<p>I got into PSU back in early december, but I was waiting on a few more schools. Now I have to decide between PSU and Smith College. I'm still on two waitlists, but assuming I don't get either, which school should I choose?</p>
<p>Smith is a small all-girls LAC. The whole school has under 3,000 people. There are some upsides to Smith (excellent housing, can take classes at 4 other colleges), but also a lot of downsides ($41,000 tuition, lots of drama amongst the students, the heterosexual girls I've talked to all say they feel somewhat left out, very left-wing). I don't know if Smith is the right choice for me. I'm a heterosexual female, and although I'm liberal, I'm not as liberal as most of the girls there. Plus, I think I just need to talk to guys sometimes.</p>
<p>But PSU is like Smith's polar opposite. It's HUGE. Also, I'm a little concerned about finding my niche amongst PSU students. Smith probably has better academics for my major (political science and economics), but PSU is $29,000 (out of state). </p>
<p>My son is also a little concerned about the size of psu, but here's my thinking on the subject. His high school class has over 400 kids, but he doesn't deal with everyone on a daily basis...maybe he interacts with about 30(?) kids on a daily basis. I think the same would be true for penn state. Even though it's huge, you would tend to follow a similar daily routine and know a small group of kids who were in your classes, or lived near you or were in the same activities as you. Each person will carve out their own little part of life at penn state.</p>
<p>Here is my take as an alum with a D starting there in the fall - who is also concerned about the size......the numbers sound overwhelming, but when you consider that,besides the university itself, there isn't much else around. Downtown State College has a small town, warm feel to it. University Park is its own small city, which makes it less threatening than a large school sitting in the middle of a large city. There are so many opportunities to meet people with similar interests, while also having a vast diversity of new things for you to explore. Almost every student who goes there thinks about the size, but most agree that it does not FEEL as large as it sounds. It's a great value educationally - which is always a plus! Have you visited the campus? If not, I would suggest going there to get a feel for the place. You really are looking at two extremes when you compare Smith and PSU!! Good luck.</p>
<p>hey, I am also having trouble deciding between Penn State and American University. I am going to double major in Poli Sci and economics. I am grapling with the same issues also (aside from the all-girls issue).</p>
<p>I am a freshman at Penn State. This school does not seem big at all. Everywhere I go I see people that I know. The college that you are in (Smeal, Eberly,etc.) also has its own events and really tries there hardest to make the school seem small. Every person in State College is there because of PSU. It just seems like a regular small town that has an insane number of college age students. There are so many clubs, frats, etc and getting involved makes the school seems much smaller. This place is amazing.</p>
<p>i lived there this summer, and although it was just governor's school and the summer session kids, there were still a lot of people--- but it got smaller. i seriously saw the same people on every day for a month to the point that my friends and i were making nicknames for some of the more interesting characters ("there goes neo-hippy-boy again"). then again, it wasn't like high school all over again; there were plenty of new faces when we went out every day, too. it's really the best of both worlds-- a big university that eventually seems smaller.</p>
<p>most of the grads i've spoken to say the same thing; the biggest shock probably doesn't come from the size of the school, but rather the college transition.</p>
<p>also, to back up what another poster mentioned about the size of state college, it's actually the smallest borough in PA (geographically) but the biggest population. state college really is a nice place-- that was my greatest fear. not to mention that so much goes on within the campus that it can practically serve as a town in itself. the only downside is that beyond downtown state college, centre country is allllll farms. the no major-metropolitan-area thing is still kind of scary to me.</p>