Ohio State or Penn State for engineering?

[Anonymous]

Virginia resident waitlisted at VT, trying to decide between Ohio State and Penn State. Currently overseas so not able to visit either one. They seem to be pretty evenly matched for engineering and cost is similar. Appreciate any experiences or thoughts that people can share.

[Anonymous]

Which discipline? I sell industrial machinery and there’s some cool stuff going on in the me dept at psu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which discipline? I sell industrial machinery and there’s some cool stuff going on in the me dept at psu.

Chemical, though recognizes that his interests may evolve once he is actually in school.

[Anonymous]

Both are excellent for this.

[Anonymous]

Do they prefer a college town or a city?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they prefer a college town or a city?

This has been a tough one for him (grew up outside the US). He definitely wants a 'campus feel' - which leans toward PSU (we think), but at the same time he isn't sure about being far from a major city. We are told that OSU - even though it is inside Columbus city limits - is a pretty self-contained campus (unlike say, Pitt).

[Anonymous]

How could you not have visited OSU?

That’s some minimum effort for an admitted student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How could you not have visited OSU?

That’s some minimum effort for an admitted student.

Not sure what you mean. We currently live overseas, so not easy or affordable to set up school visits. Our original plan had been that we would go back over Spring Break if he didn't get into Virginia Tech (his first choice, but waitlisted). Little did we know that by the time Spring Break had rolled around, DOGE would eliminate both parents' jobs. Hard to justify the expense of an international trip when we will both be unemployed by summer.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the job loss and hope your family does well. My kid was also waitlisted by VT for engineering, which initially was his first choice. We did visit Penn State prior to the waitlist and he was leaning that direction as the schools’ have a similar feel and Penn State’s new engineering facilities are impressive. I’m thinking if your kid liked VT and the small town campus then he would probably like Penn State, too.

Ohio state has a funky process for admission to engineering majors. The student has to meet a grade threshold and then apply. Admission is not guaranteed as is at
Penn State once you meet the grade requirement.

I don’t know your finances but it might make sense to go the CC route. Penn State and Ohio State are really expensive OOS and that coupled with not visiting would really give me pause. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you and your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both are excellent for this.

Agreed. Both very good engineering programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for the job loss and hope your family does well. My kid was also waitlisted by VT for engineering, which initially was his first choice. We did visit Penn State prior to the waitlist and he was leaning that direction as the schools’ have a similar feel and Penn State’s new engineering facilities are impressive. I’m thinking if your kid liked VT and the small town campus then he would probably like Penn State, too.

Ohio state has a funky process for admission to engineering majors. The student has to meet a grade threshold and then apply. Admission is not guaranteed as is at
Penn State once you meet the grade requirement.

I don’t know your finances but it might make sense to go the CC route. Penn State and Ohio State are really expensive OOS and that coupled with not visiting would really give me pause. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you and your family.

OP here. Thank you for your kinds words and for this feedback. I agree about the OOS cost of these schools. Luckily we have 'just enough' to cover in the 529 (assuming that the market re-covers somewhat). He does have George Mason and CC as options, but I hate the thought of going back on schools that we told him were options when he was applying. We have 2 others already in college, and they were both able to choose the school that they wanted. It all makes the VT waitlist sting a little bit more - but such is life.

Thanks also for the clarification on the OSU engineering - I had been confused about that. I will make sure that he looks into it carefully.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been to both a couple times each recently. We preferred OSU for the campus feel. PSU is very spread out and the engineering bldgs are on the far side of campus. It felt like so much walking and it is in the middle of nowhere. The facilities seem top notch though and after meeting with professors it felt like a good learning environment. Columbus seemed like a fun city and the kids we know there are very happy. However, I despise their pre-majors and secondary admissions process. Just doesn’t seem like it’s open to exploring the different disciplines because you automatically get locked out of the popular ones. Pros and cons to each.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for the job loss and hope your family does well. My kid was also waitlisted by VT for engineering, which initially was his first choice. We did visit Penn State prior to the waitlist and he was leaning that direction as the schools’ have a similar feel and Penn State’s new engineering facilities are impressive. I’m thinking if your kid liked VT and the small town campus then he would probably like Penn State, too.

