Best Schools in Pennsylvania

Cre8tive1 · December 25, 2005, 12:52am

AFter my long excursion in PA this summer, and not benefiting at all from it since I'm going to Amherst, I was just wondering what you guys thought were the Best Universities in Pennsylvania, I've been through all of the following in the past year. Guess I just wanted to know the 10 Best of them:

University of Pennsylvania
Drexel
Villanova
Carnegie Mellon
St. Joseph's University
Lehigh University
Penn State
Lincoln
Temple University
University of Pittsburgh
Miss Porter's School for Girls
Bucknell University
Swarthmore
Haverford
Bryn Mawr
Dickinson

Also, what is the flagship public school, because, after seeing all three, I'm confused at what the rank of the publics, or which is seen as superior to what, it seemed like:

University of Pittsburgh
Penn State
Lincoln
Temple
West Chester University
Slippery Rock

But that could be totally off, it was a nice state system, glad my sister will have this because in Mass, we have dittly-squat.

hyppsm4me · December 25, 2005, 12:56am

<ol>
<li>University of Pennsylvania</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon</li>
<li>Swarthmore</li>
<li>Haverford</li>
<li>Bryn Mawr</li>
<li>Penn State</li>
<li>Drexel/Nova/Lehigh/Bucknell</li>
<li>Temple/UPitt</li>
<li>Dickinson</li>
<li>St. Joe's PA</li>
</ol>

Never heard of ms. porters

Cre8tive1 · December 25, 2005, 1:01am

Oops,, did I type Miss Porter's?!! My little sister is looking at Miss Porter's, Dana Hall, and Emma Wilert, so I taking a look at them to see where she what they're like. Just want to make sure she in good ;) but I guess I'm doing too much at once :)

kcirsch · December 25, 2005, 1:07am

publics:

<ol>
<li>Penn State</li>
<li>University of Pittsburgh</li>
<li>Temple</li>
</ol>

runawaywithme · December 25, 2005, 10:52am

cre8tive-
Best of luck to your sister as she continues to look at all-girls schools. I'm currently a student at Miss Porter's School, and it's an absolutley wonderful school. I hope she decides to come here!!! I'd be more than happy to give any insight on the all-girls prep schools, and answer any questions you or your sister might have.

Good luck!!!

danashu · December 25, 2005, 1:38pm

Also Lafayette is a very good small lac.

SBmom · December 25, 2005, 1:58pm

Don't forget Gettysburg, Allegheny

northeastmom · December 25, 2005, 2:13pm

lehigh should be there too

Sorry, I did not notice that you listed it next to Drexel.

audiophile · December 25, 2005, 2:21pm

Franklin & Marshall?

ophiolite · December 25, 2005, 2:41pm

To dispell any misconceptions...the Pa higher education system is strange...

There are a bunch of ways to break schools up in Pa...

LACs:

Bucknell
Haverford
Bryn Mawr
Elizabethtown
Dickinson
Allegheny
Carlow
Chatham
Franklin and Marshall
York College
Juniata
Lafayette
Gettysburg
Swathmore
Lancaster Bible
Grove City
Messiah

state-supported publics:

Pittsburgh
Penn State
Temple

state schools:

West Chester
Slippery Rock
Millersville
Shippensburg
Kutztown
Clarion
California UP
Indiana UP
Edinboro
Lock Haven
Bloomsburg
Cheyney
East Stroudsburg
Mansfield

larger privates:

Penn
Lehigh
Dusquense
Drexel
Scranton
University of the Sciences Philly
Villanova
CMU
Susquehanna
Drexel
St Joes.
Lincoln

They all have their pros and cons and their own specialites and such (and yes, I know I probably missed a bunch)...

I listed those in no particular order...just in the order I thought of them and such...

Pa has a lot of great options to consider for all levels of selectivity and size/population/diversity...and the pure state schools have been getting more selective in the past few years...

I hesitate to make a list of the 'best' schools in Pa, since there are so many specialties to consider...

Of course the more traditionally though 'best' schools in Pa would be:

Penn
Haverford
Swathmore
Bryn Mawr
CMU
Pitt
Penn State

However, you can get an excellent education at nearly all of the aforementioned universities...

