So I got into Schreyer but I’ll admit I’m afraid of this school. It’s so huge!! Attending would be very practical because of Penn States networking and my likelihood of getting a job (especially with Schreyers) but what if I’m not someone who would go to a ton of football games or join a sorority or do THON? Will I be a complete social outcast? When I visited it felt like high school with cliques and popularity and shit and I don’t want to deal with that. If you could ease or confirm my nerves in any way, I’d really appreciate it!!
With 40,000 students it’s kind of impossible to have cliques. There would either be thousands of them or they would be too large to be cliques.
There are that type of people here. I’m one!
Schreyer also probably has a higher concentration of serious students. Of course some of them also are in sororities and go to football games and whatnot, but some don’t as well.
Join clubs that interest you. Get a part time job to meet people. You will be fine.
Only 12% of students are in greek life at PSU. That’s not a high percentage for such a large school. My dentist just told me this week that his son is a junior at UP and has never been to a football game. No interest. He LOVES Penn State. There are all kinds of people there. I think you will be fine.
I’ve seen the percentage of Greek life at PSU quoted between 14% and 25%. If you consider only the students that start at UP, it would be significantly higher. I am not saying you cannot find a niche without joining. I am saying that you are kidding yourself if you don’t think it plays a huge factor on many aspects of college life at PSU.
There are just too many students at PSU for any one group to have cornered the market on popularity. Most colleges that resemble the high school social scene are way smaller than Penn State. If you are opposed to attending a school with a Greek system you may want to reconsider, of course. But if your real concern is cliques and popularity, the hugeness of the school will not contribute to these issues; if anything it significantly reduces them.
S2 will graduate 2 weeks from today and has been to 1 football game, and only because he promised S1 (also PSU -UP grad) that he would try it. S1 was active in student sports and cultural events – speakers from politics, entertainment, arts, etc are here all the time. S2 hates sports and doesn’t party … but he met friends at LEAP and in classes and they go to the free movies at the HUB, hang out together, hike, eat, and he’s president of a professional group as well. Neither of mine had any inclination to go Greek, and none of their friends did either. Keep in mind you are not going to have a ton of free time, but once you make it through the first term, you can be fine. PIck a few activities, try them, discard the bad fits and don’t be weirded out by the range of choices. Yes, it’s intimidating. But plenty of space for everyone.
How to make the huge university seem smaller:
1° Apply to the Globe (residential wing for Schreyer students) and attend their weekly events. You’ll develop a close-knit community quickly.
2° Join a charity club, volunteer with others.
3° Join an academic club.
4° Check for class sizes in the schedule of classes. Pick smaller classes so that you can get to know classmates and professors - either the Schreyer version or a smaller alternative (ie., if a history course looks interesting, is there a smaller one that is equally interesting? If a foreign language class looks big, is there another one that’s smaller?) Look at the number of students who can be enrolled by clicking on the course and section number.
First semster, you’ll take
- CAS137, so this will be one class with only 15 students.
- EDUC 100S would be the first year seminar and be small, too.
- Psych 100H would be small too.
- EDPsy 101 would have 24 students (it’s an applied math class). Math and money, or Math for citizenship (etc) would be large lectures.
- Literature: depends what you take, but World Literature Honors would be small, check out other choices for Honors or non Honors alternatives.
- if you take a foreign language most classes will be small (depending on level and language)
SO, depending on your choices, you may end up with all classes or most classes 24 and fewer students.
5° Apply for Leadership Jumpstart. It’s reserved to only 24 Schreyer studens, so it’ll be small, it’ll be different, and you’ll develop a relationship with others. Leadership Jumpstart would push Psych 100 to the 2nd semester (when it’s often taken) or replace foreign language past the 3rd semester.
Note that you’ll be more employable if you prepare an ESL certification but that’s for later on.
D is finishing up freshman year and while has been to football games, she has not been to one fraternity or sorority event. It’s a non issue to her. You can definitely findf your niche. When I was visiting this past weekend there were students fighting with foam swords dressed as medieval soldiers on Old Main lawn. Point being…whatever you are into…you can find it at PSU because of it’s size.
It is very easy to survive if you take it easy is the first rule. You are going to be here for learning. Most of the professors in these big classes are often very opinionated, however, not stubborn. and if you share you thoughts, it really gets intresting. They are very helpful and engaging outside the class rather than inside you see. Most of the students are grade centered and that is something most professors hate but they cannot express in class. Individual experiences are great at Penn State.
The majority of people I know go to Penn State and I’ve never met someone who wasn’t happy with their decision. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but with so many students everyone finds their niche. I know people not in greek life, hate football, etc., but every single one of them found a great group of friends and live, breathe, and sweat Penn State. 
What??
Double what?? I’ve met several. I was one. 
I don’t know which school you ended up choosing, OP, but don’t treat college as some magical perfect place…might set you up for disappointment. Have an open mind wherever you go.