Ohio state has a funky process for admission to engineering majors. The student has to meet a grade threshold and then apply. Admission is not guaranteed as is at
Penn State once you meet the grade requirement.

I don’t know your finances but it might make sense to go the CC route. Penn State and Ohio State are really expensive OOS and that coupled with not visiting would really give me pause. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you and your family.

OP here. Thank you for your kinds words and for this feedback. I agree about the OOS cost of these schools. Luckily we have 'just enough' to cover in the 529 (assuming that the market re-covers somewhat). He does have George Mason and CC as options, but I hate the thought of going back on schools that we told him were options when he was applying. We have 2 others already in college, and they were both able to choose the school that they wanted. It all makes the VT waitlist sting a little bit more - but such is life.

Thanks also for the clarification on the OSU engineering - I had been confused about that. I will make sure that he looks into it carefully.

I spent a lot of time looking at the requirements to apply to engineering majors, and the version that Ohio State uses where you apply but are not guaranteed your first choice, seems to be the worst. The best is direct admit, which is what I favored, but my kid doesn't mind Penn State's requirement of guaranteed admission when meeting the GPA requirement.

Both Penn State and Ohio State have strong engineering programs that should make your kid marketable to nearly any engineering company. We know a couple of high-level executives at one of the largest employers of engineers, and they specifically recommended going to a large public flagship-type school as they all generally have strong programs, with the Big Ten schools being particularly good. Penn State is also convenient if you are driving from NOVA, actually being slightly closer and probably an easier drive than VT and much easier than Ohio State.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they prefer a college town or a city?

This has been a tough one for him (grew up outside the US). He definitely wants a 'campus feel' - which leans toward PSU (we think), but at the same time he isn't sure about being far from a major city. We are told that OSU - even though it is inside Columbus city limits - is a pretty self-contained campus (unlike say, Pitt).

OSU absolutely has a campus feel. Honestly, OSU seems to take over Columbus, especially for football Saturdays.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I'm going to share some general impressions that you might want to corroborate with newer experiences from other people. I'm a bit concerned that your kid will have culture shock at these schools because they are currently living abroad/studying abroad.

I grew up in Western Pennsylvania. I went to PSU Honors for liberal arts freshman year and then transferred to Pitt. PSU in the 80s was too much of a party school. And it is in the middle of nowhere, PA. It's a very normcore and sporty place. I thought of it as "camp for middle class kids". Everyone was so excited to be away from their parents...but basically just so they could get drunk. The professors were good, so that was the saving grace of my freshman year. I had 3 in my freshman year who were insightful and interested in me. The problems I had were all with the social environment and lack of intellectual life among the liberal arts majors. Engineering was then, and still is, one of the crown jewels. So I suppose if I had been a male engineering student, I might have felt more at home. I worry a little about a kid who has been living abroad coming to this kind of setting and finding it underwhelming.

My sister and her family lived in Columbus for over a decade until 2019. She spoke favorably of the city. However, at work in the suburbs, my BIL felt a bit surrounded by MAGAs. They recently had the chance to move back and my BIL refused. I think Ohio State can give you a great education but you may also run across people with some concerning worldviews. Not insurmountable...but might affect friendships.

Since you're currently living overseas, I would guess that Penn State students might be a bit more compatible with your kid's expectations. Because there are Atlantic seaboard kids there (NYC, NJ, Philly).
However, I think your kid should expect it to still be very normcore.

Because Penn State is closer to DMV, that might even mean that the financial aid office has more pity for laid-off feds or something else useful like more employer connections to DMV jobs.

I also think it's wise to go for the program more likely to guarantee admission to the major. Sounds like that's PSU.

If you are financially strapped, perhaps consider having your kid transfer to VT after freshman year. Transferring did not have a bad impact on my college years. I wish I had chosen the right school from the get go. But it was a pretty painless correction.

VT/PSU/Ohio State are pretty comparable and I guess Blacksburg is comparable to University Park, PA. Given everything above, I think PSU is probably a better bet.