I got into Penn State and UT Austin for global studies. I am an international student. I can’t decide which one to go to.
Someone, please help me choose. In terms of which school is better, the student life, dorms, the state/city itself, which is more social/party.
UT is better, my own opinion.
UT Austin - plus, it’s a fun city.
@maplefall @GMC2918 I do plan to accept my offer over the weekend. But if you don’t mind me asking, why?
Are costs similar (or can your parents pay for either with no sorry/no loans)?
Congratulations! Both are outstanding flagship state universities with outstanding professors, research facilities, and pretty much every amenity a student might expect/want. They also have very different settings.
Penn State students seem to love their college experience. Every PSU alum I’ve met is extremely proud of their school. It’s a very different place than UT Austin. It is in a college town in the middle of PA. There’s not a major city within hours by driving. Social life tends to center on campus–fraternities/sororities, football games, dorms. Weather will be cold/very cold during the winter.
UT’s campus is almost adjacent to downtown Austin (with just the state capitol area in between). It is an urban campus with school buildings right up adjacent to neighborhood streets and intermingled with them. It feels like you are in a city. Social life is in many ways similar to PSU–especially big-time football–but students, if they have some financial means, also have access to lots more music and other urban nightlife spots. Right now the city, which is very nice, is hosting the very big SXSW (South by Southwest) Festival, including many of the most popular performers in the US/world. Austin has very mild winters, though it might be pretty hot the beginning and end of the school year.
https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/music/
Academically, both are terrific. You can get a great education at either. Both have very large alumni networks, which can be helpful if you end up working in the US. It seems to me that UT has a higher international profile but that’s just my impression.
So which type of environment sounds most suited to you, in the context of cost?
Good luck!
@MYOS1634 @TTG, costs are not an issue. They’re being covered by my parents without any loans or anything as such. The tuition is pretty similar or the same (if I’m not wrong). So the cost is not a problem at all though they’re both a little steep but not as pricey as a private university (considering that I am an international student).
@TTG I would love to be in a city so that it’s more like home given that I have lived in Singapore my entire life. But maybe that’s because I do not know what it’s like to not live in a city. So I think UT Austin wins in that aspect.
I heard the job prospects after graduation aren’t that great for UT Austin compared to Penn State. From what I’ve read, it’s difficult to get a job further from Texas than it is if I graduate from Penn State. Is that true?
In that case, I’d pick UT. Austin is more fun and more temperate than State College and you’ll have no problem finding an OPT position from there. However you’re a student and as such cannog be coming to work nor will you be allowed to (beside OPT, which is for you to apply what you’ve learned.)
@stius4 I don’t know about UT, but PSU has more living alumni than any other college, anywhere. It’s hard to find a corporate environment that does not have a PSU alum. So in terms of job prospects, that is a good sign. I think you really can’t make a wrong choice here. If you are coming from Singapore, then State College, PA weather/climate will be a lot more exotic to you than Austin, TX.
@thingamajig Cold, grey & dreary isn’t exactly exotic. But that said, Happy Valley is beautiful in the fall and late spring. The best weather is on the fringes of the school year and summer.