Thanks for the reply!, any more thoughts?
bump
I live close to both Immaculata and West Chester and grew up/went to college in Philadelphia (many moons ago) so I will offer my parochial views.
WCU: A very cost-effective way to get a degree. Admissions are increasingly competitive (used to be widely considered as a safety school but that is not the case any more). Very strong for education and music, don’t know about math. Like @surfcity,I’m surprised you didn’t like the town. It is very walkable, with lots of places to eat and (since you’re a transfer so likely close to 21) a lot of bars. The new housing they’ve built to accommodate increased enrollment is quite nice. Some of the classroom buildings may seem dated but overall the campus appears to be well maintained. I know of several kids from around here who transferred to WCU after 1 or 2 years; they thought they wanted the faraway college experience but ended up back here. You mentioned 14,000 students–just undergrad? At any rate, WCU does not have an overwhelming, big state school kind of feel.
Immaculata is much smaller and private. My sense is that the academic level of the students is lesser than at WCU (partly because of the size). Also check out the commuter/resident ratio; I don’t know if there’s much going on on campus on weekends. And there is nothing around the campus for entertainment unless you have a car, and even then it’s just basic suburban surroundings – definitely not like West Chester.
Finally to St. Joe’s. Around here it is popular with kids from private or parochial Catholic high schools who don’t get into/can’t afford Villanova, Loyola MD, Fairfield, Providence, etc. There are some very bright kids in the Honors Program and they are offering lots of merit to keep their admissions stats up; but whereas I’d say WCU is a school on the way up (so is Immaculata, for that matter), I politely suggest that St. Joe’s is on a slow decline. However, it does have a pretty, traditional type of campus and the kids I know who go there are genuinely nice kids. Easy train access into Center City Philadelphia from a station a few blocks away. IF the math dept. is fantastic, I’d consider it more carefully but the premium price would give me pause.
Don’t know how important city access is, but since I mentioned the train:From Immaculata, you can take the train into Philadelphia (maybe 45-50 minute ride) from a stop that’s about a 5 minute drive from campus. West Chester into Philadelphia via public transportation is either the bus and el (takes forever, do not recommend) or you can take the train (about a 1 hour ride) from a station that’s about a 10 minute drive from the university.
Wow thanks for that response , that was great! So im leaning towards West Chester because everyone has good things to say about it, Immaculata has my interest only because of the math/data science program, so anymore suggestions will help!