<p>My D got in to Penn State and is holding out to see if she gets accepted to U Del. Could anyone help us by comparing your impression of each school? She is undecided about her major.</p>
<p>It really does depend upon your daughter's interests & expectations. Penn State is a big, fun party school with strong academics, great athletics & a rural location. UDelaware is suburban/urban, lots of great parties, smaller than PSU & had bad press recently over housing/dorm RA's questioning students about their sexual practices.</p>
<p>Did she get into Penn State University Park or a branch campus?</p>
<p>UD did step over the line last year with their residence life program. My son was a freshman last year, and experienced it firsthand. From what he has told me this year, they made quite a few changes and he has had no complaints. To read all about this issue, you can find articles at thefire.org. Just use the search option and a whole bunch of entries pop up.</p>
<p>I wouldn't let the reslife story bother you at all. I have had no problems this year.</p>
<p>since i don't feel like archiving news articles, can someone briefly tell me about the problems above? I wasn't aware of any of these. Thanks</p>
<p>FIRE</a> - University of Delaware Requires Students to Undergo Ideological Reeducation</p>
<p>Bad PR and pretty stupid, but really not a huge deal in my opinion. Especially since the practice was discontinued.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses. DD likes the school spirit aspect of Penn State and is really looking to explore many different possibilities for major and career, which is why a university might work better than a small LAC, e.g. Ursinus College in PA. I think she is a kid who will be happy to party on weekends, but not ALL the time. </p>
<p>I have the impression, based on very little I'll admit, that U Del is somewhat more challenging academically, which would be a good thing. And is the crime issue really a problem? Just for perspective, we live near NYC.</p>
<p>Oh, and yes, it's University Park.</p>
<p>"I have the impression, based on very little I'll admit, that U Del is somewhat more challenging academically, which would be a good thing."</p>
<p>I will admit I am biased, as I did attend Penn State UP, but I am surprised that you believe Penn State UP would be easier considering that it outranks Delaware in national university ranking. Obviously, it will depend upon the major your D has chosen, but Penn State UP will be more than enough of a challenge. Congratulations to your D on her acceptance, as I know many people that did not get accepted this year.</p>
<p>Both UD and PS UP are fine schools. I think rankings at this level are a little moot as both schools are similar academically. Go to the school that has the best program you are interested in and to the campus that has the right feel. I don't think you could go wrong with either.</p>
<p>I agree that Delaware is a very good school, but the only reason someone seems to believe that rankings mean nothing is when their school is not ranked as highly as they personally believe it should be. Penn State UP is at #47 in the nation, while Delaware is #71. That's a difference of 24 spots, which the number difference between Penn State UP and Georgetown. There is definitely a difference in difficulty between Penn State UP and Georgetown. I am not try to be condescending, but Penn State UP has better academics, facilities, resources, and is better ranked for these and other reasons. You will still receive a fine education at Delaware, but the real facts should be on the table.</p>
<p>IMO, I think that "ranking" are very much arbitrary and have little weight in the real world. In all my years practicing as a CPA and an Attorney, I can barely remember anyone asking where I went to college / law school. It just does not matter much in life. Jack Welch, formerly of GE went to UMass-Amherst. Michael Eisner graduated from Denison. And on and on. My son goes to Emory Univ., good school...but he would probably be just as happy if he went to schools like Penn St., UMd., UDel....</p>
<p>jec7483 - I agree with you that rankings mean something. There is a difference say between the # 3 school and the #71 school. I do not believe, however, there is a meaningful difference between the #25 to #100 school. There are first tier schools, second tier and so on. You have a right to be proud of your school. I just think that when you try to differentiate 25 spots on a ranking system that looks at a thousand schools you are splitting hairs.</p>
<p>Overall rankings are useful, but not important. You should compare how each schools ranks for the specific major. UofD is a top ranked school for Chemical Engineering.</p>
<p>"Overall rankings are useful, but not important. You should compare how each schools ranks for the specific major. UofD is a top ranked school for Chemical Engineering."</p>
<p>I am glad that only the rankings that rank Delaware well are considered "useful". HA.</p>
<p>Jec, your back!! Guess the action on the Binghamton page has got you bored. Honestly it is time for some self reflection you spend way too much time attacking people who do not agree with your views.</p>
<p>I only question people that tend to ignore rankings. I don't think they are the end all of everything, but they are important. The only reason I responded here was because of how hypocritical it was that he said that one ranking was not useful while another was. Listen, instead of questioning me, why don't you step up your game and learn enough to know what you're talking about. That way you can argue with facts rather then how it "feels." The problem with that is that if you actually did look into things you would realize I am right.</p>
<p>Jec,
I was not making a comparision between the schools at all. Just trying to illustrate why looking at the overall ranking is pointless. But if it works for you, then go for it.
Personally my choice would be UPENN over either of the schools.</p>
<p>The only reason I used Delaware is because it holds a top ranking in only one major: Chemical Engineering.</p>
<p>Fair enough. I must have just misunderstood. I agree that UPenn would be better than both, but I still love Happy Valley.</p>