<p>Hi, I am an international student. I will be studying in the US for one semester. I have to choose between these schools. Can you rank them for me?</p>
<ul>
<li>Purdue</li>
<li>Indiana-Purdue</li>
<li>Illinois Urbana Champaign</li>
<li>Boston University</li>
<li>George Washington</li>
<li>Syracuse</li>
<li>West Virginia</li>
</ul>
<p>Which one is the most prestigious and which one is the least? Thanks.</p>
<p>What field are you planning to study?</p>
<p>If you could tell us what you want to study and what type of environment you are interested in, then people could give you some worthwhile feedback. How much do you like to spend time in cities, for example? How much do you like cold climates (particularly during a fall or spring semester)? </p>
<p>For most international students who are only going to be in the US for a short time, they want to be some place where they can easily travel to other cities for a weekend. That often means being along the northeast rail corridor between Boston and Washington DC. In much of the rest of the country, rail service is infrequent or non-existent. In the northeast, it is often easy to jump on regularly scheduled bus service to other cities. In comparison, if you are at West Virginia, it will take you many hours to get to any major city other than Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>If you have an interest in government, American University offers a one semester “Washington Semester” program on a regular basis. It is in DC.</p>
<p>“Prestige” is often BS anyway.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, I will be studying Mechanical Engineering.</p>
<p>My main purpose is of course to travel around and see as many places in the US as possible. I must be able to reach main cities easily. But I don’t want to go to a crap school just for entertainment.</p>
<p>I’d appreciate any feedback on those schools. Anything at all. :)</p>
<p>They’re all pretty good schools! The U. of Illinois has some of the best engineering programs in the nation. However, George Washington U or Boston U are in more exciting locations, and it’s easy to travel to other cities on public transportation as well from either DC or Boston. That would be a crucial factor for me if I were spending time in a foreign country. If you go to Syracuse, West Virginia, Illinois, or Purdue you aren’t likely to be able to travel that easily unless you have access to a car, or can afford to fly. As charlieschm indicated, public transportation options outside the northeastern US are often lacking, and distances between the attractions can be daunting. The U. of Illinois is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Chicago; Syracuse is about a 5 hour drive from New York City.</p>
<p>Penn State in State College PA has excellent engineering programs. However, you would need to take a few hour bus ride to get to Phila or 1.5 hours to the Amtrak station in Harrisburg, PA. I understand the University regularly charters buses for students to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Harrisburg and other cities when there are breaks. </p>
<p>Villanova University outside of Phila. also has good engineering programs. You can take a commuter train from the campus to the Amtrak station in Phila. Phila is very centrally located to see the whole northeast.</p>
<p>As far as “prestige”, the main ranking is by US News. They ask college presidents to rank how academically prestigious they think other colleges are. It is subjective, but that ranking is listed as a separate column on the US News rankings.</p>
<p>Unless you are going for a summer session, pay close attention to the weather for Syracuse NY. Lots of snow and long winters.</p>