<p>Pleas, if any of you could offer advice on which college to go to</p>
<p>I have narrowed it down between University of Delaware, Schreyers at Penn State, and Dickinson.</p>
<p>I want to double major in political science and language</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Are you a resident of Delaware or Pennsylvania? Do you prefer a larger school or smaller school?</p>
<p>I am a resident of Pennsylvania</p>
<p>Cost wise - both schools are offering me money (Delaware offering me more) - which brings their costs to about the same</p>
<p>For each one I will be in the honors program</p>
<p>I prefer small - but I also want a lot of options</p>
<p>I am not sure is this idea is correct but I imagine Schreyer's with a better - even though I don't like to use the term - "output" meaning getting a better job or going to great graduate schools - does anyone agree/disagree?</p>
<p>Would Schreyer's be able to offer more/better internships. My dream internship would be at the Washington Post.</p>
<p>Delaware, however, has a Three Languages program that really appeals to me - this way I can continue studying French, Japanese and pick up Spanish, will majoring in Political Science (and Delaware offers a cool Politics and Journalism concentration).</p>
<p>I also want to study abroad for at least one semester in France and one in Japan.</p>
<p>Any comments/ideas would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>Schreyer is an absolutely amazing program.
I got admitted there and I have friends there and the professors are awesome. I was visiting and I sat in on a few classes and professors were very encouraging of class discussions and one of them stayed after with me to talk about research opportunities.
Schreyer is unique in that you're going to be in a really small college (1200-1300) students, within penn state. Also they have a fund where you can apply for study abroad (they pay for you), and you can do this as many as three (if not more) times.
Schreyers does have more connections as the Penn state name is much better than UDel (although both are good).
I'd say that if Schreyer isn't MUCH more expensive, then it's the better school. The program is absolutely amazing.</p>
<p>My son is going to Schreyer in the fall (for business). He was also accepted at Dickinson but he was concerned that it was too small and that the opportunties for jobs would be limited. Also, Carlisle seemed pretty dead. On the plus side, everyone was very friendly, the professors have good reputations, classes are small, and they seem to have a strong international and language program.
Schreyer does seem like an excellent program but I think you need to be OK with a big school environment. Yes, the program will help make PSU seem smaller and you will get more individual attention and support, but keep in mind that PSU is huge and you will also experience that. It's certainly won't be a Dickinson-like experience. My son thinks this is fine. He knows that some of his non-honors classes will likely be pretty big - and it will be more of a challenge to get to know his professors (or TAs) in those classes. Overall, he thinks the big-school PSU experience will be fun. Plus he got an extra scholarship from the business school, making the tuition almost free.<br>
So, it makes sensse tothink carefully about your comfort level with the size of the school. And do some research on what they have to offer in your area of interest, including the types of honors classes and study abroad programs. Call and ask questions!<br>
By the way, my son also turned down Lehigh, WF and Univ Of Richmond for PSU Schreyer. These aren't big-name schools, but they all had nice things to offer. He was very impressed with the Schreyer program and he's very excited to start there this fall. I would never have guessed that this would be his choice when we started!<br>
Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice and comments. I too was accepted to Lehigh and the such but, like your son, was impressed by the Schreyer. I like the honors classes offered by Penn State, the environment with the nice Schreyer dorms, and the close relationships you can build with other honors students as well as your honors professors. </p>
<p>toneranger - You are right in saying that I must pick the school that I feel most comfortable with and can imagine myself a part of. </p>
<p>hmmm . . . this is difficult</p>
<p>One of the few things that I was worried about with Schreyer was that I heard that, when it came to scheduling, majors, study abroad, etc, they were less flexible than many other school for example, UDel.</p>
<p>Is there anything that someone could tell me about their experiences at UDel? I was also very impressed with this school and, as of now, I am very strongly leaning towards either Penn State or Delaware...Does anyone know about their language or political science programs?</p>
<p>definitely Penn State over Delaware.</p>
<p>and I personally dont like Dickinson at all.</p>
<p>I'm actually an alum of UDelaware (honors program) and my best friend graduated from Penn State.</p>
<p>There a lot of factors to consider:
-Size- Penn State is much larger than Delaware. I attended my best friend's graduation from the business school (we were both business majors)- and it was amazing how large their senior class was. At my graduation, I had stage time but her name was rattled off quickly.
