Hey guys! Please help me make my decision! I have to choose between Penn State University, which is a big research university, as you probably all know, or a private liberal arts school called Roanoke College. I got admitted to both, and I’m planning on majoring either in computer science or engineering (still undecided on which type of engineering. Which school would land me the best job opportunities after graduation? Which school would get me easy internships first year or second year of college? Which school has better science programs? I’m just curious to know where I would be more successful at, Penn State University or Roanoke College?
These two schools are so different that it’s hard to understand why someone would apply to both, unless maybe you’re a PA resident who wanted a small LAC, but applied to Penn State as a financial safety. Is that the case?
What’s your net cost to attend each school?
You realize that Roanoke does not offer its own engineering degree programs, right?
For engineering, it only offers a dual-degree program in partnership with Virginia Tech.
Many CC posters have cautioned against dual-degree or 3-2 engineering programs. Search CC for previous posts on this subject.
Roanoke’s CS program appears to be rather limited. The department has only 3 faculty members (one of whom is a visiting instructor). Many courses are offered only once every other year. What happens if one of those instructors resigns?
I usually prefer LACs to big state universities. However, in this case, unless Roanoke is much cheaper and the cost difference is an issue, I’d be inclined to recommend Penn State.
@tk21769 I’m an international student, but I have family in PA, which is why I applied to PSU. It’s one of the most widely known universities, with good education and such. I heard of Roanoke through friends. I applied there to take part in their dual degree to transfer to VT, since it’s one of the best engineering schools in the country. I’m also planning on doing the 2+2 program at PSU, where i’ll be doing 2 years at Altoona then 2 years at University Park.
I’ll be paying around $30K for both schools.
Go to Penn State. For one thing the 3+2 programs take an extra year. And Penn State is no slouch in engineering.
Not every high school senior just instantly knows what kind of environment they want to go to college in, and even if they do, many of them might thrive at more than one kind of college. I went to a small LAC but I think a large university environment would’ve been a lot of fun, too.
That said, I don’t think this is an LAC vs. research university question - it’s very particular to the individual schools. Roanoke doesn’t look like it has the curriculum to support what you want to do, while PSU is excellent in all of the fields you’re considering. Altoona and Roanoke are both similarly isolated - far away from any major cities but close enough to the university in question (Altoona is about a 45-minute drive from State College; Salem, VA is about a 40-minute drive from Blacksburg).