Which is best?

College Search & Selection
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<p>jefer1,</p>

<p>If you want the American college experience, any school offers a version of it. If you want highly regarded schools near or in a city, UPENN and Boston College are fine choices. </p>

<p>But, if UPENN students are honest, nearly every single one of them has made the trip to Penn State to experience what UPENN doesn’t offer and then they come back and recount what just happened to them to others … it’s Penn State. Purdue? Fine school but not where fun goes to play. </p>

<p>I get the sense that you want FUN in with your academics. That’s Penn State. They don’t call it Happy Valley for nothing. Huge music artists come to campus because they have a big arena and it’s on the way from New York to Chicago (or vice-versa). Football Saturdays are legendary. Alums start arriving in large modified party buses on Thursday. Friday and Saturday night downtown is insane and gameday? … there are so many people tailgating (i.e. partying by their cars) that it goes for acres and acres. People raise different colored balloons in the air so that friends have a chance of finding them. Everyone comes back saying the same thing, ‘I was trying to find my friends and made new ones.’ You can’t walk but a few feet before someone offers you a beer or hands you a plate and leads you to a spread of food that goes on and on. </p>

<p>Go to a football game there and you have 50,000 people shouting out “We Are” and 50,000 others answering “Penn State!” It is a sound that one can only experience not truly describe. </p>

<p>Logistically, it’s not near anything, best described as a self-contained oasis. </p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

22

<p>jenna,
Boston College and U Penn are the top two choices in academic terms, but they are way different in the type of experience that they offer. I’d dissuade you from Penn State. Not because I don’t like the school (I do), but for an exchange student, what they call Happy Valley is hours from anything else and I would guess that an exchange student would want to see a lot more of the country than just the college town that they are living in. And Penn State is big with 30,000+ undergrads. </p>

<p>For U Penn, this is all personal preference, but I’m not a fan of Filthadelphia. While U Penn has cleaned up their campus in the last decade, the surrounding neighborhoods on three sides range from sketchy to scary. The 4th side is a river and then downtown. But the academic environment is very good, though some might find it a little too competitive for their tastes. And Philly is an easy train ride to New York and not much further in the other direction is Washington. You should definitely plan to visit both of those cities during your time in the USA. </p>

<p>Personally, I’d opt for BC. Beautiful school and setting with underrated academics. Nice, energetic, bright students. Easy access to all you’d want to see in Boston, which is arguably the USA’s top college town. Lots, lots, lots of young, educated people. BC also has a major sporting scene which is a big difference from U Penn. You may not care, but it is an essential part of the quintessential college experience for many Americans. If you like or are intrigued by that kind of thing, BC would be the better choice. </p>

<p>Weather-wise, both Philadelphia and Boston have cold, sometimes snowy, usually gray winters. Spring comes in April…maybe…and by then, you’ll likely be almost out of school. Do you have the option to consider any colleges in warmer, sunnier areas?</p>

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<p>

Not more important than residential life. Over 80% of BC students live on campus…and as of now the OP probably won’t get on campus housing at BC.</p>

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<p>For the record, Penn has 3 Starbucks on campus. Beyond Starbucks, there are literally dozens of places to get coffee (the number of cafes per acre is off the charts!)</p>

<p>Anyway, I think UPenn would give you the best mix of academics (it is definitely the best on your list), the “American college experience” and the “American city experience” (the good AND not-so-good of it)</p>

<p>Penn State would give you lots of “college experience” but it is very isolated and would not give you much else in the way of American experience (UPenn is in Philadelphia, a major and lovely city and with easy train access to Washington DC and NYC–it’s right between them both).</p>

<p>I remember when I was in Penn Glee Club (a performing arts group of sorts) there was an Aussie who seemed to be on a similar short-term exchange program who was welcomed in even though he was only there for a short while.</p>

<p>As a former student of that university, I am of course hopelessly biased ;)</p>

