<p>Ok, I am a freshman at penn state-main campus and have not liked my experience here so for several reasons. Mainly, tution is 30K a year--i come from a low income family and as an int'l student, do not receive any aid.
Secondly, I don't see any prospect here. I don't think I will be able to raise my gpa quickly enough and participate in enough activities to be competitive for schreyer (the honors program at psu, which is highly selective).
Here are my choices:
OSU
-honors program(their honors program isn't as good as schreyer(honors at PSU), but there are benefits and the honors designation is a plus)
-tuition lower than that of PSU</p>
<p>PSU
-ranked higher for engineering
-better campus(?)
-Shreyer honors college is very prestigious, but i don't have the credentials to get in.
- tuition ranks up there with elite private universities for an international student.</p>
<p>Stony brook
- affordable since i count as instate(money is a huge factor)
-least favorite of the three</p>
<p>In your opinion, which situation seems the most promissing? Likle i said, i am currently a freshman and will probably try to transfer again to a private school(nyu/rice) before my junior year. Academic reputation is very important to me, so it is somewhat frustrating that these universities are mostly known as football/party schools (except stony brook, of course). So, based on the campus, academics, and resources, what do you think will provide the best education for a computer science major?</p>
<p>As you can see, it's pretty much between osu and SB. Now, osu is obviously better than stony brook, but how does it stand againt psu academically wise [for comp science]?</p>
<p>Any input is appreciated, thank you in advance.</p>
<p>First, I would advise against transferring with the idea of then immediately transferring yet again. While it can be done, some colleges won't look favorably on multiple transferring, and you may run into problems with graduating on time. Add in the fact that every time your transfer you have to adapt to a new social and academic environment. So, the question might very well be: which school would you be less unhappy at if you end up not being able to transfer again?</p>
<p>That said, if you're not happy with the football/party scene at Penn State, why would you want to transfer to OSU where you'll find the same the same scene? (Note: I'm not putting down OSU in any way - the computer science program there is excellent, but why transfer to something that you're trying to get away from? Doesn't make sense to me.)</p>
<p>Stony Brook also has an excellent computer science program and it is more academically focused. The administration is trying hard to improve the quality of life at SB as well, but a party school it will never be. If money is a serious issue, it would be a good choice. But if you hate it, and can't stand the thought of ending up there, you might think about giving serious thought to just staying put until you can transfer to a school you don't have so many doubts about.</p>
<p>that is very insightful. if i were to stay at the next school for the rest of my undergrad career, I guess i would be less unhappy( this is a perfect term to describe my state) at OSU just because it has the honors designation and I like the possibility of dorming with other honor kids, who might be more contientious. You cast stony brook in a very positive light, but i don't like the idea of graduating from there because the campus seems very bleak and the student body doesn't appear to have any school pride. But it is still a viable choice financially. Ultimately, I will have to visit osu's campus to get a feel for the school and comp. science facilities.</p>
<p>Between the regular(no honors) comp science programs at osu and psu, I believe psu has a notch over osu in the rankings. They have a newly designed building that seems very modern, but then again, the honors at osu can potentially boost my resume and provide more opportunities. </p>
<p>As you can tell, it's a catch-22 situation; none of the schols are a perfect match for me, but those are the cards I have to play. Also, tranferring for a second time would above all be a measure to make sure I at least tried to get in at my ideal school and to avoid regrets about not reaching higher later in life. I agree though that I should stay at the next school (whichever one) for the remaining 3 years. </p>
<p>I believe that Rice rarely takes transfers other than freshmen, because the school feels as though they won't be part of the campus community. Their residential college system houses primarily (almost exclusively?) freshmen and sophomores, and is a big part of campus life, so as a junior year, you might never really be a part of that. Check out the details of schools you would want to transfer to in another year, if you want to transfer again...</p>
<p>My son and my wife just visited OSU yesterday. I think Carolyn is right about the scene. My son and my wife both liked OSU because everybody looked healthy. Everybody looked like a jock. The gym is something like 600,000 sq. ft, and there were tons of students in the gym. </p>
<p>This doesn't seem like something you want. </p>
<p>However, it is quite a bit cheaper than PSU so if you don't like PSU and you want to save money....Maybe hanging around the honor students at OSU would give you a different experience.</p>
<p>As far as transferring again goes, OSU is on a quarter system. Transferring units back and forth may get tricky.</p>
<p>Also, NYU is incredibly expensive and the school is not known for its aid. Plus, is it a good school for computer science?</p>
<p>I looked it up: the "Junior-Gate."
