<p>What is it about Penn State that kids love so much?</p>
<p>Penn State – I swear it is in the water.<br>
I’ve never been a big fan of Penn State. I prefer small LACs, but every Penn State alum I know is VERY dedicated to Penn State. I know all kinds of alum – those who spent 2 years there & those who spent 6 years – big partiers and very religious non-parties – Engineering majors and Elemantary Ed majors. Seems the size truly does lend itself to all finding a niche. I think the biggest thing it has is the location – not many other schools where the entire area is 18-25 year old demo and all of life revolves around them.</p>
<p>I think you see the same thing with UTexas, TN, 'Bama etc. The grads are fiercely loyal.</p>
<p>I know students leave NYU because they do not realize how challenging it can be, to be in NYC when you’re only 18. I meet freshmen who NEVER VISITED the campus and were shocked at how integrated we are into NYC. We don’t have gates. We don’t have football. We don’t have our own little campus. This isn’t Gossip Girl, honey. </p>
<p>A lot of students leave NYU because of money, as well. Either because of loans or because it’s just so expensive to live in Manhattan, compared to many other places.</p>
<p>Goucher: $ and major (interest in an area in which they don’t offer a major)</p>
<p>BU and Penn State: $, both kids said they lost sports scholarships because of injuries</p>
<p>Out-of-state flagship: grades (didn’t have to leave but wasn’t doing well academically) </p>
<p>Out-of-state flagship: pregnancy (on leave and returned)</p>
<p>I also know a lot of kids who took ‘breaks.’ In general, they didn’t really like the school but decided to stick it out. This was most common with prestigious smaller schools like Oberlin and Earlham. </p>
<p>Oh, I know a girl who transferred because her boyfriend cheated on her and she wanted to keep an eye on him. I don’t know if she told her parents the reason but that’s what it was. (She was a classmate of my kid’s.) Anyway, she transferred to his school and they broke up a few months later.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago I read where 20% of the students who transferred away for UChicago, transferred back. I was quite surprised by this. How common is leaving and then returning?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is kind of sad. How is one supposed to see this coming?</p>
<p>idad- UChicago doesn’t handle transfer students well once they get there. They are put in a dorm in a pretty remote place and don’t tend to integrate well compared to some other places.</p>
<p>Just some miscellaneous comments.</p>
<p>Re: the southern/racist thing, I absolutely do not want to get into this, but can comment that while the kid I knew who left said that was the reason, look at Clemson’s rankings on Princeton Review: #14 Most Conservative Students, #10 Best Quality of Life, #2 Happiest Students. My conclusion is that the kids there are comfortable with those attitudes.</p>
<p>I live close to W&L and am not surprised at the comments posted above.</p>
<p>I’m not saying PSU grads are more loyal than, say 'Bama grads; just that I don’t think I’ve met one that isn’t still pretty into the school.</p>
<p>And getting back to why kids leave, a college kid told me recently that he thought if kids could just hang on til their sophomore year, many fewer would end up transferring. He said all kids have problems adjusting their freshman year, but many of those have been resolved by part-way through sophomore year. I think if if were my college freshman, I’d try to distinguish problems adjusting to college vs. problems adjusting to that particular school.</p>
<p>Just an aside here. I have posted many times about having attended cc and then transferring. I developed a lot of maturity during my time at cc (most likely a function of age, not the cc itself) and had a very easy time adjusting to the new school. My friends who did the same thing had similar experiences, leading me to think that lack of maturity in some students is the problem.</p>
<p>Another thing, in HS I wanted to attend my state flagship (Illinois), but after attending cc concluded that while it is a terrific school, it was not the beast “fit” for me. I ended up at a much smaller college and was very happy.</p>
<p>I agree that UMiami has a higher rate largely due to student’s false assumptions of the school. It is NOT a day at the beach. They are serious about academics. There are a lot of top kids there that were drawn by the excellent merit scholarships. Donna Shalala has worked very hard to turn Miami into a top notch school. </p>
<p>My daughter is there as a Marine Science/Biology/Chemistry triple major. We met the parents of another Marine School student at orientation. They said their son chose Miami because he likes to hang out at the beach and surf. He is just the type of kid that will probably transfer once he finds out he will be spending most of his time trying to pass his Micro Biology and Organic Chemistry classes!</p>
<p>I heard the Penn State has a very good RA program on each floor to help kids adjust…anyone know anything about the freshman experience?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>20 years ago (or so) this was definitely the case. I was dumped in a dorm far from campus and given no support or orientation. Luckily my boyfriend was at the same school and I just moved into his dorm room unofficially (he had a single). My social life improved dramatically at his dorm and I was eventually able to transfer into another dorm closer to the campus.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I am soooo glad I transferred.</p>
<p>Our D left the local community college to transfer to dream private university. Both that school and flagship U (where she took summer school) in our state are commuter schools with virtually no campus life :(. She’s very happy at USoCal, where she has transferrred.</p>
<p>She did like the small class sizes, great instructors and convenience of the local CC & flagship U. We miss the low price tag. ;)</p>
<p>There is a big difference in feel between a commuter school and one in which many or most kids live on campus.</p>
<p>It’s also very important how the school welcomes new students…the RA program in the dorm. Does anyone know about the freshman experience at Penn State?</p>
<p>87.5% v. 93.2%. They are basically the same; hovering around 90%. Many leave because they can’t afford such expensive schools as Tulane and Miami.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think these schools illustrate the rule–selectivity and retention are directly related. With the exception of UNC (75%), these are among the most selective publics in the country:</p>
<p>Michigan 42%
UVA 41%
William & Mary 34%
UCLA 24%
UC Berkeley 23%</p>
<p>One could argue that their relative closed-ness runs contrary to the mission of a public U: to make education accessible to its state’s citizens. I will not champion that cause but will point out all public U’s must balance selectivity against openness and, as a result, against the prospect of losing new students who weren’t fully prepared to meet the educational challenge they offer. UNC is, perhaps, remarkable in appearing to keep open to its students while also retaining them. I will, however, point out that it is famously selective for OOS students (as are the UC’s, whose selectivity for OOS students are at Ivy League levels), so perhaps they are filtering out homesickness, at least.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think you’re being incredibly judgmental and short-sighted with this statement. Who says a kid who likes to surf isn’t looking for challenging academics too?</p>
<p>Questbest… you can probably find more specific information or even start your own thread on the Penn State board.</p>
<p>[Penn</a> State - University Park - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/penn-state-university-park/]Penn”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/penn-state-university-park/)</p>
<p>Incredibly judgmental? That’s a little bit of a stretch, knights09. I think it was offered as simply more of a small example of how often kids think school is less about the very hard work of it than it is. The kid could have been a brilliant academic AND a great surfer. But if I said, my kid picked his school for the mountains and access to skiing, would you automatically assume his primary focus would be academics? Vs if I said… he loved the bio dept and it doesn’t hurt there’s the opportunity to ski in the winter… it’s the emphasis that counts. </p>
<p>I know a kid at University of San Diego. He loves it. Academics come easily to him and well, this isn’t a lot of hard work for him. He has indeed become a tad of a beach bum. His parents are not happy thinking he should be at the tippy top in grades, activities, etc. Thing is, he is not achieving at a higher level, but middling seems to be quite readily accepted by most of the friends he has associated with. They might be putting in more effort or not, but for this kid, middling is to barely show up for class and still doing fine. Not exactly the way I’d like to see my money spent, but not my kid. :)</p>