<p>That’s why I am leaning towards Penn State as of right now. But UConn is also cheaper because of in-state tuition and UMass is cheaper than both because of a New Englander Discount and a Scholarship. Why do they have to make these decisions so tough!</p>
<p>eromano333: To get into Smeal from DUS, (for certain programs at least (the competitive ones)) you need a 3.2 after sophomore year; I’d check the website of the program you’re interested, it has to be on there.</p>
<p>RedSox629 and aStyle: Yes my opinion is going to be a bit slanted, but I think Penn State’s engineering program is indeed better than UConn’s (not sure about UMass’, I’d assume so though); one thing to remember is to not base anything off of random rankings that people at U.S. News Weekly or whatever make every year. Look at actual surveys compiled by responses of people in the industry ([Job</a> Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ.com](<a href=“Job Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ”>Job Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ)), they matter more.</p>
<p>Overall, as an out-of-state student yes the tuition is ridiculous (coming from an in-state one) and the FA office has a tendency to suck badly, I’d measure if the cost now is worth the potentially higher returns you could get coming out with a Penn State engineering degree, which (from the link) employers value pretty highly.</p>
<p>Regarding engineering specifically, the first few years are weeders, and will really test your will to see if you want to stay. I can say from experience that it weeded me out, but I don’t feel discouraged at all saying so. As for clubs and such, most departments have their own clubs or societies and they make it ridiculously easy to join. I wasn’t in the College of Engineering (just an ex-engineering major), so I can’t go much more into detail. Like I usually say, take a while to sit down, and go through every inch of the website. It’s aesthetically unappealing, but it’s jampacked with info. </p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that the Engineering programs here usually get a crapton on funding from the government (which will probably continue after Obama’s visit), so that’ll increase your chances to do research here.</p>
<p>I was just wondering which hall i should pick to live in for next year. I think i want to live in pollock because its more centered in the campus. I heard mixed reviews about east so if you can tell me the real differences and the pros and cons about each dorm. thanks</p>
<p>If you want to meet people pick East because that’s where housing puts all of the freshmen and the people left over they put in the other halls. </p>
<p>Pollock is where most of the sororities live.</p>
<p>Pollock, as you said is more centrally-located and much more convenient to get to classes and downtown. There are actually a decent amount of freshmen here, and you’ll get put on a floor with all freshmen; so it’s not as densely-populated with freshmen like East, but it’s not like they’re sparse. I also find it noticeably quieter (something I wanted) here than in East, so I don’t necessarily have to go all the way to the library if I want some quiet time. Obviously that won’t be the case everywhere, just saying.</p>
<p>The rooms also have a different setup here, and I like it much better than the rooms in East (if you go on the housing website you can look at the floor plans in detail). There’s more open floor space here than in East, and the rooms are flat out bigger.</p>
<p>As far as East goes, the only real positive there is is that you’re with a bunch of other freshmen. And, if you mind walking (which yo shouldn’t if you’re going to Penn State), the short commute to Beaver Stadium. Not much else. If you don’t live in East, you shouldn’t feel left out, chances are most of the friends you make will live there anyways; add in the friends you can make in Pollock, and it’s a diversified friendship portfolio persay. </p>
<p>Obviously I’m a little biased because I live in Pollock, but that’s only because I’ve seen both extensively first-hand and don’t regret my decision to live in Pollock (except with my roommate but that’s another story for another question).</p>
<p>Do you know anything about Discover House (which is in Pollack, I believe)? Also, do you have an info on what the new dining hall in Pollack will be like when they finish the renovation?</p>
<p>Look here for info on Discover House ([Discover</a> House](<a href=“http://dus.psu.edu/discover/]Discover”>http://dus.psu.edu/discover/)) I don’t know much else about it, it is in Pollock though I can tell you that much.</p>
