<p>Penn State sounds similar to Texas A&M, ie, very highly ranked and very good at what they do, but out in the middle of nowhere and nothing to do when sports isn’t going on. My friends tell me their kids have to drive over to Austin on the weekends to have fun. I guess that works for some people and I know kids who love Texas A&M, but my D would have hated it. She’d much rather be in a big city where the fun is not defined as football. That’s why she looked at Rice (houston), U of Chicago (chicago, duh), Pitt, U of Miami (big city plus good football), and Tulane (big city in a weird situation). She loved U of C where sports is practically nonexistent. She loves that Pitt is across the street from the Carnegie Museums, and that there is a strong arts scene with the symphony and the ballet. She enjoys sports, and Pitt’s basketball team is terrific, but she would feel like she was being strangled to death in a place like University Park or College Station, Texas. Different people like different things.</p>
<p>btw - your link to US News is to the newpaper part. No college rankings there.</p>