After 8 years at Purdue (Indiana), I'm comfortable saying it's a great place for engineers, scientists, cloistered academics and alcoholics, and not a good place at all for people looking for "the American experience" as it were.

If you're considering the US and want a vibrant night life, I'd aim for the Chicago area or NYC. Chicago has like 5 major universities that are worth checking out and close enough to the city to have good city-experience life (University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, Loyola, Northwestern, Depaul -- ymmv on several of them depending on stated religious preference and their policies). California's also a good place to go, with the UC system and all.