How would you describe the typical Penn State kid?

[Anonymous]

This was a school I had no opinion on until we visited. I think it’s really one you need to see to understand. We left pleasantly surprised by how cheerful the kids seemed, how well-kept the campus was and our DS decided to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From Pennsylvania. That’s the main thing. And often from suburban/rural central PA.

Can confirm, the philly suburbs definitely have way more UVA/VT/JMU bumper stickers than penn state. If people stay in-state in philly area, it's all philly schools: temple, villanova, st joe's, etc. Pitt is for the quirky SEPA kid.

Eh, I know families who live along the main line with kids at Penn State. A mix of public high schools as well as fancy prep schools. None of the families have any bumper stickers or car magnets.

If their kids went out of state it’s typically because they got a scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is a good description

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several Penn Staters as well and I echo what previous posters have said here already - they are good students, good at sports, like to be social and go to football games and party. Overall nice, well-rounded, average people, nothing exceptional.

The only thing that I find exceptional about Penn State is the school spirit which can be a bit nauseating sometimes.

One of the PPs you're agreeing with and I think of Penn State as like a public version of Notre Dame in this respect. Students and alumni have a very "they hate us 'cause they ain't us" attitude and are obsessive about their football team and some quirks of the school that people who didn't attend... just don't care about it. But it can be interpreted as jealousy (I heard a lot of "people are jealous" comments from the Penn State families we know during the Sandusky revelations, and just -- ick). I think people who go to Penn State or have kids there often have blinders on and assume everyone feels they way they do. But most people are indifferent to Penn State. My DH and his entire family are from PA and they don't hate Penn State or anything, but they aren't obsessed with it. They aren't mad that they didn't go.

Bahahahaha, I am sorry the bolded just made me laugh SO HARD!! Jealous of what exactly??? LOL

Yes, there are a number of schools I'd be jealous of....Penn State is definitely not one of them! I agree with some of the previous posters - how they handled the Sandusky scandal was simply disgraceful.

Now, I can add "delusional" to my impression of Penn State people.

Some people have trouble reading between the lines of PSU boasting.

When most people in the northeast (or Ann Arbor) boast, what they are saying is along the lines of “I’m great and you suck.”

When PSU people boast, what they are saying is something more like “You will probably never know how fortunate I feel to have gone to PSU.”

[Anonymous]

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

All types are there.

OP said average, not outliers. Of course there are very smart outliers at the top. Average student though? Midwit who boozes and couldn't care less about the school part of school.

[Anonymous]

The way the school handled the Sandusky scandal was horrible. It really lowered my view of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Eh, we used to hire a lot of Penn State grads, and I was always glad when they left.

Lazy, entitled, sloppy work. Many of them struggled with the basic parts of the job.

They talked about the school constantly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Eh, we used to hire a lot of Penn State grads, and I was always glad when they left.

Lazy, entitled, sloppy work. Many of them struggled with the basic parts of the job.

They talked about the school constantly.

What type of business ?

[Anonymous]

I know many very wealthy mainline families who send their kids to Penn State. And if you go to the nice Jersey shore towns, like Avalon and Stone Harbor, you will find Penn State flags everywhere. Whoever said that Philly is not a Penn State town is full of shit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was a school I had no opinion on until we visited. I think it’s really one you need to see to understand. We left pleasantly surprised by how cheerful the kids seemed, how well-kept the campus was and our DS decided to apply.

I suppose I will chime in. I am a PSU engineering graduate. Yes, I went there due to in-state tuition. On graduating, I wasn't saddled with a ton of debt. Main campus is nice and pretty walkable. The surrounding town is nice as well although the townies have a love/hate relationship with the university. I didn't own a car during my time there. I just didn't need one. I am not particularly sporty. I mostly hung around with my other engineering and comp sci friends doing the things nerds do, like programming hijinks. If you go there, you are a number. Your student ID number is your new identity. If you need personal attention, it's not going to be the experience for you.

Once you get outside the town, PA is pretty much the same as it ever was since the coal and timber industries left. That's PA in the "T".

[Anonymous]

Sporty, mildly interested in academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know many very wealthy mainline families who send their kids to Penn State. And if you go to the nice Jersey shore towns, like Avalon and Stone Harbor, you will find Penn State flags everywhere. Whoever said that Philly is not a Penn State town is full of shit.

Not sure if you are referring to me. What I said (or was trying to convey) is that while of course plenty of Philly-area families send kids to Penn State, it is viewed differently in Philly than it is by families in central and western PA. In Philly it is one of sometimes many good options, and is not necessarily more desirable than many Philadelphia-are are schools or, for more affluent families, out of state options.

In central and western PA (where we have tons of friends and family), Penn State is often viewed as THE option. It is frequently the first choice of both kids and families, especially if the parents are Penn State grads. There is just a stronger preference for the school above other options than there is in and around Philly, which has a different culture and different regional affiliations (as you yourself recognize in noting how many Philly families got to the NJ shore, for instance).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basic

haha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know many very wealthy mainline families who send their kids to Penn State. And if you go to the nice Jersey shore towns, like Avalon and Stone Harbor, you will find Penn State flags everywhere. Whoever said that Philly is not a Penn State town is full of shit.

Not sure if you are referring to me. What I said (or was trying to convey) is that while of course plenty of Philly-area families send kids to Penn State, it is viewed differently in Philly than it is by families in central and western PA. In Philly it is one of sometimes many good options, and is not necessarily more desirable than many Philadelphia-are are schools or, for more affluent families, out of state options.

In central and western PA (where we have tons of friends and family), Penn State is often viewed as THE option. It is frequently the first choice of both kids and families, especially if the parents are Penn State grads. There is just a stronger preference for the school above other options than there is in and around Philly, which has a different culture and different regional affiliations (as you yourself recognize in noting how many Philly families got to the NJ shore, for instance).

In other words, you are not from the Philadelphia area and you have no idea what you’re talking about. You can only talk about the mindset of the place where you are from. Which, again, is not the Philadelphia area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From Pennsylvania. That’s the main thing. And often from suburban/rural central PA.

Can confirm, the philly suburbs definitely have way more UVA/VT/JMU bumper stickers than penn state. If people stay in-state in philly area, it's all philly schools: temple, villanova, st joe's, etc. Pitt is for the quirky SEPA kid.

My Mom and Dad grew up in North East Philly. Mom came from a 1% family. Both Mom and Dad went to Penn State and loved their time there.

Mom said there were kids from all over Pennsylvania. They attended a lot of weddings of former classmates that had polka dancing. Mom had never seen this in Philly.