Penn State and multiple campuses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that school has major issues that will take years to work out before anybody should send their kid there.

A few not-so-good men do NOT define an entire school.

No, they don't, but this is going to take a generation to recover from. Financially, as one pp mentioned, there will be multiple civil suits. Certainly kids who were on the fence are going to chose the other school they were considering. Kids with options will go elsewhere, meaning incoming classes won't be as competitive. I think you can expect to see the closing of a few branch campuses as enrollment drops. They're not likely to let that affect the main campus. No one knows what's going to happen to the football program, but, especially if the rumors are true about Sandusky still having a role in recruiting, I think it's ikely they will face sanctions including suspension. Joe Paterno is synonymous with Penn State. That used to be a good thing. But I wouldn't want to be looking for a job (as a new graduate) with Penn State on my resume now. Does it reflect poorly on the applicant? No, but it's a distraction. I wouldn't want child rape to be the first thing someone thinks of when looking at my resume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that school has major issues that will take years to work out before anybody should send their kid there.

A few not-so-good men do NOT define an entire school.

In this case, unfortunately, they do.... JoePa WAS Penn State...

[Anonymous]

my kid just crossed it off his list. if they don't have the common sense to suspend the football program..they should be crossed off everybodies list forever. crap...UMD, UVA and UNC are the only elite state large publics left on the east coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the point is that almost no one chooses to go a branch campus first. If the goal is to get to PSU-University Park at any cost, then branch campus is a route. Seems an unusual path for an out of stater. (Similarly, any VA resident can go to NVCC for 2 years, get a certain GPA and be guaranteed admission at any VA state school -- including UVa and W&M).

These are also less desirable jobs for faculty. The top faculty will want to be at the flag ship campus. You will also find faculty with a wider variety of specializations at the flag ship campus. The branch campuses (back when I was on the market) appeared to be looking for generalists who could teach a wide variety of classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the point is that almost no one chooses to go a branch campus first. If the goal is to get to PSU-University Park at any cost, then branch campus is a route. Seems an unusual path for an out of stater. (Similarly, any VA resident can go to NVCC for 2 years, get a certain GPA and be guaranteed admission at any VA state school -- including UVa and W&M).

These are also less desirable jobs for faculty. The top faculty will want to be at the flag ship campus. You will also find faculty with a wider variety of specializations at the flag ship campus. The branch campuses (back when I was on the market) appeared to be looking for generalists who could teach a wide variety of classes.

The faculty issue may be a good point…..but it can also be seen another way.

My brother in law attended Penn State – Altoona before transferring to the big campus. Two things that he mentioned that were advantages in starting off at the smaller campus. One: His entry level “hard” classes (math and bio) were fully taught by professors. There was no TA/GA component that you see in entry level courses at the main campus. Two: The smaller campus allowed him to know his professors and them to know him. Most of them know their colleagues at the main campus and he was able to get a personalized introduction in some cases.

I think a lot of it depends on the kid and what they want out of it.

[Anonymous]

My father taught at PSU (main campus) for a long time and actually recommended that friends of mine start at the smaller campuses so they could get more faculty attention. His large introductory classes on the main campus could have 500 people in them, and he relied on many TAs to actually interact with students.

[Anonymous]

I started at one of the branch campuses as an out-of-state student. The year I went the main campus was way over capacity (they turned study lounges in the residence halls into "dorms" - some had 5 or more students minus closets and places to put things), so a lot of people were sent to one of the branch campuses. It actually worked to my benefit. It was much easier to get into the classes that satisfied the gen ed requirements (vs. fighting for a small number of spots with 100's of other students at the main campus), I knew my professors much better, and I was involved with a research project that normally would have had grad students working on it. Once you hit 60 credits you are automatically transferred to the main campus. You could be as involved or as uninvolved as you wanted to be in the clubs and organizations they had.

[Anonymous]

Penn State?.........REALLY?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn State?.........REALLY?

Note that this thread was started before the scandal broke...

[Anonymous]

Wow, there are a lot of post from folks who don't really know what they are talking about.

The 2+2 program (2 years at a commonwealth campus and 2 years at the main campus) is nothing new, as I went through the same process 35 years ago, starting at Hazleton and finishing at U Park.

While yes it is easier to get into a branch campus than the main campus, there are also several benefits of attending a branch campus first. The most important is class size. at a branch campus, the class size will be 30-40, which a the main campus it is very common for a freshmen class to have 300+ students! Try getting time with a Prof when the class is that large. Another benefit is that tuition at a branch campus (especially for non-PA residents) is about $8,000 a year less.

We live in Maryland, and PSU is a fallback school on my daughter's list. Although she easily could get into U. Park if she desired (she has SAT scores and a GPA much higher than the norm), if she does go to PSU, it likely will be to Altoona or Hazleton for her first two years.

I will admit, that I also have some misgivings about the recent scandal. I will say that Penn State is much, much more than football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there are a lot of post from folks who don't really know what they are talking about.

The 2+2 program (2 years at a commonwealth campus and 2 years at the main campus) is nothing new, as I went through the same process 35 years ago, starting at Hazleton and finishing at U Park.

While yes it is easier to get into a branch campus than the main campus, there are also several benefits of attending a branch campus first. The most important is class size. at a branch campus, the class size will be 30-40, which a the main campus it is very common for a freshmen class to have 300+ students! Try getting time with a Prof when the class is that large. Another benefit is that tuition at a branch campus (especially for non-PA residents) is about $8,000 a year less.

We live in Maryland, and PSU is a fallback school on my daughter's list. Although she easily could get into U. Park if she desired (she has SAT scores and a GPA much higher than the norm), if she does go to PSU, it likely will be to Altoona or Hazleton for her first two years.

I will admit, that I also have some misgivings about the recent scandal. I will say that Penn State is much, much more than football.

I think you should take off the PSU Blue glasses and cross this school off the list. Things aren't what they were 35 years ago. Or 3 weeks ago. There's going to be a lot more downsides before there are any upsides to attending PSU for an out-of-stater "much higher than the norm." Seriously.