<p>The “renovated” dining hall is going to be aesthetically updated and will include more healthy options, since the designated “healthy dining hall” (Simmons) is closing so they can have more housing. Suffice to say there’s going to be more people going to Pollock in the coming years.</p>
<p>so i just got accepted to start at psu for the summer of 2011. is there a difference between starting in the summer than the fall? and does my academic performance in the summer have any bearing on if i get to return for the fall or if i would get deferred to a different campus, say if i do poorly?</p>
<p>Summer session can actually be really helpful as far as the transition to college and Penn State life in general goes. I didn’t do it, but some of my friends that did said they really enjoyed it and found the LEAP mentors or whatever they’re called to be extremely helpful. If you got accepted for summer, you either go for summer or not at all, I don’t think you have a choice to do Fall. </p>
<p>If you do poorly in Summer, then it just carries over into Fall, which you start a few weeks after Summer; it’s not like they won’t let you back for Fall if you suck it up during the Summer. However, during Summer you really aren’t taking that many credits, so it shouldn’t be difficult to keep up with your studies. Remember, work hard THEN play hard, not the other way around.</p>
<p>Do you know if there are opportunites for a non-dance major to dance? (any classes or clubs?)</p>
<p>There are a ton of clubs, chances are at least one of them is a dance-related one: [Index</a> of Student Organizations at Penn State](<a href=“http://www.sa.psu.edu/usa/studentactivities/search.asp]Index”>http://www.sa.psu.edu/usa/studentactivities/search.asp).</p>
<p>The White Building also offers a lot of dance classes, including Zumba (?) which apparently is really popular here.</p>
<p>How much is a membership to the gym or whatever would allow me to take classes at the White Building? I was told on our tour that there is an extra fee to use the recreational facilites on campus.</p>
<p>I went through this website ([The</a> Official Site for Penn State Weight Lifting, Aerobic and Cardiovascular Training](<a href=“http://www.athletics.psu.edu/psustrength/index_rec.asp]The”>http://www.athletics.psu.edu/psustrength/index_rec.asp)) which has a ton of good info, and it said it’d be $54 for the semester for access to: Rec Hall Fitness Center, IM Building Fitness Center, White Building Fitness Center, Natatorium Fitness Loft, Aerobic Classes, Pools, and the million tennis courts here. It says that “All participants in PSU fitness classes must purchase a Fitness Membership in advance,” which is something you’ll haveta get used to here because Penn State loves your money. Hope that helped.</p>
<p>Thanks so much ! I can live with $54 … I thought I remembered hearing a couple of hundred per semester. :)</p>
<p>I believe it was cheaper to buy the whole year and that’s if you know that you’re going to be using the gym for both semesters</p>
<p>I’ve got two questions. I got accepted into the college of liberal arts because I asked to major in Economics when I applied but since that time, I’ve done research and now I want to major in Biology. Is it hard to switch, is there a certain process I have to do?
And, I’ve heard that Penn State isn’t very diverse. Do you have any minority friends who have any complaints about that?</p>
<p>bkebede13, I’ve answered this question of your’s already in your previous post. It is easy. Just speak to a counselor at your FTCAP. </p>
<p>No complaints from my minority friends. There are a lot of minority student groups on campus that help.</p>
<p>Duke26, what is State Patty’s? I think the Dance Marathon is this weekend too. Thanks for the restaurant choices and we had definitely planned on visiting The Creamery.</p>
<p>Hmm how do I answer this lightly…a few years ago (five maybe? doesn’t matter) SAINT Patty’s Day (the real one) fell during Spring Break, so someone here made up a holiday called “State Patty’s Day” (pretty clever) as a substitute day to drink all day. It quickly caught on, and is now a full-fledged holiday weekend here where it will seem as if the entire campus is wearing green attire and is at least a little bit drunk. Students from other colleges flock to State College during that weekend, so the campus is going to seem extra crowded so keep that in mind. In fact, these out-of-towners actually makeup a majority of the crimes (used lightly) that happen, so we basically use them as a scapegoat to say we know how to control ourselves (which for the most part we do). And to try to put a positive spin on this, I really don’t think something like this would be able to thrive at any other school (at least that I’ve seen) because IMO the school spirit here is second to none. Hope that helped.</p>
<p>And yes THON is this weekend, I can’t wait to go watch.</p>