<p>Nitnat: i think your absolutely right i think i shouldn’t give up that freshman experiance which i will probably best find at east. Thank you for sharing your daughers experiance.</p>
<p>Our daughter is currently a freshman at Pollack and has loved it. Very centrally located to her classes and she has made some wonderful friends. She has become very active in various activities her first year and finds herself making friends from all different dorms. She is an out of state student and didn’t know anyone (like so many other students). She is not a big party person but enjoys getting involved in what PSU has to offer. She has found Pollack to be a pretty enjoyable dorm to live in. many athletes are in her building and we as parents have visited a few times (to pick her up to come home, etc.) and the ‘vibe’ there seems pretty normal.</p>
<p>I am a currently a freshman and I live in Pollock. I actually lived in East until October and they both have their pros and cons! East dorms are set up very much so in, this is my side and that is your side. Pollock on the other hand is very different. My bed makes almost like an “L” with my roommate’s. Our desks are connected along with drawers underneath on one side of the room. East is nice for football games and THON! But it can be a hike to get downtown, IST building and the science buildings. It is completely freshman! However my entire building (Hartranft) and next door (Mifflin) are all Freshman! I love the location of Pollock!</p>
<p>I have a bunch of friends in West as well (who are freshmen) and it is definitely more quite over there but you are next to the library, Rec Hall and more towards the center of campus! I honestly don’t think you can go wrong on where to live.</p>
<p>We visited East on both the informational tour and again on accepted student day, not the most lovely of dorms, but then again - it’s a dorm. My D also spent time with friends of hers from high school who live in Pollack and ultimately chose Pollack as her first choice when doing her housing contract. She too would rather be ‘visiting’ the party than ‘in’ the party. She’s pretty outgoing, and wants to be involved in many things, she’s already met many incoming freshmen through Facebook groups, and roommate searches so she’s not too worried about making friends. She talked to several who lived in East and other dorms from her HS and she felt that - for her - another dorm was best. She loves the location of Pollack and South Halls, and the fact that they are so centrally located, close to the HUB, etc. Ultimately the freshman experience is what you make of it regardless of where you choose to live, she just knew that she will be easily distracted by all that she’s heard goes on at East and wants to stay focused. Ha ha ha - yay - at least for year one !!!</p>
<p>My daughter was faced with the East or Pollack decision early on, and had first indicated Pollack because of the better to be “visiting” than “in” the party issue. We recently did an accepted students day, and she spent some time with a friend living in Pollack. After talking with her, she decided to switch her preference to East when we returned home. There probably can’t be a perfect decision or exact answer for each student without the benefit of hindsight. I just hope she did the right thing for herself. She’s not a partier, is more on the shy and just blend in side, but didn’t want to rob herself of the open door freshman experience that East supposedly provides. PUPSMOM’s post leaves me second guessing and wondering if I should encourage her to switch back to Pollack. I just wish there was a crystal ball :).</p>
<p>My son is in the same situation. He indicated East as his first choice, since he wanted the freshman experience. However, he is also very shy and I was concerned that it would be harder for him to make friends in East. I wish I had a crystal ball, too.</p>
<p>I think we need a crystal ball PortMom. It’s funny how he can be concerned about making friends in East, and my daughter be concerned about making friends if she’s not in East. As much as it stresses the kids out, I think that as parents, wanting to see the right decision made and having it work out well stresses us out more.</p>
<p>The reality is every dorm has freshman and your time in the dorms will be an experience! Having the “freshman experience” is not always great. The dorm our kids end up in is only part of the equation. They can have a great year in any dorm~it is to a large part what you make of it. My daughter (not at Penn State) was in a true freshman dorm. 1000 freshman in four connected dorms. She hated it. Way to much immature behavior for her and a spoiled rotten roommate who expected everything to go her way. She joined some activites including marching band and had a great year. My son is hoping to get into one of the Engineering Houses but who knows where he will end up. Buy a door stop~it is helpful for move in and they can leave their door open to help meet people on their floor. Encourage them to get out of their rooms and join something~clubs, study groups, etc. Go to the “lame” mixers, they actually work. Make an effort early on before the upperclassmen show up. My kids are quite and not outgoing. We actually talk about this stuff. Oh and it doesn’t hurt to talk about how to deal with roommate issues. What do you do when the roommate insists on keeping the TV on all night long, volume up, no compromise. Or how do you deal with a roommate who thinks you shouldn’t talk in the room??? How to deal with sexiling or alcohol or drugs in the room. It is so hard to let our kids go into unknown situations but I believe that if they make an effort they will have a great time! Penn State has something for everyone.</p>