UVA vs Penn State

[Anonymous]

Knew a girl (not engineering) who didn’t get in UVA so went to Penn State. Got a 4.0 first year and transferred successful to UVA, where her GPA was much lower, harder school for sure. Much happier at UVA.

Penn state is fine, fine. But it’s massive and it’s not going to have the same population that UVA has in terms of academic chops and intellectual ability. Does that matter? I dunno, it did to my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Knew a girl (not engineering) who didn’t get in UVA so went to Penn State. Got a 4.0 first year and transferred successful to UVA, where her GPA was much lower, harder school for sure. Much happier at UVA.

Penn state is fine, fine. But it’s massive and it’s not going to have the same population that UVA has in terms of academic chops and intellectual ability. Does that matter? I dunno, it did to my kid.

Wait, I am confused. Is your kid the girl (not engineering) who went and then transferred to UVA after a year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Knew a girl (not engineering) who didn’t get in UVA so went to Penn State. Got a 4.0 first year and transferred successful to UVA, where her GPA was much lower, harder school for sure. Much happier at UVA.

Penn state is fine, fine. But it’s massive and it’s not going to have the same population that UVA has in terms of academic chops and intellectual ability. Does that matter? I dunno, it did to my kid.

So is she your kid or not?

Lol. I guess it's hard to keep your story straight when you're making stuff up.

I like too that she's much happier, even with her much lower gpa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Knew a girl (not engineering) who didn’t get in UVA so went to Penn State. Got a 4.0 first year and transferred successful to UVA, where her GPA was much lower, harder school for sure. Much happier at UVA.

Penn state is fine, fine. But it’s massive and it’s not going to have the same population that UVA has in terms of academic chops and intellectual ability. Does that matter? I dunno, it did to my kid.

Wait, I am confused. Is your kid the girl (not engineering) who went and then transferred to UVA after a year?

nope not my DD, her friend. My DD got in ED and went. The friend wanted to go but didn't get in, so went to Penn State and transferred. Yep is happier at UVA in all ways. Penn State was a joke she said as far as academics and socially it was a train wreck. very shallow girls, vapid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Knew a girl (not engineering) who didn’t get in UVA so went to Penn State. Got a 4.0 first year and transferred successful to UVA, where her GPA was much lower, harder school for sure. Much happier at UVA.

Penn state is fine, fine. But it’s massive and it’s not going to have the same population that UVA has in terms of academic chops and intellectual ability. Does that matter? I dunno, it did to my kid.

The lower GPA could've been because classes generally get harder the following year. I take it she wasn't taking the exact same classes at UVA that she took at Penn STate.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What the hell is UVA? I grew up in California and and live in the Northeast. No one at my kid's private ever talks about this school. Why is this a thread?

Some people out west know about UVA, but I don't think it's all that highly regarded by most Californians, not like it is in the DC area, which is fine. It makes sense that a state school is more highly regarded in the region than outside of it. Only schools like Cal, UCLA and Michigan probably have a high national profile.

-40 yr CA resident

Outside the DC bubble, people don’t know Cal on the East Coast.

Whatever your petty squabble…that’s just not true. Now most know it as Berkeley.

How do you know this? Plenty of people know UVa and hasn’t heard of Cal. They’re provincial, just like folks that don’t know UVa

I mean hard to really know, but here's a couple of lists:

https://poetsandquants.com/2023/10/18/ranking-the-worlds-most-popular-colleges-universities/

Berkeley #7
Penn State #13
UVA N/a


https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140812131005-5832895-ranking-colleges-as-brands-using-big-data-textual-analysis

Berkeley #3
UVA #19

https://www.bestcollegereviews.org/features/the-30-most-influential-colleges-and-universities-of-the-past-century/

Berkeley #5
UVA: N/a

You don’t get it. Outside of your college obsessed bubble, people don’t look at lists like this.

I don't really care about such a list, either. But, I was responding to the poster who claims outside of the east coast, most people have never heard of Cal.

And when California posters stated that they either haven't heard of or disregard UVA, the UVA booster claimed the Californians to be "provincial".

I guess people all over the world, outside the east coast, are provincial, and only those who know about UVA are sophisticated.

How can you be sophisticated if you don’t know UVa?

Right? Like USNWR 2022/23 global list of best universities has UVA below T100, Penn State within T100.

Note: 2022/23 is the year before USNWR made changes to how they rank.

The global list is based on reputation and research. They don't have one for 2023/2024 year.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings

UVA #119
Penn State #84

(btw UMD #57)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally speaking, as a hiring manager, I have been much more impressed with UVA grads than Penn State grads. UVA kids tend to come across as much more sophisticated and polished than Penn State students.

