Daughter looking @ PSU as number one for next year!

Parents Social Lounge
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<p>A Penn State satellite campus is not an option chosen by OOS academic elite but Penn State-UP is a very desirable state school for many out of state students. A satellite campus may be a back door way for a student with lesser credentials than required for immediate admission to Penn State -UP to get to go to Penn State -UP. Why isn’t this similar to going to Emory at Oxford for 2 years or spending 2 years in General Studies at Boston University to ultimately get an Emory or BU degree? In all 3 cases, the student may have had better options for the first 2 years but choose it because they end up going to (and getting a degree from) the school they really want to attend. </p>

<p>Also, I believe some OOS applicants denied from Penn State - UP are offerred admission at a satellite campus of their choice if there’s room (and some might take them up on that offer). (Altoona might be their choice because it’s closest geographically to their first choice.)</p>

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<p>To me the difference is the quality of the education and student life for those first two years. I don’t think you can compare Emory-Oxford or General Studies at BU to being parked at a community college level campus for 2 years.</p>

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<p>You’re welcome to your opinion and you’ve made it abundantly clear.</p>

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<p>I was responding to a question posed by quakerstate- not to you.</p>

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<p>This may be useful on the topic of Penn State branches. Here’s how they compare in admission standards according to the 2009 common data sets for each. </p>

<p>The numbers following the branch’s name are in the following order:</p>

<p>% applicants admitted, SAT 25-75 percentile, Top 10% of H.S. class, average GPA</p>

<p>University Park (main): 51.6%, 1630-1940, 49.82%, 3.55
Abington: 84.3%, 1240-1580, 6.18%, 2.98
Altoona: 87.5%, 1340-1650, 6.19%, 3.04
Beaver: 93%, 1240-1570, 6.19%, 2.91
Berks: 83.5%, 1330-1640, 6.08%, 2.97
Brandywine: 85.3%, 1260-1600, 8.25%, 2.96
Dubois: 91.8%, 1200-1510, 4.52%. 2.83
Erie: 86.8%, 1380-1690, 14.1%, 3.21
Fayette: 92.5%, 1180-1530, 11.79%, 3.00
Greater Allegheny: 86.1%, 1180-1570, 9.09%, 2.85
Harrisburg: 86.2%, 1360-1690, 9.83%, 3.08
Hazelton: 91.9%, 1200-1550, 7.54%, 2.33
Lehigh Valley: 93.6%, 1260-1610, 7.91%, 2.81
Mont Alto: 90%, 1230-1580, 9.28%, 2.93
New Kensington: 88.7%, 1260-1580, 7.24%, 2.87
Schuykill: 85.7%, 1100-1430, 5.4%, 2.74
Shenango: 77.3%, 1210-1520, 2.68%, 2.86
Wilkes-Barre: 91%, 1260-1590, 4.42%, 2.95
Worthington Scranton: 88.7%, 1190-1520, 3.76%, 2.83
York: 87.4%, 1265-1625, 8.46%, 2.91</p>

<p>Just for interest, and because PSU never reports this (despite all diplomas being the same), the numbers across the entirety of Penn State are below. (weighted appropriately for the number of students at university park and all the branches, but not including numbers for their on-line World Campus, etc.) </p>

<p>Penn State (entire university)
Applicants admitted: 72.3%
SAT 25-75 percentiles: 1427-1747
top 10% of HS class: 25.6%
average GPA: 3.20</p>

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<p>My son was accepted to PSU - UP with a grade point of 3.95 and an ACT of 27 for Fall 2010. We are OOS. He applied sometime in late October. He chose to attend UMich since it is in state for us and subsequently much cheaper.</p>

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<p>OK, I’ll weigh in . If you’re from PA or have lived in PA for a long time, I think it’s hard to imagine why someone from OOS would go to Altoona. Actually, we live in a high-prestige area and some find it hard to believe that in-state students would choose Penn State, UP! So OOS at Altoona is quite the leap. It’s just that the folks in metro areas of PA just don’t value PSU like the folks from outside the state. That’s not just a PA thing…I know people from Del who think UDEL is bottom of the heap. And being from NY, I tend to think that SUNY schools are not the best. </p>

<p>I also think there’s some value to staying on one campus for four years. But kids make the choices that make sense to them. If it’s Altoona, all the best. It would be interesting to see if they do student surveys for the satellite campuses. They do them at UPark and a high percentage (90% or so I think) say they’re happy after freshman year. Plus they have a very high freshman retention rate for a public school (92% last time I looked).</p>

