<p>If size does not matter to you, the only major difference would be the academics. Bucknelll will give you a strong foundation in writing and other liberal arts. Sadly, this could mean less engineering. Large universities would give you more engineering than liberal arts, but most do try to also instill some sort of liberal arts education. </p>
<p>I suggest Bucknell. Being from China, you should try to be close to your professors to really establish a strong American liberal arts foundation. When you get there, try to skip basic engineering classes and see if there are harder ones, if you can. </p>
<p>Merely because a school is not a “liberal arts college” does not mean that one will not be able to get a good liberal arts education there. An engineering major degree program typically has about 45-50% liberal arts (25% math and science and 20-25% humanities and social studies breadth). You can check the degree requirements at each school to get a detailed comparison for these particular schools, rather than making assumptions that may not be accurate for these particular schools.</p>
<p>“UCSD is overall a better university than UIUC”
Can you substantiate these claims MYOS?</p>
<p>as for the OP, if you’re an international student looking to do comp eng, then UIUC is a pretty popular destination. I know that the facilities here are top notch, and there are many other international students here. I would wager than Bucknell would provide just as good of an education though, just really depends on whether you prefer a liberal arts education versus UIUC’s engineering core classes. </p>