Help: Penn State Honors vs. Cornell vs. Bucknell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
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Hey, just another desperate pre-frosh here searching for guidance.

So, I’m currently deciding between Cornell, Penn State Honors, and Bucknell for chemistry with a possible minor/second major in English. I’m currently accepted for Chem E at Bucknell, but I might switch out for chem. I also might consider Lehigh if they give me any more money at the last minute for an integrated engineering and arts and sciences degree.

At Cornell, I really loved all the students and professors that I met; I felt like I just clicked with everyone there and the amount of diversity really appealed to me. Also, this school would naturally have amazing academics and research. One downside for me might be the weather. I can deal with the cold, but, as a person who has had bouts of depression, constantly dreary skies might not be great. I also worry that I won’t have time for extracurriculars here. I’m a Tanner Dean’s scholar here, which has some special events and gives money for summer research.

Bucknell was really nice because it had that small school environment, but I worry that it lacks very rigorous academics and resources (i.e. intensive research, high rankings, and alumni). It also has a bit of a reputation as a pretty preppy place, which I don’t like much, but I didn’t feel that aura was too overwhelming. I feel like getting involved in both extracurriculars and research would be very easy there, and the campus was the most appealing of the three in terms of having a lot of green space and a lot going on and such. I also really like some of the short study abroad options they had, but I feel like the other two will have similar programs. I’m a presidential fellow here, which gives you special advisers specifically for research.

Penn State’s honors college would allow me to get much smaller class sizes and easily become involved in research, among other perks. However, I’m not a big sports person, so I’m not super into that sort of school spirit. It’s also obviously a very large school, which I’m not a huge fan of overall, but at least they should have a lot of active clubs. It has a really good student newspaper too; I hope to be involved with that. The campus is okay, but I like those of the other two more. I really worry that even with the honors option, I won’t get to know professors well.

Lastly. . . Cornell is $50,000 per year, Bucknell is $26,000, and Penn State is $3,000 I do plan to go to grad school btw. I’m incredibly lost and don’t have much time left, so please let me know if you have any thoughts on the matter! Thanks in advance, and sorry for this long-winded post!

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Penn State is 3,000 or 30,000?

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$3,000 per year

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Well dang, that is a good deal. Unless your family can comfortably afford $26k or $50k per year for the other two schools, I’d follow the money.

I am a ChemE major in Schreyer finishing up my sophomore year. I am also an introvert who has no interest in football or partying. I’ve joined the PSU book club and the Society of Women Engineers and volunteer regularly at the local animal shelter. There are, like you said, a metric crapton of clubs here. I forget the exact number but it’s like 500 or 800 or something. There are school-spirity type ones and nerdy ones (I helped represent Book Club at the fall involvement fair and the chess club next to us kept trying to get me to join…). There are even Schreyer-specific ones, like the club that picks the books incoming honors freshmen have to read, and Springfield, the THON org that’s almost all honors students. You can check out several and pick your favorites.

Honors classes are usually around 20 - 30 students in size, and you will definitely get to know your professor and classmates, especially in the year-long honors English course, ENGL 137H/138T. Intro science classes will be large but will also have recitations and/or labs where you break into smaller groups with a TA. Big lectures don’t bother me; you’re just listening to the professor, so it doesn’t matter to me whether I’m listening with 300 people around me or 6 (my Spanish class freshman year…that was honestly worse, can’t hide from answering questions when there are only 4 or 5 other people in the room).

Plus honors housing is quieter and nicer than a lot of other places on campus.

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Thanks! This is really helpful information. It was kind of hard to get an idea of the Penn State culture there, but it seems like there are a lot of different options for people :slight_smile:

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I totally get feeling like you won’t fit in with the party/football culture (because although it’s probably not the majority in Schreyer, it is a majority of the rest of the university), but I also get having PSU be the cheapest option, so…I dunno. That’s your decision in the end. If you have any other questions about Schreyer / PSU / chemistry classes, let me know :slight_smile:

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So basically Penn State is a full-ride ($3K a year is pretty much free, since I assume that includes all expenses, including food and activity fees, so lots of subsidized entertainment at well below market cost).

and … to be fair, you are saying that Bucknell will cost you $88K and Cornell will cost you $188K more for an identical degree.

Chemistry with a english minor is not a terminal degree, so you are thinking about grad or professional school, right ? that money will go a long way to help pay for that or to start your life … ChemE jobs pay pretty well at the bachelor’s level, so if you pursued that (would be possible at any one of these), you could probably pay down debt or feel like you got your “value” quicker.