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<p>Although this discussion has gotten way beyond what the OP was asking, I’ve got to ask this - does anyone know how the student population in the PSU branch campuses compare academically to the student population in the state-owned PASSHE schools (i.e. Bloomsburg, Millersville, Clarion, Slippery Rock, et al), all of which are four-year schools?</p>

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<p>To answer your question, in general, the PASSHE schools are more selective than Penn State branch campuses. You have to compare specific branches to specific PASSHE schools though.</p>

<p>So here are the rest of the numbers for the PASSHE schools, and the rest of the state related four year schools. State-relateds are what PSU is, with the others being Pitt (and it’s three 4-year regional campuses), Temple, and Lincoln. I reposted PSU’s for convenience. </p>

<p>If it wasn’t obvious before the middle 50% of SAT was out of 2400. A few schools report only critical reading and math and are denoted by (CR+M). All numbers posted below are numbers from 2009-2010.</p>

<p>Again, the numbers are in the following order:</p>

<p>% applicants admitted, SAT 25-75 percentile, Top 10% of H.S. class, average GPA</p>

<p>Bloomsburg: 63.6%, 1350-1640, 12%, n/a
California: 67.9%, 920-1080 (CR+M), 7%, 3.3
Cheyney: 49.6%, 970-1240, 2.4
Clarion: 68.5%, 1230-1550, 6%, 3.19, 6%,
East Stroudsburg: 69.2%, 1320-1580, 6.3%, n/a
Edinboro: 73.4%, 825-1040 (CR+M), 5%, 3.15
IUP: 60.3%, 1340-1600, 7%, n/a
Kutztown: 66.0%, 1300-1580, 5.6%, 3.03
Lock Haven: 78.0%, 1230-1530, 7%, 3.24
Mansfield: 75.3%, 1260-1590, 9.3%, 3.27
Millersville: 53.2%, 1430-1720, 16.40%, n/a
Shippensburg: 71.5%, 910-1100 (CR+M), 9.2%, 3.23
Slippery Rock: 62.7%, 1380-1650, 12%, 3.39
West Chester: 49.0%, 1450-1710, 9.42%, 3.32</p>

<p>State-relateds:</p>

<p>Penn State-University Park: 51.6%, 1630-1940, 49.82%, 3.55
Abington: 84.3%, 1240-1580, 6.18%, 2.98
Altoona: 87.5%, 1340-1650, 6.19%, 3.04
Beaver: 93%, 1240-1570, 6.19%, 2.91
Berks: 83.5%, 1330-1640, 6.08%, 2.97
Brandywine: 85.3%, 1260-1600, 8.25%, 2.96
Dubois: 91.8%, 1200-1510, 4.52%. 2.83
Erie: 86.8%, 1380-1690, 14.1%, 3.21
Fayette: 92.5%, 1180-1530, 11.79%, 3.00
Greater Allegheny: 86.1%, 1180-1570, 9.09%, 2.85
Harrisburg: 86.2%, 1360-1690, 9.83%, 3.08
Hazelton: 91.9%, 1200-1550, 7.54%, 2.33
Lehigh Valley: 93.6%, 1260-1610, 7.91%, 2.81
Mont Alto: 90%, 1230-1580, 9.28%, 2.93
New Kensington: 88.7%, 1260-1580, 7.24%, 2.87
Schuykill: 85.7%, 1100-1430, 5.4%, 2.74
Shenango: 77.3%, 1210-1520, 2.68%, 2.86
Wilkes-Barre: 91%, 1260-1590, 4.42%, 2.95
Worthington Scranton: 88.7%, 1190-1520, 3.76%, 2.83
York: 87.4%, 1265-1625, 8.46%, 2.91</p>

<p>Lincoln: 37.7%, 730-900 (CR+M), 5%, 2.74</p>

<p>Temple: 60.6%, 1500-1810, 21%, 3.41</p>

<p>Pitt (main): 58.5%, 1720-2020, 49%, 3.87
Pitt-Johnstown: 89.2%, 1350-1650, 10%, 3.36
Pitt-Greensburg: 73.8%, 1380-1660, 10%, 3.37
Pitt-Bradford: 82.7%, 1380-1660, 8%, 3.11</p>

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<p>For a quicker comparison, here’s Princeton Review’s take on the selectivity of Pennsylvania’s public schools. They assign a selectivity rating score to each school using a proprietary methodology based on various admission statistics (60 is the lowest, 99 is the highest). The list is sorted first by selectivity, second by academic rating score (in parentheses), and third alphabetically. The higher score is better in both instances. </p>

