Undergraduate education is what you make it. You can have amazing experiences at lesser known schools and many of them may even be better for research because you are competing with less kids for the limited research spots. I love Penn State but in no way would I say it’s worth the cost if you have lower cost opportunities available to you. Be careful with a community college as the credits don’t automatically transfer to PSU.
Did you apply anywhere else besides PSU and a CC? There have to be cheaper options out there for you. Are you in state or out of state?
I applied to twelve schools. A few ivies, Vanderbilt, Hopkins, Haverford, and RIT. Decisions are not out yet and this is just a freak out during the waiting game. The financial reality of rejection is setting in, so I am trying to make strong backup plans.
Hello. Are you estimating COA for engineering at the UP campus higher? When I run the cost estimator for instate, I get $32K not $41K. My dd is applying for music which is only at the UP campus. Is the $9K difference the expected increase by senior year? TY
Have you applied for PHEAA?
Apply to scholarships within your college (Engineering) and email them to ask.
Beware; local scholarships are often 1-year only, meaning you’ll need to find a replacement for next year.
Is there a way for you to work a few hours a week starting now? Even 5-6h, if you can find them, would help. Of course, the devastation wrought by the pandemic may make finding a job unlikely or impossible where you live.
How much can your parents afford? Have they told you?
(The EFC would be expected to come from savings and from monthly income. For instance, they’d be expected to have $4,000 in savings and provide $500 a month from their salaries toward your costs.)
I have not applied for PHEAA yet to my knowledge. I applied to engineering and major-specific scholarships. My parents are in an interesting financial situation, so I do not expect them to pay for college although they want to. Our EFC might have been affordable, but we cannot afford the total cost of attendance.
I am just going to cross my fingers that I get into a school that I can afford to attend. I plan on med school or grad school, so I cannot lose every penny four a bachelors degree.
Unfortunately you need to rely on your parents now, when you’re an 18 year old with a HS diploma, whereas when you’re an independent adult with a college degree who can get a well paid job. Med school will be paid in loans, a PhD in science will be funded (meaning you get a stipend and pay no tuition).
If they lost their job, ask for reconsideration from FAFSA.
Do apply to pheaa asap. At worst you’ll get nothing and wont be worse off and everything helps.
The issue is that Penn State doesn’t meet need, so you’ve been gapped by a lot.
How are you other apps going (Temple, Muhlenberg…?)
I applied to temple and a few other safety schools after getting my PSU decision. I hope that they can offer some good scholarships. I got a call from Wooster yesterday asking me to apply.
I think the PHEAA application was completed when I did FAFSA. I will double check.
Can anyone give feedback on environmental engineering in school of earth mineral science - why isn’t this major under the school of engineering.
They have civil/environmental engineering in the school of engineering. What’s the difference?
Earth&Mineral Science have their own money they don’t want to share
Seriously, originally Penn State is a land grant university, meaning it was supposed to dedicate itself to some fields that’d be useful for PA’s growth such as mining and agriculture, and would be useful to the state’s residents, in exchange for being “given” the land (nvm the people who lived there and now survive in the “Nittany” lore only). Mining was a huge deal back then, and Penn State became a leader in that field, adding Petroleum Engineering as soon as the potential of oil was figured out 100 years ago. (Also, PA’s potential for oil! Some people in PA have little oil wells in their yard. Not significant compared to OK or TX, but when the price is high or back in the 1930s, definitely good.) Now I think fracking would be part of the “Energy” major.
The two colleges never merged and have their own culture, recruiting events, etc.
Looking into the Environmental Systems Engineering major within that college, you’ll want to look at the sponsors and research orientations since the fossile fuel industry is very generous with some majors, but there are several environmentally friendly majors, including several science BA’s (Geography, Earth Science and Policy, Energy policy, Geoscience), which the College of Engineering doesn’t have (ie., Engineering doesn’t have the same diversity of profiles among undergrads, which can be nice). Their Engineering degrees are highly recruited and all the majors in that college have national reputation, often ranking top 25 if not top10.
In terms of differences, In Earth&Mineral Sciences:
This major has two options:
Environmental Systems Engineering (ENVSE)
This option is concerned with the impact of industrial activities on the environment and the choice of cost-effective remediation strategies.
Environmental Health and Safety Engineering (ENVHS)
This option is concerned with safe and healthful design of industrial systems such that workers are protected from potentially high risk exposures associated with today’s industries.
There’s also Energy Engineering, with an option to choose sustainable energy
The Energy Engineering program focuses on explaining how energy is produced, stored, distributed, and used — from conventional fossil fuels to renewable and sustainable sources. The major focuses on the fundamental engineering principles of material and energy balances, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer operations, and physical and chemical processing as applied to energy industries.
They’re ABET accredited.
I noticed that the first page of Civil&Environmental Engineering discusses Climate Change, which is clearly not a focus of the Environmental Systems major. The possible minors and certificates are also very different. Civil and Environmental Engineering Department | Penn State Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering | Majors, Minors, and Certificates | Penn State Engineering
Does anyone have a sense for when in-person tours might be allowed for accepted students? I don’t think there’s anyway my D21 or we as her parents can confidently commit to PSU without officially touring it while knowing she has been admitted. She is absolutely zoomed to death and has done nearly every virtual opportunity PSU has offered, so we are done with that method.
Unfortunately all admitted student sessions/tours are virtual. We’ve done self tours since we live about 90 minutes from campus. My D is zoomed to death as well - she has been literally falling asleep during them, so I feel your pain.