If you are thinking debt for yourself or your family, those are huge payments … something like $1K a month for the $88K.

Cornell is a big state school, just like Penn State, but has the Ivy mystique and maybe higher academics. I am not sure on the relative size of the engineering department, or class sizes, but with Shreyer … that may be a lot better than the standard fare. State schools, especially top tier like Penn State, have really fantastic students come to therm from all over, so you are not going to be alone in your academic interests … or alone in being a quiet non-ra-ra kind of person (football games can be more fun than you think too).

Bucknell is way, way smaller. Can be good but may also have less resources than Penn State if you have very specialized goals or want to do lab work or whatever.

Penn State is a great school and I don’t think anyone would not understand you turning down Cornell and Bucknell to accept the “free ride” at PSU … and honors program.

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What great options you have. While I can’t speak for Cornell, I can speak for Bucknell and Penn State Honors. Bodangles has given you some great “experienced” information also.

Daughter was in the Presidential Fellows program at Bucknell, graduated three years ago and is currently a CPA in Boston. Her boyfriend also graduated Presidential Fellows and is an Actuarial Analyst. She was accepted to Carnegie Mellon, offered the Presidential Scholarship at Villanova, blah, blah, was not accepted to Schreyer. She chose Bucknell because she felt an immediate connection (her words – “what’s not to love” after visiting/tour) and her 4-year cost was ~$20,000 with merit, need, outside scholarships and Presidential Fellows. There is a strong Greek presence at Bucknell – it worked for my daughter. It is preppy – my daughter is not – it still worked. She would probably give it an “A” for academic rigor, professor availability, campus feel, opportunities, etc. The Fellows program has changed since she graduated, but it is still great. “ Fit” may be more important because of smaller size. It was a great match for her. I personally liked Bravman.

Son is currently a Chemical Engineering Schreyer Scholar. He too had options of Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Bucknell, blah, blah. Penn State was the lowest cost option for him (Dean’s Scholarship Bucknell), and he made a financial decision. His connection with Penn State was more gradual. It took some time for him to become a Penn Stater. As a freshman, it was a revelation that there are a lot of really brilliant kids at Penn State who are not in Schreyer Honors. He has established several meaningful relationships with a number of professors (office hours!!!, particularly, organic chem!), has attended very few games (worked concession stand with club), has a close-knit group of friends and is continually amazed at the Alumni network. I am amazed at the Alumni network – someone always knows someone. Two more words – Career Fair – unparalleled opportunities – look it up. Penn State was the means of entry for his medical research stint at large university, summer interning at a major chem corp, networking with industry recruiters (HR Smeal grads) – always polishing the resume.

Couple of additional points: Son is more reserved; I think it may have taken some time for him to find his group at Bucknell. Second, you will learn how to advocate for yourself at Penn State due to its size – even as a Schreyer Scholar. That skill is useful moving forward. Also, my son is somewhat competition/comparison averse; he initially found the actual smallness of Schreyer intensifying really capable kids, get this, competing/comparing. That has become a non-issue as he branched out (cause you can always branch out at Penn State) but that was a kind of “fit” variable we hadn’t initially considered.

Good that you’re being mindful of mental health/weather. All of these schools battle grays skies/cold to some extent. Maybe look into what services are available?

Sorry so rambling – in a time crunch. Good Luck! You have some great opportunities.

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@pilot2012 What year is your son? (If you feel comfortable sharing, ofc)

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I say this as a Cornell grad and the parent of a current Cornell student…unless money is of no consideration, go to Penn State.

Re: weather in Ithaca. You pegged it at dreary. The winter is no worse than most of New England and Ithaca had almost no snow this past year and not much more the year before, but the sun can disappear in a way that it does not in the NYC metro area. If you are prone to depression, that is worth considering (in case finances did not sway you). I do believe that Cornell’s Engineering dept is notably stronger than your other choices, but $200K is a lot of money.

Best of luck to you and congrats on your wonderful outcome.

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It’d be strange to turn down Schreyers@ 3K for Cornell @50K.
What are your parents saying?

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Any update ?

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These are great choices but the Schreyers college and the price to me seems to be the logical choice academically and financially. I know of another Cornell grad and I think they would also say go to Penn State. I’m not saying Cornell is bad I’m just saying $3000 a year is amazing!

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Thanks everyone! I’ve thought about it, and I’m committing to Penn State today!

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Congratulations! :slight_smile:

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@stressedprefrosh If you don’t mind asking, how did you get Penn State down to 3k? Was it FA or a scholarship? I’m in state and I thought there was pretty much no scholarships/FA for even in state students other than the 4.5k Schreyer’s award.