<p>okay so i'm having a really hard time deciding between delaware and penn state. i got into the honors colleges at both. penn state i got the braddock scholarship for sciences which equals full tuition, room & board. delaware I got the Stark scholarship which equals full tuition + research/study abroad stipend. Penn State is much bigger as a whole, but their honors college is much smaller and more selective (300 or so entering freshman). I like the location of Delaware since it is near cities. State College is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I also liked Delaware's campus more - its smaller and seemed easier to get around. Penn State seems to have a huge undergrad research program - especially for the honors kids. Anyone know about research at Delaware? Penn State also has its awesome alumni network which could be helpful for jobs and internships. I don't know. . . Penn State makes more sense in my head and when I look at the facts, but I really liked Delaware and something is holding me back from sending the money to Penn State. Any suggestions or opinions on the differences between these schools? </p>
<p>Are you from pennsylvania? If not, Udel has the advantage of a much higher percentage of out-of-staters. I much prefer Udel, I think it is a better academic experience.</p>
<p>i am from PA. i don't really have a strong feeling of more comfortable at either. I think I could be happy at either. I guess that's why it is so hard to make a choice.</p>
<p>Go with feeling. Do you find yourself more attracted to one than the other? At this point you're not academically sacrificing anything, so I would go with your gut instinct.</p>
<p>Congratulations on getting into the programs at both schools, as well as on the offered scholarships! No matter which school you choose, you really can't go wrong. However, if you're agonizing over which one to select, one thing you can do is to contact the department you think you want to major in at each school and ask them how many Honors courses are actually available/required over the course of four years in order to maintain your Honors status. Both schools have excellent research opportunities and Honors programs, but if you can't get into the courses you want/need at the Honors level, that won't do you any good. DD is a junior at UD, and loves it there, but has had problems getting some of her Honors El.Ed. courses, which messed up her schedule a couple of times and seriously ticked her off. On the other hand, she HAS gotten everything she needed eventually, and the Honors program personnel have bent over backwards to help her. She has friends who are science and/or engineering majors who seem to be doing amazing things in their labs, and UD's study abroad program is excellent if you think that's something you might like to do (DD was in New Zealand for all of January, and it was truly a life-altering experience). When in doubt, contact the departments and ask questions - the more information you have, the easier it will be to make a final decision. If you have a chance to re-visit each school one last time, that may help too. Good luck, and enjoy whichever school you ultimately choose.</p>
<p>thanks that's a good idea. i hadn't really thought about the availability of honors classes in my major. Though i'm not sure what my major will be, i have a general idea of a couple i would like. I'm going to visit PSU again since it is only about an hour away from me but i don't think I have any more free weekends before decision time to visit uDel and i've already taken so many days off of school for college visits! Thanks everyone for your input. Hopefully I will receive a sign on some kind that will tell me where to go. =)</p>