25

<p>May be a stupid question, but I know only the general geography of the U.S not distances, so which school is closest to NYC? Also what about housing, which schools are nicest? And I read that Penn state got number 2 party school in the Princeton review, is that something that should make me want to go there or NOT want to go there?</p>

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<p>If you want to eat, drink, breathe, and dream college. Come to Penn State. Its 100% stereotypical ‘college’, and then some. </p>

<p>Take it from me. I go there. About to transfer out.<br>
Too much blue and white. I need city and nice cars.</p>

<p>Out of the OP’s list, I’d do UPenn given that he can get in.</p>

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<p>Is OP me? I’m not down with the collegeconfidential lingo :)</p>

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<p>Darn tootin’. “Coffee” should be a line item in every “Cost of Attendance” list.</p>

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<p>I’ll again try to answer some of your questions.</p>

<p>First, OP stands for original poster - the person who started the thread. So yes, that’s you. :)</p>

<p>Second, Philadelphia (UPenn) is closest to NYC - about 80 km. Boston (BC) and State College (PSU) are each around 250 km away (BC just under, PSU just over). More important, though, is how you’d get there and how easy it is. Getting a bit out of my knowledge base, but I believe it’s relatively easy to take the train from Philly and Boston to NYC, but it’s not an option from State College. Buses are also available, and I believe PSU schedules special runs during breaks in school. You might rent a car (though public transit in NYC makes it unnecessary to have it once there, let alone the hassle and expense of parking). Finally, most schools have ride share boards, where you can travel with another student having a car (one usually heading home) and share expenses. Potential pitfalls with that, particularly concerning the trip back. Basically, ranking schools by access to NYC would put UPenn first, BC second, and PSU third.</p>

<p>Not exactly one of your questions, but if seeing NYC is important to you, you’ll be most limited for that at PSU. I know it’s been said before, but it really is isolated. You’ll have everything you want from a college experience there, but that’s it - you WILL have to travel to be anywhere else of note. While Philly and Boston aren’t NYC, they are attractive cities in their own right and can act as much more convenient (and thus also less expensive) substitutes for what you’re looking for. It really depends on how much you’ll want to get away.</p>

<p>Don’t know the particulars of housing, but in general, dorms are dorms - a place to sleep and meet other people, but not a lot of personal space. Despite that, it’s the best way to meet people, and you should utilize them. If you have to live off campus, I think PSU will be considerably cheaper than the others. UPenn isn’t in a great neighborhood, so you’d be taking up time on public transit to get there. BC’s neighborhood is fine, but can be expensive.</p>

<p>Here’s my sense of what your options are:</p>

<p>Go to UPenn if academics is most important to you and athletics less so. Otherwise, go to BC if you can arrange housing on campus or, alternatively, off campus with other BC students and are willing to make the effort to meet others through extracirriculars. Otherwise, go to PSU with the recognition that you’ll be there most of the time and only get away infrequently and with some effort and expense. All three can work depending on what you want and what you’re willing to give up. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Oh, forgot about the party school aspect. Being a grad of a school often cited as the #1 party school, I’ve seen the plusses and minuses of such a reputation. For the good, you can really have a lot of fun! With so many students, even a relatively small percentage of ‘slackers’ amounts to a large contingent of partiers who don’t pay much attention to their studies. Often, party school equates to drinking, and with PSU being isolated, that’s what many students do for entertainment. Even so, if you aren’t a heavy drinker or don’t drink at all, you can still have fun. Many other students will be involved with other activities, so you don’t have to be drinking or drunk to enjoy yourself.</p>

<p>On the downside, many students get caught up in their new freedom and abuse alcohol, with the results you’d expect. This happens at nearly ALL colleges, though. You have to develop the self discipline to have fun in moderation while keeping your purpose for being in college at the forefront. It may mean you’ll feel a little more peer pressure to conform if you’re with that sort of crowd, but you can probably get along without going overboard. Note that you will see lots of drunk students on Thursday-Saturday nights.</p>

