<p>I want to major in business and minor in theatre.</p>
<p>Is this school good for both those areas?</p>
<p>I want to someday work in the entertainment industry.</p>
<p>Also is it possible to double major in these two areas?</p>
<p>I would appreciate your answers!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Smeal is rated Top 20 undergrad business, and has a robust MBA program as well. It has a brand new building and lots of momentum. My son will be there in the fall. </p>
<p>Can't speak to Theater except to say that a buddy's daughter is very active at PSU and loves the program.</p>
<p>Look into PSU if you think a big school is for you.</p>
<p>The business program here is amazing, either top 20 or top 15. I am not sure about theatre, but I would assume the program would be strong as well. Honestly, just come and visit. The new business buildings are gorgeous. I had a class in one of them last semester. You will love the campus and the people. Try to come during the year, so that you can see the school when all the students are around. You will get a feel for the pride that everyone has in the school and how it feels like a second home when you are here.</p>
<p>I wouldn't call it amazing at all. It's good, but not amazing.</p>
<p>looks awesome to me</p>
<p>yeah Mightynick, amazing pretty much covers it. Have you seen the new buildings, or the rankings? You should probably check those out.</p>
<p>my son is a business major (finance) at PSU and it's a very good program. Of course, it's not comparable to the tippy top business programs like Wharton. But the school has made considerable investments in professors and infrastructure lately and I think the program is on its way up. We know recent grads who are doing well and current juniors who have locked up great internships.
If you keep a good GPA and get involved in things like the Investment Club or Peer Mentoring program, you're on an excellent track. If you're hooked on things like prestige though, it's probably not the place for you. You won't get automatic "wows" from anyone. It's a good solid program - and you get what you put into it. Hope that helps.</p>
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yeah Mightynick, amazing pretty much covers it. Have you seen the new buildings, or the rankings? You should probably check those out.
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<p>Dude, I WENT to PSU my freshman year. I don't care if the building looks pretty. That doesn't mean anything. Have you seen NYU Stern and UMich Ross? Their buildings are crap compared to Smeal. But is Smeal a better Business school? Besides, until your junior year you don't take many classes in the business building anyway. Even my business school classes like Accounting 211 and Business Law were in other buildings. The only class you take in the business building during the first two years is First year seminar (unless you're in the Honors college or Sapphire program).</p>
<p>I have looked at the rankings and PSU is ranked 18th for Business. That's good, but not amazing. Stern, Wharton, Ross and McIntire are amazing. Not Smeal. Apart from honors college and sapphire students, the student body is mediocre.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong. PSU has a solid business program, and I would say its a very good place to go especially if you're in the Honors college, which is also prestigious. Apart from that however, it doesn't have the "wow" or "amazing" factor, just like toneranger pointed out.</p>
<p>"Apart from honors college and sapphire students, the student body is mediocre".
Some of the kids we know with top internships and jobs are not honors and not sapphire. So, it really is what you make of it. There may be slackers but there's no need to let them drag you down.
Although, yes, I agree that AMAZING is too strong. Especially if it's prestige you're after.</p>
<p>^^ Of course. I'm just making generalizations based on my experience :). I joined the Penn State Investment Association and there were a few really smart non-schreyer and non-sapphire kids that were lead analysts or associate analysts. However, those in lead positions (especially the President) are usually schreyers honors college students. </p>
<p>Oh, and if you're a Finance major and looking for an investment banking job, don't go to PSU unless you're in Schreyers or have some amazing connections. A Merril Lynch representative specifically told me that at an Accounting Society event.</p>
<p>MightyNick, what do you think of PSU's engineering program? Which looks better: 4.0 regular engineering or 3.3 in SHC and engineering?</p>
<p>Also, why didn't you stay for sophomore year and apply to SHC for junior entrance?</p>
<p>PSU is very well respected for engineering. In fact, PSU is mostly known for its reputation in engineering, apart from meteorology. Obviously a 4.0 would look better, but I highly doubt that you'll get a 3.3 in SHC if you can manage a 4.0 in regular engineering. Its not as if SHC classes are harder than regular classes - the difficulty should be more or less the same. The only difference is that your classes will be smaller, you''ll have better interaction with your teachers and you'll be surrounded with smarter kids. Also, as a SHC student, you need to write a senior thesis, which I heard is a lot of work!! </p>
<p>I could've stayed and applied to SHC for junior entrance, but they only take a total of 75 kids from all of PSU. It's super competitive, and you also have to prove your love for research in your application. I personally thought it would've been a big risk to turn down UMich for something I wasn't guranteed. Besides, I'm paying full tuition at PSU (around 33K) and Michigan is only 7-8K more. However, if I were in-state or received a reasonable amount of scholarship money for PSU I might have stayed there.</p>
<p>^ I agree. If you are getting a 4.0 regular, you should be able to get something similar in shc, especially fresh and soph years. If you are an english major, for example, very few classes are honors. In engineering, there are more honors course (mostly math) that go a lot more into theory and applications, but you do get more attention and time than the regular classes. It is matter of having strong study habits and doing most of the studying from the book. </p>
<p>I don't think shc is impossibly selective, though. If you have a strong gpa and an sat somewhere in 1350+, you will have a very good shot. The honors at suny at stony brook only takes 60 out of 2400 students, for instance. In mightynick's case, there would only be a very limitted number of honors courses to choose from in his major, so it wouldn't make much of a difference. The obvious advantages would be the distinction, seminars, thesis ,of course.</p>
<p>Like mightynick, one of the things I feel PSU lacks is a "professional feel" to it. Like nick said, they have good buildings but once you go inside, it has a typical school interior. I have been at Stern, and the business facilitiesthere are more modern and well preserved.</p>
<p>Speaking from what I hear from my son, SHC courses are smaller and more intense...not necessarily harder...depends on the teacher. If you skip, the teachers DO notice. He had honors accounting with the dept head as the teacher. VERY hard...much more work than what his peers in the regular accting class had. So it does depend.
