<p>Let me take another stab at this. From your posts, it sounds like you’ve narrowed things down to UPenn, BC, Penn State, and Purdue. Here’s my take on each:</p>
<p>UPenn is one of the eight Ivy League schools (considered the most prestigious colleges in the US and including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton). It has extremely competitive admissions, even for the top 1% of HS graduates. Your peers would be bright and (for the most part) motivated, but as stated earlier, UPenn is considered the most social of the Ivies. The neighborhood around campus is not the greatest, but you can be safe by following basic precautions. Philly itself can be a lot of fun. If academics are your top priority, UPenn is your choice - a no-brainer.</p>
<p>Boston College is not “in” Boston per se, but it’s on the subway line (the “T”) which easily takes you into town (Boston is a great city). While a step down from UPenn, BC is still a very good school. Students tend to be white, middle-class, and from the northeast US. I agree that not being on campus could be a problem, as you might miss out on a lot of the college experience (and they don’t have a Greek system, so that’s not an option), but if you could arrange housing with other BC students off campus ahead of time (maybe meet them at an orientation the previous summer?), I expect you’d get along fine. While perhaps not tops in any of the criteria you want, it might meet more of what I think you’re looking for than the other choices.</p>
<p>Penn State is a public university, meaning the cost to attend for residents of Pennsylvania is relatively low. It is a HUGE place, dominating the town it’s in (there are several campuses, but the main one - University Park - in State College, PA is the only one you should consider. And no, you wouldn’t travel between campuses). School spirit is as high here as at any college in the US, particularly concerning American football. Academically, it’s considered a small step down from BC, but again still good with tons of majors. While you might have less interaction with professors and students in some of your classes than at your other choices, with so many people, you’re bound to find others with similar interests. Even so, it is very isolated, so it wouldn’t work for you if you want the urban experience.</p>
<p>Purdue is one of the two main public universities in Indiana and has a technical/business emphasis. It’s a little smaller than PSU in a larger town, but still somewhat isolated (Indianapolis - an OK city - is about 80km away, while Chicago - another great city - is 200 klicks up the road). It is renowned for its engineering program, but the liberal arts, while not terrible, aren’t an emphasis. Engineers tend to study a LOT and be somewhat socially inept, but the best of the lot are considered good ‘catches’. As an Aussie, you’d be considered ‘exotic’ as soon as you opened your mouth - I expect you’d have no problem meeting guys at any of these schools!</p>
<p>Probably WAAAY too much info (and yet it’s just skimming the surface), but I didn’t know what your baseline of knowledge was. It sounds like finances will play a big role in your decision. My personal opinion is that it’s unlikely that the differences you’re talking about are as great as the differences in programs - pick the school that’s your best fit.</p>
<p>BTW, not to throw a wrench in the works, but perhaps there are other partner schools which might also work well for you (though I think you already have a great list) - if you list them, I’d be more than happy to let you know if there’s one or two others I think you should consider.</p>
SUNY-Buffalo would give you your wish of seeing snow, after which you’d likely never want to see it again (they average nearly 2.5 meters of snow per year!). :eek:</p>