My son goes to PSU and I didn't even know this; in fact, I don't think anyone I know is aware of this. Need a 3.7 among other things.
Learn something everyday: I need to spread this around. :)</p>
<p>dstark, how did they like the dorms and facilities at osu? What did they think of the campus?</p>
<ul>
<li>Yep, the whole jockey scene doesn't seem very appealing. I am starting to think it would be better to stick around at psu and build my gpa to transfer to a school I would be comfortable at, perhaps not nyu or rice, but maybe something like the university of pittsburg or fordham in NY. Yet, the tuition is just so high and I got off to a slow start. does this seem more reasonable to you guys?</li>
</ul>
<p>frasi. Have you gone to PSU and asked for help with your finances? Are you allowed to be an RA as an international or hold various campus jobs? It's probably too late on the RA but it can't hurt to ask. PSU really cares about keeping students such as yourself. Don't they have an entire multicultural organization to help you? Hmm...I'll look it up.</p>
<p>They liked the facilities at OSU more than they thought they would, but I don't think the facilites are better than PSU's. My son doesn't care about fancy dorms and I don't think the dorms are anything fancy. My son is looking for a big sports scene, lots of school spirit, lots of energy. He doesn't care as much about the buildings; although he was surprised by how much he liked the campus. I guess the buildings were good enough. He liked the gym which was amazing. He went into Fisher, the new business building and toured around, but he didn't say, wow, great building.</p>
<p>He also saw Pitt. The campus buildings are beautiful, just beautiful. He didn't like Pitt. The area surrounding the campus was slum-like. He didn't like the city. He thought the people at OSU were more like him than the people at Pitt. More athletic at OSU. OSU is a jock school from what my son saw.</p>
<p>Pitt's out. But the campus buildings are beautiful. </p>
<p>Maybe, you should go one more year at PSU. Get a part time job. Join a club and try to find like-minded people. </p>
<p>^ This seems to be the best idea if osu will be the jock/party school-type you described. As you may know, I am an international student and up until recently i could not have job or even volunteer because I didn't have a SSN. Now, it is too late to file a FAFSA since the deadline is in march or february. I guess my last resort is to get a job and solicit aid from the office. I wonder if it's too late to do that now. </p>
<p>The negative part is that I would stay here only to transfer later, which is kind of depressing.</p>
<p>Frasi. You have until May 1 to file a fasfa in PA. DO IT! :)</p>
<p>Go to the multicultural resource center! They do not want to lose you!</p>
<p>PSU is a darn big place and takes some kids a year to find their "spot". There is a spot and friends for you there. It's just tough without help to find them. Exhaust your current opportunities, leave nothing on the table, and then make a decision. </p>
<p>I always tell my son. Know all your options. Then choose.</p>
<p>I agree with Sax -- know all your options, then chooce. Do talk to the financial aid office and get the FAFSA filed ASAP. While we can't tell you what you should do, I would give serious consideration to staying another semester or year at Penn State if you can get the finances in order, and then transferring to a school you like better. Fordham would actually be a very good choice, as would some of the other SUNY schools (SUNY Binghamton perhaps). I'm sorry you have to go through all of this, but you sound like a smart kid who is really thinking things through - all the best to you!</p>
<p>thank you everyone for the attention and support. I don't know how the fafsa process works, but assuming i would need documents from my parents in NY and tax info i don't have with me at psu, i am counting on that for this year.</p>
<p>All that remains now consulting my parents and maybe paying a visit to osu to see how it feels. </p>
<p>btw catolyn, it is ok; my life has been full of these convolutions--I am used to it ; )</p>