Like a finishing school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally speaking, as a hiring manager, I have been much more impressed with UVA grads than Penn State grads. UVA kids tend to come across as much more sophisticated and polished than Penn State students.

Like a finishing school?

Kinda

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's say your kid wants to go into sports medicine. Which would you pick?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally speaking, as a hiring manager, I have been much more impressed with UVA grads than Penn State grads. UVA kids tend to come across as much more sophisticated and polished than Penn State students.

Like a finishing school?

The UVA kids are probably just a wealthier cohort to begin with. Probably entered college that way.

I went to PSU (undecided, liberal arts) for one year then transferred. The classes and professors were fine but the student body didn't seem very academically-oriented. Socially, it was a disappointment. I can find it believable that a recruiter would be able to pick up differences. When I describe my year at PSU, I sometimes say it was like camp for middle-class suburbanites. People actively craved freedom from parents so they could celebrate watching football and getting wasted. Pretty limited view of the possibilities.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Penn State is more well known than UVA. My west coast friends dont really care too much about UVA - for them - its just a state school

Nice try.

NP but this is true. UVA is just another state school to almost everyone who doesn’t live in the mid Atlantic region. I know that is hard for NoVa people to understand but it is true.

-former west coaster

DP- This just isn’t true. Anyone that doesn’t know UVA is provincial.

Yep. It’s ranked 21-24 nationally. Come on, now.

And PSU is ranked 8th going into next season by the AP and far more people follow and care about that than USNWR. UVA and PSU are both strong schools. For certain STEM majors, PSU is stronger and has a better alumni network.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were recently in State College and were so impressed by all the school spirit. I know UVA alums are enthusiastic about their school, but I've never seen something like the love for PSU. It is definitely going on my kid's list. It seems like it is a great place to go to college.

It really is. I’m an alum and I LOVED it. I live in Charlottesville now and comparing UVA and PSU are laughable. Charlottesville is NOT state college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For engineering definately Penn.

The Philly branch campus? Nah. You want to be in State College.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Knew a girl (not engineering) who didn’t get in UVA so went to Penn State. Got a 4.0 first year and transferred successful to UVA, where her GPA was much lower, harder school for sure. Much happier at UVA.

Penn state is fine, fine. But it’s massive and it’s not going to have the same population that UVA has in terms of academic chops and intellectual ability. Does that matter? I dunno, it did to my kid.

Wait, I am confused. Is your kid the girl (not engineering) who went and then transferred to UVA after a year?

nope not my DD, her friend. My DD got in ED and went. The friend wanted to go but didn't get in, so went to Penn State and transferred. Yep is happier at UVA in all ways. Penn State was a joke she said as far as academics and socially it was a train wreck. very shallow girls, vapid.

You got caught. . .

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What the hell is UVA? I grew up in California and and live in the Northeast. No one at my kid's private ever talks about this school. Why is this a thread?

Some people out west know about UVA, but I don't think it's all that highly regarded by most Californians, not like it is in the DC area, which is fine. It makes sense that a state school is more highly regarded in the region than outside of it. Only schools like Cal, UCLA and Michigan probably have a high national profile.

-40 yr CA resident

Outside the DC bubble, people don’t know Cal on the East Coast.

Whatever your petty squabble…that’s just not true. Now most know it as Berkeley.

How do you know this? Plenty of people know UVa and hasn’t heard of Cal. They’re provincial, just like folks that don’t know UVa

I mean hard to really know, but here's a couple of lists:

https://poetsandquants.com/2023/10/18/ranking-the-worlds-most-popular-colleges-universities/

Berkeley #7
Penn State #13
UVA N/a


https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140812131005-5832895-ranking-colleges-as-brands-using-big-data-textual-analysis

Berkeley #3
UVA #19

https://www.bestcollegereviews.org/features/the-30-most-influential-colleges-and-universities-of-the-past-century/

Berkeley #5
UVA: N/a

You don’t get it. Outside of your college obsessed bubble, people don’t look at lists like this.

I don't really care about such a list, either. But, I was responding to the poster who claims outside of the east coast, most people have never heard of Cal.

And when California posters stated that they either haven't heard of or disregard UVA, the UVA booster claimed the Californians to be "provincial".

I guess people all over the world, outside the east coast, are provincial, and only those who know about UVA are sophisticated.

How can you be sophisticated if you don’t know UVa?

Right? Like USNWR 2022/23 global list of best universities has UVA below T100, Penn State within T100.

Note: 2022/23 is the year before USNWR made changes to how they rank.

The global list is based on reputation and research. They don't have one for 2023/2024 year.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings

UVA #119
Penn State #84

(btw UMD #57)

Sophisticated folks don’t care about lists.