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Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
1

Hi All,

Long story short I didn’t take my studies seriously for my first two years of high school. I’ve changed my outlook and performed much better this year, but still it’s unlikely I will be able to gain acceptance to UP. The 2+2 program sounds like a great opportunity for people like me, but I do still want to get a University experience my first two years. I was wondering which or any campuses would provide a true college feel. From looking into it it appears Altoona, Erie and Harrisburg are the campuses that aren’t almost all commuters. Is this accurate? I want to study accounting eventually and Erie seems to be somewhat focused on more STEM so I was focusing on Altoona and Harrisburg but am very open to the experience of current and former 2+2 students. I feel like the 2+2 would definitely provide me a better opportunity at Big 4 than PSAC schools but again don’t want to completely lose the college experience. Will I remotely get that experience at Altoona or Harrisburg and which would you suggest?

2

Erie and Harrisburg’s b’schools are AACSB accredited in their own right so they adhere to some very rigorous requirements such as having a higher ratio of PhD tenured faculty. Ultimately you’ll end up at UP Smeal anyways (also AACSB) so I think prepping in a more rigorous environment will help you more. Erie faculty at the Black School of Business are super involved…but you have to be willing to deal with snow and getting in/out of Erie. If you can deal with snow, I’d recommend Erie. If that’s a concern, I’d be inclined to pick Harrisburg, plus it’s easier to get in/out of Harrisburg and you can make day trips to UP easily as it’s less than 90 min away. I love Altoonas campus but for business and engineering, I think Harrisburg and Erie have a slight edge.