<p>hello guys.. :) so, i'm currently in a dilemma whether to accept the offer from pennstate or uw-madison. I was offered undecided / general major for both uni's, and i am planning to major in immunology. Oh, and fyi, i'm an international undergraduate student and i wanted to know which uni's has the best internship program and which state is more likely to accept an international as a professional worker there. Please respond and do feel free to give whatever opinion you have on these two universities (clubs, activities, community, alumni etc.). I really hope that i could make the best decision in experiencing my college life :)</p>
<p>First, make sure Immunology is offered on both campuses because I’m not sure it is for undergrad.
Next, cost: if you have to take loans, choose whichever university at which you will have to take out the fewest loans.
Third: Penn State would have the edge for internships because their alumni network is one of the best in the nation for public universities.
Fourth: Since you didn’t get into the Honors Colleges and those are huge universities, look into the Honors Colleges to see whether a freshman can apply with 1st semester grades, and if so what the criteria are. This will make a big difference to your experience if you can spend your 2nd semester or 2nd year on as part of the Honors College.
Fifth: Look into graduation rates. What percentage students finish in 4 years?
Sixth: would rather live in a city (Madison has more than 200,000 people) or in a college town (State College has about 75,000 people, including 45,000 students, so essentially the town lives with/for the college students)?</p>
<p>State College is near mountains and countryside, and about 4 hours to Pittsburgh, 4 hours to Philadelphia, 5 hours to DC, 6hours to NYC. So if you want to hike in the woods in the Spring to relax or go for tourist visits on breaks, it’s easily doable. The town is not small (and very hilly) but there are buses that allow you to put bikes on them; so wherever you can’t go by foot, you can go by bike or bus (within town). Lots of sports and “school spirit”, at any random moment people will shout “We are” and hundeds of kids will shout back “Penn State!” Fraternities where people get drunk and puke all over, if that’s your thing. Free movies on campus, international films nearby (there’s a French film festival on campus too). And this might be of interest to you: the Indian Pavillion Restaurant is the best for miles around, literally people drive from way out of town to go eat there.
On the other hand, if you like big city life, State College isn’t it. :)</p>
<p>thanks MYOS1634 
for the infos… looks like i’ve to do a lot more research on these uni’s… oh, and I also want to ask about something called ‘double-major’, i mean, what is that? is that some sort of special program where i can major in two different fields?</p>
<p>“which state is more likely to accept an international as a professional worker there”</p>
<p>State has nothing to do with this. As an international student, you are strictly limited in where you can work and how much you can work. Contact the international student offices on each campus and ask about CPT (work you can do during the school year) and OPT (work you can do after graduating) placement. If you do not find an employer that will complete the H-1B visa process for you by the time your OPT expires, you will have to leave the US. Period. There are many, many, many US biology and biotech students right now. It will be all but impossible for you to find a permanent job here with only a bachelor’s degree in that field, in fact, it will be almost impossible with a master’s degree. If you have a PhD and several years of post-doc research experience, then maybe. But even then it is not certain.</p>
<p>UW- Madison is a terrific university with strong programs in the bio-sciences. If it is no more expensive than Penn State, I’d encourage you to take a careful look at it.</p>
<p>When you complete a double-major, you do indeed fulfill the graduation requirements for both fields of study. Read the requirements for both majors very carefully to see how much duplication there is in the two programs, and to determine whether or not the required subjects for one major can be used as elective subjects for the other. It can be very easy to double-major in two sub-fields of biology, or in biology and chemistry. What is more difficult is if the two major fields are offered in two different colleges within the university. Sometimes that simply isn’t possible to do because the graduation requirements for the two different colleges are so different or because the course sequences have little relationship, or because the two different colleges have very different admissions criteria.</p>
<p>thanks happymomof1 …
if i may ask, is there a big difference in graduating from an Honor College instead of just from the normal one?</p>
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<p>You missed the whole point of happlymomof1’s post. What country are you from ? Are you a Canadian or Australian citizen ? If not, it won’t be easy as you think to secure a working visa. </p>
<p>After you graduate, there will be no difference between honors and non-honors but there will be big differences when you are still in college. Honors students get a lot of perks like early registration for classes, separate dorms, scholarships, priority for research etc. You can apply to honors college at Penn State after your first semester if you keep your GPA above 3.75. </p>
<p>Both colleges have bad weather. University of Wisconsin-Madison is even worse. Academically, they are similar schools. Both are towns but Madison is bigger. State College revolves around PSU but Madison, not so much.</p>
<p>Yes, UW and PSU are pretty similar all around, similar academically, similar climate, big on sports, top public schools. As previously mentioned, PSU has one of the best alumni networks out there for a public school, and has a strong presence along the east coast.</p>
<p>I’m going to assume that since you’re an international student you haven’t visited the campuses (correct me if I’m wrong) - but the best way to decide between two similar schools like these IMO is to picture the campus setting and what you would be most comfortable with for the next four years. Personally I liked the feel of State College where everything in the surrounding area revolved around Penn State. It’s a fantastic college town that really caters to what the students need. Madison from what I hear is also a great college town but UW isn’t the only thing going on there like it is at PSU.</p>
<p>Honors College = more interesting classes (more discussion based), smaller classes of 20-25 (=profs to write detailed recommendations for grad school v. being one among 300 in a lecture hall), learning communities, lots of perks as mentioned by XTreme Power. Important for grad schools and moderately important for employers - but indirectly important to distinguish your CV, since some of the perks are working with professors on research, going to conferences, and having access to a specific network for internships, etc.</p>
<p>Right now, there’s a dearth of STEM graduates in the US (they’d need three times more than universities produce, in part because many American students switch out of STEM during their first year) so odds are not too bad that you could find a job after your OPT, but only if you bring something no one else can. Congress plans on passing a law to rectify the problem with work visas for STEM graduates, high-level (Masters’s and especially PHD) graduates, with some additional spots also for family and lower-skills workers but much, much fewer than for the first two categories.
If you speak several “critical” foreign languages, keep working on them or get them certified in college because that’s also a skill that’s sought out.</p>
<p>Double major = combining two majors. Easy within one college (ie., within Liberal Arts, within Business) but fairly difficult for Engineering.
Anyone can ask to double major.
You can also have one major and one minor in two completely different subjects (biochemistry and French, Management and Art History, exercise science and economics…) or in two related subjects (communication and digital media, biochemistry and neuroscience, economics and finance) or two subjects where one supports the other (Exercise Science and Physical Education, management and international studies, international Business and a foreign language…)
In any case you’ll have 5 classes per semester your first year (10 classes total) and at least half if not 2/3 those will be general education classes.</p>
<p>You can look at the general education classes: which school offers classes you wouldn’t mind taking?
Look at the first-year seminar topics: would you be especially excited by some offered on one campus or are both schools offering topics that look compelling?
Are there learning communities and would you be allowed to join them?</p>
<p>Email the office of admission and ask if you can chat with a current student from your country.
During the chat, make sure to ask:
What do you like best about the school?
What do you like least?
What’s a typical Tuesday like for you ? What’s a typical Saturday like?
Is that typical for many people on campus or not?
Name 3 non-alcohol related activities you can do on weekends.
What’s the food like?
What college choices did you have senior year and would you choose this school again?</p>