My relatives are also looking at OOS tuition at Penn State. Is the school really that overrated and not worth it?????

We were all thrilled with the name recognition, but I think it will be a HUGE stretch for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Pennsylvanian with tons of friends who went to Penn State I just can't see paying out of state tuition for it. It's just not that great a school, it's in the middle of nowhere and the drinking is seriously out of control (listen to the This American Life episodes about it). It's not alone in that respect, but still.

As a former Pennsylvanian I can totally see it. Penn State is a state flagship with many top programs and has a much better reputation in the big job centers (NYC, Boston, Philly) than Virginia Tech. Nobody ever even heard of Va Tech before the massacre.

That's nuts. I'm from the Philadelphia area originally and I knew more people from my HS going to VA Tech for engineering than to PSU for engineering. PSU did NOT have a great reputation aside from being a HUGE party school. I occasionally help in recruiting in my national construction company and our East Coast offices pull way more candidates from VA Tech than PSU (specifically for civil/env engr).

That's probably because the PSU student has more offers to accept while the VT student has to take what s/he can get.

I get so annoyed with these BS "I hire more from that school over this one" or "I immediately toss resumes I see from this school over that school".

And of course "THIS" school is the more popular, prestigious one with the bigger name.

PP has a point about VT. Years ago a really smart classmate went to VT. We grew up in another town so I could not understand why a kid so smart would go to a "tech" school out of state. Sure it was my youthful ignorance, but also due to the fact that outside of this area VT draws a huge blank. Penn State does not and never has.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got accepted by the three schools. Engineer major. DC wants to go to Penn State and we live in VA. Is that a good decision? We, the parents, prefer VA Tech because of the campus (of course the in-state tuition too).
After graduation, which school offers the best opportunity for employment?

what's the cost gap?

Recruiting at PSU might be SLIGHTLY better. Check with career services and engineering departments to get a sense of where kids end up after graduation and who recruits on campus.

Tuition plus room & board at Penn state for OOS is about $42k for the college of engineering. In state at Va Tech is less than $20k.

PSU alum here from the mid 2000's.

that is a fucking huge gap. stay instate at vtech.

save the money for a masters at stanford or cmu or somewhere if recruiting is an issue at vtech.

PSU is not worth 42k. god damn that's robbery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Pennsylvanian with tons of friends who went to Penn State I just can't see paying out of state tuition for it. It's just not that great a school, it's in the middle of nowhere and the drinking is seriously out of control (listen to the This American Life episodes about it). It's not alone in that respect, but still.

As a former Pennsylvanian I can totally see it. Penn State is a state flagship with many top programs and has a much better reputation in the big job centers (NYC, Boston, Philly) than Virginia Tech. Nobody ever even heard of Va Tech before the massacre.

That's nuts. I'm from the Philadelphia area originally and I knew more people from my HS going to VA Tech for engineering than to PSU for engineering. PSU did NOT have a great reputation aside from being a HUGE party school. I occasionally help in recruiting in my national construction company and our East Coast offices pull way more candidates from VA Tech than PSU (specifically for civil/env engr).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Pennsylvanian with tons of friends who went to Penn State I just can't see paying out of state tuition for it. It's just not that great a school, it's in the middle of nowhere and the drinking is seriously out of control (listen to the This American Life episodes about it). It's not alone in that respect, but still.

As a former Pennsylvanian I can totally see it. Penn State is a state flagship with many top programs and has a much better reputation in the big job centers (NYC, Boston, Philly) than Virginia Tech. Nobody ever even heard of Va Tech before the massacre.

+1

Anonymous wrote:As a Pennsylvanian with tons of friends who went to Penn State I just can't see paying out of state tuition for it. It's just not that great a school, it's in the middle of nowhere and the drinking is seriously out of control (listen to the This American Life episodes about it). It's not alone in that respect, but still.

As a former Pennsylvanian I can totally see it. Penn State is a state flagship with many top programs and has a much better reputation in the big job centers (NYC, Boston, Philly) than Virginia Tech. Nobody ever even heard of Va Tech before the massacre.

I live in VA and wouldn't pay OOS for Penn State. However, my DC knows that price is an issue, that schools that don't offer enough aid to reduce the COA to within striking distance of VA state schools will be off the table. This is a discussion we started when DC was a sophomore. Is this a conversation you've had with your DS before this? If you have always given the impression that he can go wherever he wants, telling him now that you don't want to pay for PSU might be an unpleasant conversation. That doesn't mean you should pay the higher tuition if it will be difficult for you, but I think things go more smoothly if you have managed expectations all along.

As a Pennsylvanian with tons of friends who went to Penn State I just can't see paying out of state tuition for it. It's just not that great a school, it's in the middle of nowhere and the drinking is seriously out of control (listen to the This American Life episodes about it). It's not alone in that respect, but still.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got accepted by the three schools. Engineer major. DC wants to go to Penn State and we live in VA. Is that a good decision? We, the parents, prefer VA Tech because of the campus (of course the in-state tuition too).
After graduation, which school offers the best opportunity for employment?

what's the cost gap?

Recruiting at PSU might be SLIGHTLY better. Check with career services and engineering departments to get a sense of where kids end up after graduation and who recruits on campus.

Tuition plus room & board at Penn state for OOS is about $42k for the college of engineering. In state at Va Tech is less than $20k.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tech if you live in Virginia , penn if you live in Pennsylvania. GW if you want to burn money.

+1. I wouldn't even consider GWU.

+2. And if I lived in VA, I would not even consider Penn State.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. My DC really wants to go to Penn State. Well, guess that is it.

Yay! Happy to hear that!

Good decision!

Hmmm, I wouldn't be willing to pay out of state tuition for Penn State over VT. I don't feel like there's that much of a difference in quality and VT is also pretty heavily recruited. But if you are and your son wants to go there, awesome. Congrats and good luck to your son!

VT absolutely for engineering and in-state tuition. no question.

Anonymous wrote:Anybody who goes to Penn State after the institutional 20 year atrocity has no common sense or morality. Resume goes in the trash .

Your opinion carries little to no weight when you make no financial contribution, period.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. My DC really wants to go to Penn State. Well, guess that is it.

Yay! Happy to hear that!