How would you describe the typical Penn State kid?

[Anonymous]

Obviously, I am asking for generalizations here but I am trying to determine whether it would be a good fit for my DC.

[Anonymous]

There's like 30,000 "kids" there - at the main campus.

All types are there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's like 30,000 "kids" there - at the main campus.

All types are there.

obviously!

[Anonymous]

Go visit

[Anonymous]

They are the happiest and nicest. Great school. The only thing is that it is easy to not go to class because class size large but if you have a motivated kid it will be best 4 years!

[Anonymous]

You'll have every single type on the planet.
My husband studied chemical engineering and worked for a long time in the pharmaceutical industry near Philly (many companies in that area)

Almost all of his brilliant colleagues' equally smart kids go to Penn State. As soon as you leave the DMV (or specifically DCUM) many, many very smart (and successful) people are not obsessed with only attending top 30 schools.

[Anonymous]

Not as smart as the typical UVA kid but not stupid either.

[Anonymous]

A lot of kids from PA. A growing number from MD and VA.

One of my kids pointed out that every time we set foot in PA it’s gray. And it’s true: it’s a gray vibe.

There’s a social media influencer who is a junior, and at one time (maybe still?) she was paid to promote the school and it’s athletics. Her name is Katie Feeney (not sure about the spelling). She graduated from Sherwood HS in mcps and made millions as a teen influencer. FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of kids from PA. A growing number from MD and VA.

One of my kids pointed out that every time we set foot in PA it’s gray. And it’s true: it’s a gray vibe.

There’s a social media influencer who is a junior, and at one time (maybe still?) she was paid to promote the school and it’s athletics. Her name is Katie Feeney (not sure about the spelling). She graduated from Sherwood HS in mcps and made millions as a teen influencer. FWIW.

For some reason, this sounds very disturbing and raises a red flag about the school rather than being impressive even though she made millions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are the happiest and nicest. Great school. The only thing is that it is easy to not go to class because class size large but if you have a motivated kid it will be best 4 years!

Uum, not very believable. I agree it’s a large student body and it’s difficult to generalize, but I’ve met some pretty douche-y people from Penn State.

Also, the school has a bit of a cultish vibe going on which could be a positive or negative depending on the kid. My kid found it a bit too much.

Definitely visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of kids from PA. A growing number from MD and VA.

One of my kids pointed out that every time we set foot in PA it’s gray. And it’s true: it’s a gray vibe.

There’s a social media influencer who is a junior, and at one time (maybe still?) she was paid to promote the school and it’s athletics. Her name is Katie Feeney (not sure about the spelling). She graduated from Sherwood HS in mcps and made millions as a teen influencer. FWIW.

For some reason, this sounds very disturbing and raises a red flag about the school rather than being impressive even though she made millions.

Agreed.

FTR, I don’t have a kid there. The whole sex scandal coverup protecting their football program speaks volumes about the leadership and values.

Just putting it out there re: the paid influencer as a way to see videos, etc. from a student’s perspective. (I thought the dining hall looked gross in the videos.)

[Anonymous]

DCUM women are a bunch of fuddy duddies

[Anonymous]

Basic

[Anonymous]

OK, I live in PA, so I'll take a crack.

OF COURSE a diverse range of students go there. It's enormous. But, in general, the kids I know who go there are a.) well-rounded; b.) mild partiers; c.) good students, but highly unlikely to drive themselves into the ground piling on APs and honors classes. This is true even for those who got into the Honors College, which is pretty prestigious. They're just nice, smart kids.

For example ... every kid I know who goes there played sports in high school. They were mostly quite good, but not D1, best-in-the-country good. So they are there, maybe playing a club sport, definitely going to all the football games, and just having a great time.

[Anonymous]

SO MANY kids from my central PA public school went there. Most have parents who went there and they didn’t really look anywhere else other than maybe Pitt. Its goal was to get into main campus, but if not they just went to one of the many branch campuses. The main campus kids I grew up with were smart and sporty and rather conservative. They were not well travelled, bright, or cultured, nor did they seem to have ambition to expand their world in that way. Happy Valley was the ultimate for them. It’s fine for people that want to remain in PA, but students with greater ambitions should consider elsewhere IMO.