Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
Penn State is the most popular OOS by both applications and attendance among students from my child's Fairfax high school. The relatively high acceptance rate is misleading because many students are accepted to branch campuses rather than the main campus. Getting into popular majors at University Park (the main campus) is much more competitive. My child had several friends who were devastated when they weren't admitted to the main campus.
Penn State is highly desirable and would likely attract even more students if the OOS tuition weren't so expensive. Penn State is at the top of my child's list, but as a recruited athlete, they're not quite at the Penn State recruitment level. If they decided to forgo playing college sports, they would be thrilled to attend Penn State.
The tug of playing D3 sports is tough. My kid chose Penn State over it, but the frat lax league is filling the void.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Here’s my question about Penn State for DMV families… why would you want your child to go there instead of UVA or UMD? Yes, College Park is a construction site and has never been pretty, but they are all three good schools with fun athletics and amazing academics. Why pay to go to another state’s flagship? My DH wants my son to apply there and I cannot get him to articulate why it would be better than our home university! Not dissing it- honestly curious. If you can afford it, why did you choose it? Just to get away from the area? Is it really the Happy Valley? What makes it the special place?.
School spirit. My kid is there and loves it. Very strong in certain programs, including hers.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For a Big 10 school, Penn State has one of the more rural, remote locations. State College, PA is cute but tiny. Compared to Columbus or Ann Arbor or Madison or Bloomington… No wonder Pitt is surging. PSU is a school for football fans only.
Bloomington is also small and in the middle of nowhere.
We are from PA. My oldest son had no interest in Penn State because it is in the middle of nowhere. We probably should have had him apply but we didn't. He is thrilled to be going to Pitt in the Fall. Kid 2 wants to go to PSU. They are so similar yet so different.
Bloomington and West Lafayette (Purdue) are both about an hour from Indianapolis, which is hardly the middle of nowhere. Penn State is in a great location as long as you don't want to be in a city. It's 3-4 hours from NYC, DC, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. I also believe it is one of the safest campuses.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For a Big 10 school, Penn State has one of the more rural, remote locations. State College, PA is cute but tiny. Compared to Columbus or Ann Arbor or Madison or Bloomington… No wonder Pitt is surging. PSU is a school for football fans only.
Bloomington is also small and in the middle of nowhere.
We are from PA. My oldest son had no interest in Penn State because it is in the middle of nowhere. We probably should have had him apply but we didn't. He is thrilled to be going to Pitt in the Fall. Kid 2 wants to go to PSU. They are so similar yet so different.
Anonymous wrote:
Penn State is the most popular OOS by both applications and attendance among students from my child's Fairfax high school. The relatively high acceptance rate is misleading because many students are accepted to branch campuses rather than the main campus. Getting into popular majors at University Park (the main campus) is much more competitive. My child had several friends who were devastated when they weren't admitted to the main campus.
Penn State is highly desirable and would likely attract even more students if the OOS tuition weren't so expensive. Penn State is at the top of my child's list, but as a recruited athlete, they're not quite at the Penn State recruitment level. If they decided to forgo playing college sports, they would be thrilled to attend Penn State.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I live in PA. Pitt, at least at our public, has slightly higher stats. Penn State still gets tons of kids from our high school. Most end up starting in the Summer. So, that is like an extra $8000. Main campus seems to be easier to get into OOS.
The branch campuses aren't really a draw. If kids get branched they will likely go elsewhere.
The business school is brutal to get into. But it is weird because our smart kids aren't interested in it. It is the borderline kids that want to be finance bros.
I just looked at this yesterday bc I feel if my DD gets accepted it will be for summer start. This year it was $13,500. ugh. She would not be able to get into Business, so would have to find another major.
Anonymous wrote:For a Big 10 school, Penn State has one of the more rural, remote locations. State College, PA is cute but tiny. Compared to Columbus or Ann Arbor or Madison or Bloomington… No wonder Pitt is surging. PSU is a school for football fans only.
Anonymous wrote:I live in PA. Pitt, at least at our public, has slightly higher stats. Penn State still gets tons of kids from our high school. Most end up starting in the Summer. So, that is like an extra $8000. Main campus seems to be easier to get into OOS.
The branch campuses aren't really a draw. If kids get branched they will likely go elsewhere.