-Location- Penn State is in the middle of nowhere, but I guess the Penn State school spirit and party atmosphere makes up for it. I swear Penn State fans are craaazy....and definately loyal to their alma mater. UD is great college town and Philly and Baltimore are pretty accessible.<br>
-I don't know about the Penn State honors program, but I liked the format of the honors program at Delaware. At UD, you can take as many or as few honors courses as you wish. The General Honors award is awarded if you meet the requirements after sophomore year and the honors degree at graduation. The honors program has smaller classes as well. My honors Psych class was 25 students rather than 400 students in the general psych course.
-from my and my best friend's experiences- the job opportunities and resources were pretty comparable. I believe Penn State is part of e-recruiting just as University of Delaware.</p>
<p>My roommate and close friend was Poli Sci major (honors program) with a double minor in Spanish and Black American Studies. She was always talking about luncheons, as part of her class, with foreign ambassadors and political officials. She also went to Cuba for a study abroad program. </p>
<p>I'm going back to Delaware for grad school (full-tuition and stipend), I also received a full scholarship for undergrad- so they are pretty good in terms of financial aid. I'm going back for a Masters in Public Administration- State & Local Management and Educational Policy. </p>
<p>Honestly, they are both great schools. It really boils down to your personal interests. I currently work as an admissions counselors....and my best advice to students- all other factors aside...attend the school where you feel most comfortable. No one can make the decision but you. Follow your gut feeling..</p>
<p>if you have any other questions, just let me know</p>
<p>The honors intro bio class i sat in on at PSU Schreyer had less than 20 kids in it. And this was an intro class...</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your help it has really helped to put a lot of things into perspective for me. </p>
<p>Both schools are really good in my view too - thats why its so hard to decide!!! But I think I have a good idea of what direction I'm headed in </p>
<p>Latoya - Do you know about a Master's Degree in Political Science? Would I be able to earn this in 5 years (though I believe I read somewhere that it was a 2 year program + my four years for a bachelor's)</p>
<p>I don't believe there is a 5-year program. But if you go into school with credits, you may be able progress through the program faster. ( My friend graduated in three years, and began law school at Hofstra a year early.) You are also welcome to request graduate courses.</p>
<p>I also know that the Insitite for Public Administration has undergrads ( with concentrations in Public Administration)with research assistantships and are Legislative Fellows.</p>
<p>Just a note about graduation at Penn State. SHC has a special medal presentation ceremony for its graduates - so I wouldn't worry about lack of time on the big stage. SHC is also one of the top honors colleges in the US and I do think it makes a pretty big difference in the amount of personal attention you recieve (probably true at UD too - but not sure).<br>
We were told that the SHC students recieve quite a bit of attention when it comes to internships and jobs Starting salaries are much higher for these students (in low 50's) have many companies "cherry pick" SHC students when they do recruiting. Grad school admissions are also very impressive. May be the same situaion at UD -not sure.</p>
<p>Could I go abroad multiple times at Penn State? </p>
<p>Do you think that it is reasonably possible to major in political science and minor in french and japanese?</p>
<p>Yup you can! There's a fund there and you have to apply for it and if you get it (most do atleast once, a few people i talked to when i visited had gone abroad up to 3 times!) then you can travel and they pay for a lot of the stuff i'm pretty sure. That's a benefit of being a schreyer scholar :-)
I think it would be possible to minor in those since political science normally has some lang requirements (especially international relations, if you're interested) so you can take a few additional language classes and call it a minor. Anything's possible if you're willing to try and work for it.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion - you may want to email Dr. Stoller at SHC (his email address is on the website - under staff). He is their admissions person and also the international coordinator. We have emailed him a few times with questions and he is always prompt with his reply - and very thorough too! He should be able to answer your questions on study abroad, and may even have some good info on language and international relations He has also referred us to staff who can answer or specific questions about classes and offerings. Interesting...he came from Dickinson and I know he has a strong interest in international affairs. Also ask about internships. I know that SHC is one of the schools that has internships with a prestigious think-tank down in DC. Good luck!!</p>