<p>One last note: be safe when out partying. Don’t get in a car with someone who’s been drinking (not usually necessary at PSU), and be careful about being alone with a guy who’s had too much (especially if you’re in the same condition), as unwanted or unintended sexual consequences are much more common when alcohol is involved and judgment is impaired. But then, you already knew that!</p>

<p>All in all, I wouldn’t place much emphasis on that ranking, other than it means the school won’t be boring (and fun IS one of your criteria).</p>

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<p>Logistically, Penn State isn’t great but too much is being made about it. It’s just a four hour drive to New York City. So, big whoop. Penn State has an airport with flights to Pittsburgh and Philly so you can get a connecting flight to Los Angeles or Miami. That not great but you’re only going to have two big school breaks anyway so …</p>

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<p>Penn isn’t that competitive. Most exchange students I’ve encountered have the time of their lives at Penn. You’re right in Philly and a short train ride from NYU and DC. It also has one of the better names among those schools internationally.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t go to Washington College. I’m from Maryland and I didn’t hear about till I read it in this thread.</p>

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<p>How much is underage drinking policed, as I won’t be 21 while I’m there? Our drinking age is 18, so university is very much a drinking culture but not in an overtop way because, well the novelty wears off when you’re actually allowed to do it.</p>

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<p>There is very little to no policing at most colleges about drinking. As long as you don’t do anything stupid, you won’t get caught.</p>

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<p>It is easiest to get to New York City from Penn. The city’s railway hub (30th Street Station) is next to Penn’s campus (with Penn’s latest real estate acquisitions, the campus now directly borders the station).</p>

<p>You can take the national train company (Amtrak) from Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station to NYC’s Penn Station (that’s right, Penn Station is not at Penn…long story). That is direct but a bit pricey. You can also take the two local train companies (SEPTA and NJT) to get to NYC but that requires a transfer in between.</p>

<p>Of course to me the best choice by far is Boltbus, which is not only cheapest, it requires no transfers, and has free wi-fi on the bus (connected to the internet via a cellular modem) and power outlets in every seat so you can charge your laptop, iPhone, etc…</p>

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<p>I have chosen Penn State, don’t ask me why, I just had a good feeling about it. Thanks for all the help though, you all have been awesome. If you have any other tips about anything else to do with college life or anything. feel free to keep commenting but Penn State is my final choice. xxoo
Aussie girl. aka. Jenna, or jefer1 :)</p>

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<p>congrats! You’ll have an experience that few international students decide to have. You will get to see what life outside of the cities feels like at Penn State and what life at a huge football school is like. You’ll love Penn State! Just go with an open mind, take advantage of everything the school has to offer and you’ll be fine.</p>

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<p>Hey all,
I don’t know how this works so I don’t know if anyone will pick this up, but I have a new question. I have to put in my application by the begginning of November and have only just been told that I need a back up in case there are not enough places, my exchange counsellor suggested Virginia Tech.
Now I never even considered it but he suggested it because he thought it would be the most similar to Penn State of all the other partner univeristies, now that is all well and good but he’s an Australian, what does he really know? So if anyone could give me an opinion on Virginia Tech based on the fact that I am a psychology/Sociology student who is also into music and drama, looking for a school that is fun as well as academic.
What are your thoughts?</p>

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<p>Hi jefer,
I would say that your counselor was pretty accurate in comparing Penn State with Virginia Tech. Both are in rural areas, both are large state schools with a fun, yet academic environment. VT isn’t well known for subjects like psychology or sociology, but they are trying to increase their emphasis on the arts and are trying to build a new Center for the Arts in the future. </p>

<p>Tech is in a beautiful part of the state of Virginia, but isn’t near any major cities if that is desired- it’s about 3.5 hours to Washington, DC. The kids there are great; everyone we have met there has been incredibly friendly and warm. Hopefully all will work out with Penn State; you will love the atmosphere there- it would be a terrific place to spend a year!</p>