What do you think about both colleges? Which is better and why in your mind? Please do not say things like “it all depends on you.” I know and would like your opinion. I was already accepted to both and am having trouble making a decision.
More specifically, I am going into chemical engineering. Overall I liked the environment of Penn State better and have more friends going to Penn State but am interested in the coop program at Drexel and doing the same at Penn State would be way too hard.
Thanks!
Please ignore this comment, I figured out how to correct the original post.
Oops, meant to say “Please do not say things like…”
For me, I would pick Drexel. But I don’t have to worry about finances as much as others do and I already did engineering at two public universities and hated the class sizes. I prefer smaller class sizes for something such as engineering. Drexel has both NCAA Div Men’s basketball and soccer which are the only sports I need.
The sport community and general sense of school spirit is probably better at Penn State, as I bet the campus is overflowing with student activity. Drexel’s campus is probably filled with student activity, but Drexel is a part of the Philadelphia community compared to Penn State which IS the community. I highly doubt that town would exist if Penn State wasn’t there.
Co Op is probably more convenient at Drexel because there are several companies in Philadelphia that you could apply to without changing your living. Penn State you would probably have to be willing to move for a semester. For my first bachelor’s degree I was much less interested in spending time away from campus during semesters. Now for my mechanical engineering degree at 25 years old, I definitely plan on utilizing the co op program.
Drexel for chemical engineering, hands down. Do the 5 year/3 co op program and you will have three co ops paid under your belt and a job at graduation.
I have the same question too. I am also applying for chemical engineering. I only got accepted in the harrisburg campus at penn state, but I can do the 2+2 program to graduate at university park. I got into drexel too.I took the 4 year plus co-op at drexel. I am thinking of either going to drexel, penn state harrisburg or university of buffalo. Can someone help me on this? But, Buffalo is a little far away from my place. So can someone help me?
@unsure128 What did you choose in the end?
@Tohoforever To me, if finances are not an issue for you, I would go to Drexel. Its a bit more comfortable of a situation to go to a 4 year program with co op exposure than a 2+2 program where you are going to Penn State main campus for two years. School names and reputations aside, at least with a 4 year program you have stability and the comfort of knowing that you are in your program already and so long as you maintain an academically relevant profile, Drexel can definitely get you a solid job. But if finances are an issue, the 2+2 route is a solid idea. I don’t know enough about Buffalo engineering to be pro/con for them.
Things to think about:
Is it guaranteed that you will go to Penn State main campus from Harrisburg? Does it depend on making the grades or having a competitive enough profile to jump to Penn State main campus? What are you looking for out of your college experience, would you be sacrificing two years of your college experience to end up at Penn State for two years, or would you be happier spending your time in Drexel and Philadelphia for 4 years?
@MechanicalFox It was a really tough decision, but I chose Penn State in the end. Actually for my major, I need to stay only for 1 and a half years and not two. I heard that it is easy as long as I study well. Finances aren’t a problem for me, but the only thing which I would miss out in Drexel would be its amazing co-op program and city life. Drexel has got a good city life and I also got a great deal of scholarship from them. But, I don’t think the reputation is as good as penn state even though I think Drexel’s a good school. It was very difficult to choose between penn state and drexel. But, even after the may 1st deadline, they are still willing to offer me acceptance. I don’t know the reason for that. I still have an option to co-op sometime during 3rd year in Penn state though its not handed over to me like drexel. I guess I won’t be sacrificing 2 years because I will be studying at the Harrisburg campus for 1 and a half years while having a balanced life and then I will have a compulsary transfer to university park as long as I complete all the courses properly.
Thank you so much for your advice.
@Tohoforever Thats good to hear! Its nice when its shorter than 2 years and Penn State isn’t a bad place to go at all! I had a friend from Texas who went there his freshman year and loved it,ended up transferring for reasons unknown to me and he misses it dearly ever since! You are not going wrong by going there! If this conversation was happening after next week, maybe I would fighter harder for Drexel but since I haven’t visited yet I can’t condone anyone for not choosing Drexel for an arguably better or equally esteemed engineering program. Honestly, for my first four years of college, I wasn’t interested in co op programs at all, they can take away a lot of your college experience which is what I was after. But they are good guarantee for a solid job and at 25 I am going back and getting an engineering degree for just that so Drexel is a great option for me for being older. You are going to love penn state, be excited about it and just get out of Harrisburg asap so you can truly enjoy your college experience!
You definitely had a tough choice to make, with two very good options. Welcome to the cult! 
@MechanicalFox I know this is pretty late. Thank you so much for your help. Still, it was a very difficult decision for me and Drexel had a great program too. So, do you still think Drexel would have been a better choice? Just asking. I aced my placement tests, so that’s one thing out of the way. I just need to attend my orientation on July 16th and one and a half years more to hightail out of Harrisburg campus. But, I heard its a pretty nice place too. Then, it’s a straight march to university park.
@bodangles thanks for your comment. So, I guess you are a penn stater too. It was a really tough choice to make and what do you think about the 2+2 plan personally? I think it should be easy to go to university park from what Info I got. Well, I aced my placement tests. So, only the orientation is left. 
@Tohoforever I started at UP so I can’t say much about 2+2, but from what I’ve heard it’s a perfectly good (and very common) option! My RA this past year had just made the transition from a branch to main and seemed like she had enjoyed both experiences.
Have fun at NSO!
@bodangles Thank you so much. Can you give me any tips since I am coming from India? Like things to be careful and things which I have to do.
@bodangles I gave my class 12 scores and I got admitted at University park for chemical engineering. I have my orientation on the 16th of july.
@Tohoforever Congrats! Visit the Creamery while you’re on campus, if you have time.
@bodangles Thanks. It would be nice if we could meet
@Tohoforever Yeah, we’ll see! Maybe we could get lunch or something once class starts up again.
@bodangles Your advice will be really useful.