I am an international student. Got into the molecular biology program at both. (Might even change my major later) Having a lot of trouble deciding which offer to accept. Please help?
Purdue is more midwestern ( a bit more laid back). Located farther away from big cities. It’s the State’s STEM school so there’s a high concentration of people who want to study sciences, but not a great variety of majors or profiles/interests.
Penn State is about 4-5 hours away from big cities (New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC) and you can take a bus there. There are 12 different colleges, from Art to Agriculture (hence excellent ice cream :p) to Engineering and Information Technology, so the students’ profiles are very diverse.
Both are in a college town.
Adding to the above comment - yes, both Penn State and Purdue are college towns, but there is a difference. Penn State’s campus is very centrally located within the main part of the town. But Purdue is located a bit off (and I believe across a river) from the town. Granted - I have never been to West Lafayette, but this is what my husband and son told me after they visited the campus.