<p>Pitt-main 92 (83)
PSU-main 92 (77)
West Chester 85
Temple 84 (73)
Slippery Rock 77 (69)
Bloomsburg 77
Lincoln 75
Millersville 75
Pitt-Greensburg 74
PSU-Harrisburg 74
California ¶ 73 (67)
PSU-Altoona 73
PSU-Erie 73
East Stroudsburg 72
Mansfield 72
Shippensburg 72
Pitt-Bradford 71 (70)
Pitt-Johnstown 71 (68)
Kutztown 71 (66)
Clarion 70
Edinboro 70
Lock Haven 70
PSU-Abington 70
PSU-Berks 70
PSU-Greater Allegheny 70
PSU Lehigh Valley 70
PSU Mont Alto 70
PSU New Kensington 70
PSU Wilkes-Barre 70
Indiana (IUP) 69 (67)
PSU-Fayette 69
PSU-Schuykill 69
Cheyney 68
PSU-Beaver 68
PSU-Branywine 68
PSU-Hazelton 68
PSU-Dubois 67
PSU-York 67
PSU-Shenango 66
PSU-Worthington 65</p>

<p>Princeton Review’s academic rating score is only assigned to schools that have made its Best Schools rankings. That is why the score doesn’t appear for every school above. Just for comparison, here is the equivalent sort of the public schools in Pennsylvania which landed academic rating scores.</p>

<p>Pitt-main 83
PSU-main 77
Temple 73
Pitt-Bradford 70
Slippery Rock 69
Pitt-Johnstown 68
California ¶ 67
Indiana (IUP) 67
Kutztown 66</p>

<p>No other public schools in PA were assigned an academic rating.</p>

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<p>When I originally defended the branch campuses as viable option for two years, I was writing about a theoretical engineering student who, by putting in two years at a branch would eventually be able to graduate with a degree from a top engineering school. I would suggest that it might also be worthwhile for a meteorology student. If the student is interested in a degree in English or teaching, I would absolutely direct them to the PASSHE schools.</p>

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<p>Can’t a student go to their instate school for cheap for 2 years and then TRANSFER to PSU? If so, that would be better than paying OOS for the first 2 years at a branch campus.</p>

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<p>1moremom - that is what many students here in Texas if they really want an enginnering, business, or science degree from UT-Austin. I know several students who couldn’t get into UT-Austin because of the top 10% rule, so they went to a branch campus (San Antonio, Arlington, etc) for a year or two and then transferred to the main campus. The goal was a diploma with UT Austin on it - and that’s what they got.</p>

<p>Note: These were in-state students, but even in-state tuition (especially for ENGR students) is not really cheap here. Of course, the branch campuses are a bit lower than the main campus (as it is with PSU).</p>

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<p>*but no one in the Schreyer review has access to the student’s SAT/ACT scores. *</p>

<p>Scores would be on the schools’ transcripts, so they would see them during the review process. </p>

<p>Schreyer may not have a minimum SAT/ACT set, but I can’t imagine that SAT/ACT don’t play some role. I imagine that there isn’t a set minimum so that they can admits some lower scoring URMs into Schreyer.</p>

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<p>mom2collegekids: I think the benefit of a satellite campus would be assured admission to main campus and knowing all of the credits will transfer.</p>

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<p>quakerstake - I agree.</p>

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<p>Because of the SHC’s holistic approach to admissions, I am sure they can determine who their best applicants are without seeing one particular set of stats (SAT scores). I imagine that there isn’t a set minimum so that they can admit some lower scoring students who have talents other than test taking into Schreyer.</p>

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<p>The Texas branch campuses (at least the better known ones) are a whole lot more respectable than most of the PA campuses. AND- I would suggest that it would normally be a good choice for an out of state student to start at a Texas branch campus, either.</p>

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<p>1moremom–I did not dismiss an engineering degree from Penn State with a “big whoop” or say anything that should have insulted a PSU grad. I am well aware that PSU has an outstanding engineering school. Most years, one or more of the top grads from our oos high school go there. What I was doing was addressing your comment that “SUNY’s engineering programs hardly merit a mention.” I believe that statement to be incorrect and, I assume, based on ignorance about SUNY. I know it to be very insulting, not sure how much more insulting you can get, certainly more insulting than anything I said.</p>

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<p>I know you did not and I am sorry; I did not mean to disparage the SUNY programs. I meant that, when considering the engineering research universities, one hears the big names like Michigan, Illinois, UT-A, etc. The SUNYs do not come to my mind, but I am sure that is in part a regional bias. (I grew up in the Big Ten. Mom taught there, parents met there, I went there, and so did my sister and six sisters and brothers-in-law.) Apologies to you and anyone else I may have inadvertently insulted. (I would add the red faced smilie if I had a clue how to do it.)</p>