’t mind but I would. You might not have to study at a branch for your first year or so, but chances are half of the other people did have to…I wouldn’t want to go to a school that people transfer to from rinky dink branch campuses. Plus PA is backwards as heck…probably makes Arkansas look like South Beach Miami lol.</p>
<p>U-Dub all the way. Very underrated flagship…plus people do not realize how amazingly beautiful it is there until they go. I went last year with my parents who are OU people to watch the Sooners demolish U-Dub in football. Their fans and students are the nicest people ever because they are so laid back. Even though we were guests that were beating their team like 60-0, it was like we were all old friends. And talk about beautiful. Oh my god, those people have got it goin on up there. Best tailgating ever…floating on Lake Washington. Just…wow.</p>
<p>"U-Dub all the way. Very underrated flagship…plus people do not realize how amazingly beautiful it is there until they go. I went last year with my parents who are OU people to watch the Sooners demolish U-Dub in football. Their fans and students are the nicest people ever because they are so laid back. Even though we were guests that were beating their team like 60-0, it was like we were all old friends. And talk about beautiful. Oh my god, those people have got it goin on up there. Best tailgating ever…floating on Lake Washington. Just…wow. " So true, I’m from a Seattle suburb and I can totally second this. Plus Seattle is a great location for business majors with Microsoft, Costco, Amazon, Starbucks, Boeing, etc… all located here</p>
<p>I’m from Seattle and UW is nice. One thing to note is that there are a lot of non-traditional students there (older students or whatever). Just keep that in mind if you like/dislike it.</p>
<p>The campus is nice but not spectacular, and I honestly hate this city to an extreme degree – it is absolutely NOT for everyone, and you MUST be okay with the very one-sided political situation to be happy here.</p>
<p>UW places well in Seattle but the business placement office stinks according to some friends who are recent grads. PSU places well around the east. See if they have their own school of business placement center. That’s a much for a large school IMHO Also UW is getting a BIG budget cut this year and next so tuition will skyrocket 14% a year for less.</p>
<p>I’m from Seattle. UW is bomb-diggity and there business school is sweet. Seattle is a unique city. It’s cleaner, trendy-er, and right on the Puget Sound (Nobody else has anything like it). The best place to be in the world is Seattle during the summer. It is warm (Never too hot), green (Trees everywhere), and lively (Festivals and activities).</p>
<p>Plus, you don’t have to deal with the freaking humidity… Go Huskies.</p>
<p>Too close to call, why not apply to both? Also, a lot can change in a year, but as each school are reliant on funds from their state this can be a BIG factor when it comes to actually pick a school. Didn’t UWash, just announce spending cuts?</p>