Do many people go to the open house events for accepted students? Are these events held for a large group of people or are they just held for a small group at a time?
@psumomx2-Where do you find out about moving in earlier? Also we put in deposit-where does dd find out about housing options? I’m very overwhelmed with all this good new stuff!!
Moving in earlier is one of those stealth options PSU doesn’t wave around much. If you show up early, and ask for a key, they will charge you at the commons desk and you’re in. You will find out about Fall housing assignments in early August, but can request and change requests until May. But check the housing site http://www.hfs.psu.edu/housing/
for specific dates and questions.
Housing questions – the eternal “what to request/which dorm is best” might warrant their own thread. No need to panic, if your student accepts their deposit and fills out their housing request by April, they will be fine. She could do the housing request now, and just do research and change it if she needs or wants to. The dreaded “supplemental housing” is generally an issue for students who don’t do their request until late May.
Does anybody know when is considered as “late” to accept our admission in order to be able to choose a nice room? I’m not accepting my admission yet because i’m still waiting to see how much money I get from each school.
@Sunrise97 housing preference is in order of deposit paid. The later you pay, the more likely you will be in supplemental housing. I believe they say if you wait until April, the chances of supplemental housing goes way up. The fees by the way are $330 for acceptance and housing deposit.
“Choose a nice room”. Doesn’t sound like you have been to the PSU UP campus. Not sure there are any nice dorm rooms. As long as you are not in Supplemental Housing, they are all fairly much the same. Toured 7 schools, housing at PSU was the worst of the bunch. More to school then a dorm room though.
The Shreyer dorms are nice! 
East halls are really tiny, poorly lit/ventilated/insulated though…
@PennsyDad Haha…that’s true. I always say other schools get students because of their dorms, Penn State gets them IN SPITE of their dorms! But it builds character, lol…
I actually like the Pollock dorms for location, but my daughter prefers the layout (traditional beds parallel to each other) of East. So I think she’s putting East as first choice. Pollock second.
Pollock is better located (she’ll be glad in the winter when she doesn’t have to trek through campus, or wait for the shuttle) not to mention their cafeteria is WAY better than East Halls’. I really can’t imagine any kid choosing East. Note that the furniture can typically be somewhat rearranged in the room.
North has carpeting and ac; it’s all suites (4 people, one bathroom, 2 bdr). More expensive than other choices but worth it for the relative quiet and central location. SLOs for Arts/Architecture and others make up 3 of the 4 North dorms. The new South halls and renovated South halls aren’t bad, but some non- Greeks get tired of the sorority domination. …It’s not for nothing East is referred to as The Tundra. Largest concentration of freshmen anywhere (in the country, is the claim) — up to you to decide if you think that’s a good or bad thing.West Halls are mostly engineering/science upperclassmen. Eastview are singles for upperclassmen only.
It’s mostly about location, as all the rooms are small and it’s a dorm, after all.
I agree Pollock is better located and the cafeteria is much better than East. However, a big thing to consider is that East is all freshmen and that presents great opportunity to meet people. Like, everyone is in the same boat. My daughter accepted her admission in April for Fall 2013 and got her second choice, Pollock. At that time many of the sororities were housed there (they are now all in South) and she felt like she really missed out having the East Halls Experience. She found herself always going to East to meet up with ppl etc before going out. Now that the sororities are in South, I’d imagine Pollock is a mix of upperclassmen and some freshmen. My daughter has told her brother to go East Halls hands down. Also, the differences between Pollock and East rooms are pretty negligible. My daughter did move the beds in Pollock from an “L” to both facing the same direction. The key to any of these rooms is the tallest bed risers you can find. And just to add, the South dorms have been completely renovated and are awesome. I thought the plan was to continue dorm renovations in other parts of campus but don’t know when.
Sorry @defndr11 not sure where to find the move in early info. I agree with another poster, they kinda keep it on the down-low. Sure you could call and get info and someone posted the link for housing. You’ll see the Residence Areas described in detail there. FYI, don’t think it’s necessary to move in days early. I suggest a Friday move in so they have two full days to adjust to their surroundings before classes start. Hang in there! It is overwhelming.
All,
Nearly everything you need to know is in this guide. This is the 2014-2015 version but It will answer lots of questions!
http://parents.psu.edu/pdf/ParentsandFamiliesGuide.pdf
North and South are newer or renovated, but how many “regular” freshman actually manage to get assigned to them? Just like most things at PSU; as long as 60k people are willing to send their kids and money there…why bother to improve amenities or be more transparent about the admissions process?
I am glad I came across this. It is a good reminder. I tried to book the Nittany Lion Inn but it is already booked solid for those move in dates and quite expensive for the days preceding move in. Any suggestions will be welcome. We are OOS from NY, so it probably makes sense to stay overnight. From D1 we found that there were odds and ends we needed to get next day. After that, we were sent away by D to go home. lol.
East obviously has the most freshmen, followed by South and Pollock, North, and West. Most of the freshmen we have known have lived in Pollock, with North gaining in popularity. If you accept early, do your housing very early, you should expect to get your first choice. Remember, you can make changes to the request and it doesn’t send you to the back of the line. And keep in mind that you might move in a little early, but the dining halls don’t open until Friday! Move in is really not the ordeal you imagine, honest. They have it down to a science.
That being said, Pennsydad I get your point. Adequate housing is clearly not a priority.
@lia_b I just made a reservation at the Penn Stater for the night before move in (August 21). $220 a night I think. We also made a reservation at the Nittany Lion Inn for summer move in and at the Atherton for parents weekend!
jihpsu. Thank you. I will look at the Penn Stater. I found rooms at the Hampton Inn near the Bryce Center for Fall move in.
We stayed at that Hampton Inn several times. It was clean, comfortable and well managed and convenient to East and Pollock. When you go back to State College for a visit, the Days Inn downtown is nice because you can park your car there and just leave it and walk everywhere. That’s the best way to get around campus and downtown, but maybe not for move-in , in case you have to go out to Walmart for supplies (although McLanahan’s on College Ave will have a lot of the incidentals you may have forgotten)
We stayed at Hampton last year for 2 nights …agree with @stealthposter ….not far from campus at all