Hi! I just got accepted into Penn State Harrisburg for PoliSci as an OOS student. Penn State UP was my dream school, but now that I’ve only been accepted into Harrisburg, I was wondering if anyone with background knowledge of the 2+2 program thinks it’s worth the wait to get into UP. I do better in larger learning environments than smaller ones, and I know the branch campuses are incredibly small compared to main campus.
What are your stats?
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gpa- 3.3
sat/act- not submitted
My son is in the same quandary. He got into Mechanical Engineering 2+2 at Berks and is not as excited. But I am guessing it’s a result of his GPA (3.43). Curious to hear what others have to say.
Also check out the Penn State 2025 EA board- there’s some good information on there.
I don’t think it’s worth it from OOS - you surely have equivalent colleges at instate costs (what state are you from?)
That being said, PSU Harrisburg is a full-fledged 4-year campus and the town of Harrisburg has Pennsylvania’s State Capitol; there are plenty of trains going to Philly in under 2 hours (the campus is in a suburb and Harrisburg is a town more than a city and not that interesting, though - it’s not what Richmond is to VA, for instance).
Where else have you applied?
You can always keep it: now, you KNOW you’re going to college this Fall! And if something better/more affordable comes along, 
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Im from VA! We have really good colleges here, but I’ve always had a preference to going somewhere OOS, and have had my eye on PSU especially.
I’ve applied to two other schools in PA: Temple and Juniata. In state: ODU, JMU, and VCU. Also UMass Amherst
The PSU 2+2 path is like starting at a community college and then transferring to the flagship in other states (although the PSU branches do offer a limited selection of BA/BS programs). Except that the PSU branches are more expensive than community colleges for PA residents, and obviously even more expensive for non-PA residents.
That’s a big brush to paint all commonwealth campuses. While many are very small and have more of a CC feel, several are 4 year colleges in their own right with the rankings to match. Behrend, Harrisburg and Altoona specifically.
Behrend is the next largest campus next to UP and has nearly 5,000 students, representing 40 states and 40 countries for example.
Many of the commonwealth campuses have less than 1000 students and no dorms so they certainly feel more community college like - except that they have the big PSU name and resources behind them - but going to those from OOS would not seem worth he cost.
Not all commonwealth campuses are created equal.
Hi, I got accepted into Abington 2+2 for engineering. I was wondering anyones thoughts on the best campus for me for engineering. a couple side notes: Eerie is too far for me. Also I am planning on doing the Concurrent degree with biomedical and Mechanical which is a 9 semester program. 1.5 years will be at a commonwealth and 3 years at UP. Thank You!
@jlhpsu
Too far from where? What regions in PA are within what’s okay?
Do you want to commute or live on campus?
I’m in the suburbs of philly. I would rather live on campus
beside Erie, the colleges with the best campus life are Altoona and Harrisburg. Not sure which one is the easiest for you, perhaps Harrisburg since from the suburb where the campus is you can easily get to Harrisburg, take the train to Philly.
Thank you those were the two I was looking at!
i got into Penn State at Abington through the 2 + 2 and I am from California. I was wondering if you think its worth coming to?
Seems like a much more expensive way to do something similar to starting at a community college in California to transfer to a UC or CSU.
No, it’s completely not worth it.
If you didn’t get into a UC or CSU, attend a CC it’ll be a better value for a similar experience.
I would not come from California to Pennsylvania to attend a commonwealth campus of Penn State. Not worth the OOS cost coupled with travel costs, when you would have similar or better options in your state.
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My son has been accepted on 2+2/Berks Computer Science Major. We are OOS (FL) and PSU is a top choice. Would it be worth it for him to accept with the hope that he can complete the Major at UP?
Should we ask for reconsideration for UP by requesting summer or reapplying DUS?