As for the best 'state' schools:

West Chester (good well-rounded)
Slippery Rock (for things related to sports...though I've heard bad negative things from a professor on the student population)
Millersville (arguably the best for education and special ed)
CUP (good for tech ed)
the others are about equal in my experience...

for 'state-supported' schools:

Pitt/Penn St. (they are equal in my book...both have strengths and weaknesses...one is urban, other is rural)
Temple (good for certain fields...but I think Pitt and Penn St. are generally more well-rounded)

That's my opinion and let me know if I left out any particularly good schools...

rbm23 · December 25, 2005, 3:25pm

Non-LACs privates:

<ol>
<li>University of Pennsylvania</li>
<li>CMU</li>
<li>Lehigh University</li>
<li>Nova</li>
<li>Drexel </li>
<li>St. Joes/La Salle/Dusquense</li>
</ol>

LAC's

<ol>
<li>Swat</li>
<li>Haverford</li>
<li>Bryn Mawr</li>
<li>Bucknell</li>
<li>Lafayette</li>
<li>Dickinson</li>
<li>Franklin and Marshal</li>
<li>Gettysburg</li>
<li>Juniata/Ursinus(Pre-med)</li>
</ol>

Public

1.Penn State/Pitt
2.Temple

By the way, I am going on a lot of prestige/acceptance here, as I'm sure most of the other listers are too. Penn State is the flagship due to its population, almost double over Pitt's, although Pitt and Penn State are considered equals in many areas.

Cre8tive1 · December 25, 2005, 6:10pm

Where does Washington & Jefferson fit in all of this, my school has two Washington & Jefferson Early Admits this year.

Also, is Bryn Mawr that good? It seemed a little disappointing to be one of the Seven Sisters, which are generally beautiful campuses in tip top shape.

Also, Lincoln was public, I'm positive, and a rather nice one too.

YoungCub · December 25, 2005, 10:28pm

1.) UPenn
2.) Swarthmore
3.) Carnegie Mellon/Haverford
4.) Bryn Mawr
5.) Lehigh/Bucknell (higher for engineers)
6.) Lafayette
7.) PennState
8.) Gettysburg/Dickinson/F&M/Villanova
9.) Pitt
10.) Drexel

5-8 are arguable positions, but I feel its a pretty solid list

I've also heard good things about grove city, but I dont know much about it.

ophiolite · December 26, 2005, 12:23am

Cre8tive1:

I stand corrected...Lincoln is a state-supported school with Pitt, PSU, and Temple

Blizzard · December 27, 2005, 11:01am

While I don't have the knowledge to be able to rank top 10, what I like about Pennsylvania colleges is that there appear to be many good colleges for a broad range of applicants.

ophiolite: Do you have any information on the University of Scranton? The few mentions I've seen on this board seem very positive.

dwincho · December 27, 2005, 2:25pm

Bunch of nice schools there, Swarthmore is tops. Haverford, UPenn, Pitt, Carnegie Mellon, Penn State, Bucknell, Franklin and Marshall, Villanova, St. Joseph's are all very strong.

YoungCub · December 27, 2005, 3:10pm

I must admit I favor Swarthmore a bit on my list because I'll be attending there :p but I think arguably Penn is tops ahead of Swat and Mellon, especially for business majors (all things included)

interesteddad · December 27, 2005, 4:05pm

I don't know how you could even begin to compare UPenn and Swarthmore. It's like apples and oranges.

One is a small undergrad only college. The other is approaching the size of a state university. Completely different undergrad experiences.

dwincho · December 27, 2005, 4:46pm

Different experiences, but Swarthmore is still a notch above IMO.

ophiolite · December 27, 2005, 10:23pm

Blizzard:

I don't know loads about U of Scranton, but it has been getting a better reputation each year it seems. I believe they attained university status a few years back (maybe 5 or so) and has been growing a lot. I think the main issue would be the city of Scranton itself. I've only been through there once or twice, but wasn't overly impressed with the city itself. I think the strong point of the university its reputation in the sciences.

Sorry I can't give you anymore specifics, check out their website for more info! :)

Best Schools in Pennsylvania

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

CONNECT WITH US