<p>It’s not like Altoona is some redneck haven – it’s a pretty diverse but small city, and the professors (as someone has mentioned) often teach at UP too. If anything, I would think branch campus students are better prepared than many of their UP cohort, because they’ve taken Gen Eds in classes of 50 instead of 500. Their professors see them all the time, UP profs do not, in general, have that kind of interaction with undergrads. I think Altoona is a solid residential campus with a lot to offer. (And housing is a bigger issue at UP than anywhere else) There are lots of places to eat on campus at UP, but I wouldn’t let that make the decision! If she lives off campus, she won’t eat there most of the time, anyway. If you have reservations, you really owe it to both of you to come visit.</p>
<p>I just wanted to counter one of the points mentioned that branch campus kids are often better prepared than their UP cohort. As a senior science student and teaching assistant I’ve seen a lot of cases where the branch campus student lacked the fundamental scientific and writing background that most UP students have developed by the time they reach jr and sr level classes. From what I can tell- branch versions of the intro science courses (gen chem, orgo, biology, etc), are not as vigorous and demanding and tend to be more “hand-holding” than UP versions of the courses. Looking at a Chem 110 syllabus at a branch campus you will often see more time spent on group projects, and misc grade boosting assignments. At UP, you will have 4 exams and a final, which requires a lot more effort on the student’s part to stay engaged in the course material. Scientific writing skills must also not be hit hard at branch campuses, as reflected by the quality of lab reports that myself and my advisors have received from soph-junior level branch campus transfer students. They lack a lot of organization and deep discussion that is hit hard with fresh-soph science students at UP. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that this is 100% the norm with branch campus students, it is just what I have observed. These campuses do have a lot of pros in regards to saving money and easing a student in to the college environment. I just don’t think that they are on par, academically, with UP.</p>
<p>But you have to factor in that many of these students were at the branch campuses in the first place because they were not strong enough academically to be accepted at UP as freshman. I would not say they are necessarily better prepared, but with a quarter or more of the upperclassmen in the College of Engineering coming from the branch campuses, they are not all washing out either.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your points of view- very interesting. Altoona would only be a backup choice for my D if she did not get into main campus, or any of her other preferred choices (Pitt, U Del). The alternative safety school at this point would seem to be Temple U- obviously a very different environment (urban) and school size (27,000)- but seems to have an edge academically over Altoona. Any other opinions?</p>
<p>Does she have any sense of what she might like to major in? (Is she a rising senior?)</p>
<p>as to major- she’s undecided-but possibly psychology.</p>