<p>So, I just started classes here at psu and i think i got a pretty good inpression of the school and the town so far. I must say, i was a bit disappointed at the classrooms. The classes at thomas bld/other main blds. and the computer labs seem outdated and too similar to those at high school. I guess i was expecting a more technological and refined environment, but then again, it is a huge state school. Hopefully psu will invest in modernizing its facilities in the near future. Osu and other schools recently had multi-million dollar facilities built in their campus to add more classrooms and elevate the school standards. It will be nice to see psu investing in such projects. Other than that, the atmosphere does appear hedonistic. So far, I haven't met a single non-honor student with higher sat's than mine. I would say 90% of the people here drink and party regularly.</p>
<p>ANyways, if any anyone has a question about the school, I would be glad to answer.</p>
<p>Also, to current students, how did you go about finding/signing up for extra curricular activities or positions in the campus?</p>
<p>hey - just a note that the business school building is brand new and includes a great new trading room, a modern auditorium, and more. The honors college also has a very modern and well equipped computer lab. Looks like they need to get around updating other buildings.
BTW, my son is at PSU and mentioned that they have an activities fair every semester.He is a freshman and is involved in sports clubs, community service and THON. You can also go online to research - he says there's lots of opportunities available - but you really have to seek them out.</p>
<p>have you ever been to the IST building? Also how can you assume this drinking thing after being on campus a few days? You're a very new student and I don't think that you should be making these assumptions about the school (atleast until youve been here for a while.)</p>
<p>frasifrasi, I spent two years at PSU and agree with you for the most part. The old buildings do have old classes. However, the newer buildings that the others mentioned are amazing. And, again, I believe that drinking is a HUGE part of the Penn State social scene. I think most surveys taken show that 85-90% of PSU students drink.</p>
<p>To get involved, check out the activities fair like toneranger said. Also, check PSU's website, they have a list of groups and contact emails so you can find out when groups meet.</p>
<p>for the record, the latest pulse survey (2006) showed 84% of PSU students drink (it was 80% in the prior survey). About 25% are light drinkers and the rest are moderate/heavy. Heavy drinking is strongly assoicated with frat participation and low GPAs (surprise).
Yes, those numbers are high (although national surveys alsoreport that 4 out of 5 college students drink). But the population is also big so I would think there's a critical mass of non-drinkers (in the thousands).<br>
It's clearly an issue at PSU - although I do respect that they continue to survey the students to keep aware of trends (not many schools do this so it's hard to compare).</p>
<p>To PSU students: How are the campus food? Is there a lot of variety everyday? Are the classrooms really clean? Are the large lecture halls technologically equipped?</p>
<p>From what I have seen, the food is really excellent. There are a bunch of restaurants on campus that take the school ID. And the cafeteria food has really exceeded my expectations. Also, there is bunch of convenience stores that take the card so you can use your plan points to buy groceries and personal stuff. What I am trying to say is that I still haven’t come across something that is state of the art or remarkable, which would be nice since I am paying oos tuition. Walking around campus, the buildings are pretty, and all, but the classes that I have attended so far are only
“fair”. Maybe I was just expecting too much, but the facilities have definitely not been a huge improvement over the public high school I went to in NYC. However, I was very impressed with the computer system they have. Basically, you can schedule your on classes, request official transcripts, and even withdraw from the school without talking to a single person. My dorm/hall does have a basement feeling to it, but are surprisingly not too noisy. Note that this is just my personal observation; I do not mean to say the school is rubbish. regarding the party atmosphere, I have an aversion to alcoholic beverages, medical problems(liver), and am a shy intl student that is still adapting to the place, so my account is biased</p>
<p>It would be interesting to see what member ericg and mighynick have to say about this. Also, mightynick, when did you want to transfer and how is it working for you?</p>
<p>Toneranger, i just found out the involvement fair you were talking about took place today, I guess I will have to research groups and other opportunities online. Pat, where did you go after psu and why did you leave?</p>
<p>lil_killer, based on the <175 classrooms i have seen at about 2 of the buildings(one being thomas, which most frsh go to), think of a more rudimentary version of the MIT ocw classrooms with only one blackboard, a small table in the middle, a computer stand, and a big overhead projector. Like I said, it is not state of the art, it is average. And yes, everything is clean--haven't seen any litter around and bathrooms are cleaed regularly. About the pressure to drink, I am not a party person ( at night, I stay in the dorm, go to the gym, converse), so I don't feel like I have to drink to fit in. If was out in the night in a bar or frat party, I think there would be some pressure just to fit in, though, since most guys are party jocks and drinkers.</p>
<p>frasifrasi, I assume you know about Late Night Penn State, which is a place where students who don't drink can be social (I first heard about it on CC). If not, take a look online; it sounds good. And if you do go, please let me know what you think of it. It takes place on Thurs., Fri., and Sat. nights.
I know that so far you're not impressed with the classroom facilities, but how about the teaching?</p>
<p>frasifrasi, I transferred to Pitt after my sophomore year. The main reasons were:
1. I could not stand the alcohol-centered environment. I know alcohol is a part of all colleges' social scenes, but through my visits with friends at various colleges, I never witnessed anything nearly as bad as PSU.
2. I am from NYC and could not stand being in the middle of nowhere. I thought PSU would be okay because of the large student popluation, but I just felt isolated from the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Pat, what was your major and gpa when you left psu? did you like anything about the school during the time you were here?</p>
<ul>
<li>I am going to check that out and let you guys know. About the teaching, well, it is almost impossible to estimate/generalize. At any school, you will find great teacher as well as terrible ones. SO far, my teachers were good. Some of them had great personalities and were engaging and others will likely be strict graders and boring. Again, that is expected from any school.</li>
</ul>
<p>I went stuy for 2 years after I came to the states</p>
<p>frasifrasi, I was a business/engineering major, and if I recall my GPA when I left was around 3.6. It definately could have been much higher, I really let my unhappiness affect my studies. I graduated from Pitt with a degree in engineering and a GPA of about 3.85. I am now working on my MBA at Pitt. There were some things I liked about the school. The campus is beautiful. They did not have online registration when I was there, but I hear that that is great. Also, they offer every degree under the sun, so you have a lot of options.</p>
<p>Other than that, I really did not notice anything special at PSU that any other large state school does not have.</p>