The business school is brutal to get into. But it is weird because our smart kids aren't interested in it. It is the borderline kids that want to be finance bros.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Here’s my question about Penn State for DMV families… why would you want your child to go there instead of UVA or UMD? Yes, College Park is a construction site and has never been pretty, but they are all three good schools with fun athletics and amazing academics. Why pay to go to another state’s flagship? My DH wants my son to apply there and I cannot get him to articulate why it would be better than our home university! Not dissing it- honestly curious. If you can afford it, why did you choose it? Just to get away from the area? Is it really the Happy Valley? What makes it the special place?.
Because UMD from W schools is getting next to impossible to get into. My kid with a 4.7 WGPA 13 APs, multiple clubs got flat out rejected UMD and a lot of her friends with 4.5 to 4.75 WGPAs did. A few are actually going to community college at MCPS and are going to try to transfer in.
Parents with Money in my W school just paid full freight places Like Penn State, Pitt, VA Tech, UVA, William and Mary and went there.
Some parents on a budget did the community college or did schools like Towson, UMBC in state or did Delaware, Binghamton flagships school that give merit aid or did Florida publics as OOS tuition is reasonable.
To be honest Penn State is a bit of a cult like Notre Dame, Georgetown, UNC, VA Tech if parents went there the kids are going there sometimes regardless of cost.
And college is a MONEY MAKING THING. My kid if she lived in VA with her stats UMD would have accepted her with open arms. Instead VA is accepting her with open arms. They want the OOS tuition.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Per Bethesda Magazine, across the six high schools they track, 928 kids in the 2024 senior class applied to Penn State, 518 were accepted, and 70 enrolled. For Pitt, those numbers were 925, 556, and 38. And for Temple, 231, 135, and 29.Anonymous wrote:Penn State is extremely vulnerable to the demographic cliff, as Pennsylvania is facing a big drop in college-age students, particularly in the more rural parts of the state,which provides a huge chunk of its student body. They are closing seven of their campuses, the state government has deprioritized funding Penn State, and overall enrollment has declined a lot. It's big in-state competition for the same above-average students are Pitt and Temple (both are financially supported by the state). Pitt and Temple have both upped their game with campus improvements, better marketing, and newer programming. Penn State is still the same old Penn State it's always been, and it's losing out.
Just look at the DMV area. Lots of families visit and apply to Pitt or Temple (as well a top privates like Penn or Villanova), but not many visit or apply to Penn State.
Not very selective for OOS applicants, and crappy yield rate. Another sign of trouble for Penn State. Not enough in-state kids and not much interest out of state.
Penn State is the most popular OOS by both applications and attendance among students from my child's Fairfax high school. The relatively high acceptance rate is misleading because many students are accepted to branch campuses rather than the main campus. Getting into popular majors at University Park (the main campus) is much more competitive. My child had several friends who were devastated when they weren't admitted to the main campus.
Penn State is highly desirable and would likely attract even more students if the OOS tuition weren't so expensive. Penn State is at the top of my child's list, but as a recruited athlete, they're not quite at the Penn State recruitment level. If they decided to forgo playing college sports, they would be thrilled to attend Penn State.
Anonymous wrote:Here’s my question about Penn State for DMV families… why would you want your child to go there instead of UVA or UMD? Yes, College Park is a construction site and has never been pretty, but they are all three good schools with fun athletics and amazing academics. Why pay to go to another state’s flagship? My DH wants my son to apply there and I cannot get him to articulate why it would be better than our home university! Not dissing it- honestly curious. If you can afford it, why did you choose it? Just to get away from the area? Is it really the Happy Valley? What makes it the special place?.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:With Michigan State, I don't recall alumni and students coming to the defense of the perpetrators. It was universal revulsion.
At Penn State, their football-obsessed alumni spent years defending the perpetrators, especially Joe Paterno the coach who facilitated and protected Sandusky. And it wasn't just a few crazed fans, but was a majority opinion for years among alumni in surveys. That's the troubling legacy at Penn State.
And of course, it is a lackluster school academically.
How is it lacklustre? I’ve heard that for some programs/majors it compares to the ivies and/or is better.
Ummmm, no!
Compares to ivies and is better? What kool aid are you drinking! Not even close ……
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Here’s my question about Penn State for DMV families… why would you want your child to go there instead of UVA or UMD? Yes, College Park is a construction site and has never been pretty, but they are all three good schools with fun athletics and amazing academics. Why pay to go to another state’s flagship? My DH wants my son to apply there and I cannot get him to articulate why it would be better than our home university! Not dissing it- honestly curious. If you can afford it, why did you choose it? Just to get away from the area? Is it really the Happy Valley? What makes it the special place?.
Most OOS kids aiming for PSU probably can’t get into those two, especially UVA.