College of Engineering

Mwallenmd
Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:45:05 +0000

The comments by samiamy and Fauster are good things to keep in mind. All three schools are nationally ranked major research universities that are commonly listed as “Public Ivies”. IMHO if you apply yourself the quality of education you can get is probably similar at all three. That leaves one with the non-academic similarities/differences between UD and the PA schools and the degree to which these things would play in making one’s decision. Pitt is urban, PSU is relatively rural, while UD is suburban. Obviously if you want to continue to attend school with your fellow Pennsylvanians then the PA schools would be your choice (Pitt is about 80% in-state and PSU about 75% in-state). UD is unique among flagship state universities in that 2/3rds of the students are from OOS (which gives UD a slightly greater flare of being a private university compared to most all state universities where the overwhelming majority of students are in-state). All three have very active social activities with active Greek communities. UD is about half the size of the PA schools. UD is a medium sized school with about 15,000 undergrads (though because of the way it is laid out it tends to have a much smaller feel to it). I don’t know about Pitt but the dorm situation is probably much better at UD than at PSU (unless you like possibly living in triples or in dorm lounges). Most all the classrooms at UD are within reasonable walking distances from the dorms. Obviously if you are big into “Rah-Rah” Division 1 FBS sports then the PA schools would be more attractive. Sports are still big at UD but at a Division 1 FCS level. One thing that most people would feel is attractive about UD is that Main Street in Newark runs essentially thru the middle of campus. It is full of restaurants, shops and the university bookstore. Many students socialize (and even study) in many of the restaurants (which cater to UD students) and the bookstore (which has its own cafe). I hope this info is helpful to you. Good luck in making your decision. Congrats on your being accepted to such fine universities for Chem E. You really can’t go wrong no matter which school you decide to attend as long as you apply yourself (which is probably the most important factor in obtaining a quality education).