There are some cool honors classes for business majors in junior year - where they put students on real-world business projects. Plus overall, the regular classes get smaller.<br>
Our friend has an internship in finance (NOT IB) with a large bank this year. Not an SHC student. If you want IB, be prepared to work your life away when you get there. IMO - not worth it.
Good luck to you all...IMO - it's more a matter of what you do and less a matter of the place you go.</p>
<p>Well said toneranger. If you're the type of person that is quite extroverted, street-smart, and has extremely good interpersonal skills and have the capability of impressing people as soon as you meet them, then I suppose it doesn't really matter what school you go to. However, if you're like me (more introverted than extroverted, hardworking and not the most impressive person you'll meet) then I think the college you go to is as important as what you do there.</p>
<p>^ same for me. The convinience of prestige facilitates a lot of things in such case.</p>
<p>good luck to you mnick - the few thousand a year more that you're paying for the Michigan name will likely be worth it - especially if the school is a better fit for you. I hope you enjoy your time there!</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>I do think UM is a better fit for me, based on what I've seen during my visit there. However, going to school will give me a better impression.</p>
<p>First, you spent ONE year here. I don't want to completely disregard your opinion, but one's experience freshmen year is different from the rest. A cramped dorm room up in east is not supposed to be the best place you have ever been. I am a senior at UP, so please don't preach to me about the ways of Penn State. </p>
<p>Second, referring back to when you said "Apart from honors college and sapphire students, the student body is mediocre", I hate to break it to you, but Michigan is far from an Ivy league school. It is a good school, but don't expect the "wow" factor that you seem to think will come along with the diploma. I also find your smug view of the Penn State student body humorous. You probably were in a bunch of low level classes with future comm majors. Congrats on ruling your little world. There is nobody that will immediately kiss your ass once you have your Michigan diploma in hand. I don't think Michigan is going to be much of a different experience for you. Michigan is almost as big as Penn State, and if you had problems fitting in here you will probably have similar problems there. A top 20 program in business is amazing. If 18 isn't amazing, then what is? Do you have to be top 15 to be an amazing program? Top 10? There are more than 4-5 amazing business programs in the country.</p>
<p>Lastly, I think you need to get off your high horse. Did you even get into the business school at Michigan? Doubtful. Despite what you may believe, you are not the omniscient being of the collegiate world. Again, you have been in college ONE year. Keep is up for 3 more years, then maybe you can start patting yourself on the back.</p>
<p>First of all, I did not live in East. Second of all, I didn't take easy classes and nor was I a comm major. Thirdly, I was in the Sapphire program in the Smeal school of Business. And fourthly, stop being so obnoxious. A top 20 business program is amazing? You call kids with 3.0+ gpas and 1900 SAT's amazing? I'm sorry to break your heart, but if you call that amazing then you have low standards.</p>
<p>I've visited Michigan and I immediately felt that the atmosphere was a lot different than Penn State. And why would I have trouble settling in when Michigan is much more diverse than Penn State? I value diversity highly and at Happy Valley I don't see many people that aren't obnoxious white frat boys (maybe you are one too). It may be as big as Penn State but the student body is much better. I never said its an ivy league school, but its not just another state school like PSU either. It definately has more prestige than PSU. Maybe you should go out more rather than being in your own little world you obnoxious brat, before making comments like "There is nobody that will immediately kiss your ass once you have your Michigan diploma in hand". The fact is, Michigan is BETTER than Penn State overall. Yes there are similarities such as both schools are in the Big 10 and have large undergrad and grad populations. But the similarities end there. </p>
<p>And lastly, whatever you say, you will not change my opinion that quite a large number of PSU kids are average. 80% of the kids care about nothing except partying or their social lives and those that actually do care about academics are quite few. Maybe you're just jealous that you couldn't get into Michigan in the first place. In my opinion, only a retard would go to Penn State over Michigan unless he was in-state, received some good scholarship money, or was in the Honors program. I don't care if you're a senior at PSU - that doesn't make your opinion more qualified. 1 whole year is generally enough to give you a good impression of the university. I have nothing against PSU - I love the clean campus, proximity to home, rural location, the resources available to us, etc. However, I just don't like the student body, and when people like you post demeaning comments like that, I feel that I've been proved right.</p>