<p>Hey! I'm a senior in Virginia who will most likely be attending college in Penn!</p>
<p>My stats:</p>
<p>3.88 W GPA
3.61 UW GPA
2100 SAT (so far)</p>
<p>A bunch of EC's
Strong Rec's Ec's</p>
<p>Questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Is it a pain to walk all across the campus or is everything readily accessible?</li>
<li>Is there always a rush at the gym?</li>
<li>Are there places for Pre-med's to volunteer/shadow at the University Park campus?</li>
<li>How rigorious are the class (As compared to Top 20, UVA if you're aware of it?)</li>
<li>Is there a diverse campus</li>
<li>Is it safe?</li>
<li>Is it a HUGE party school (Like does EVERYONE party?)</li>
<li>How far away is it from Pittsburgh?</li>
</ul>
<p>Penn State is not ideal for pre-meds. PSU’s medical center is at least two hours away in Hershey. I’d look to the cities if you want good volunteer/shadowing experiences, particularly Penn, Pitt, Temple, Drexel, etc.</p>
<p>Penn State has a shuttle system so you don’t have to walk across campus, but it is very spread out and isn’t necessarily ideal to hoof it in all instances.</p>
<p>The campus is safe. The party scene is a huge part of culture, but like many such large schools, there are alternatives. Diversity depends on what you mean by it. For instance, it certainly isn’t as diverse as what you’d find at schools located in any sort of urban environment.</p>
<p>Not sure where you are getting the notion that PSU is not a good place for Premeds…?</p>
<p>Mt Nittany Med Center is very close and many of my premed friends volunteer there or at the health center on campus. The science majors do a great job prepping students for MCATS etc. I believe PSU has somewhere around 80% acceptance rate of those who apply to med school getting in. There are also a few joint UG/MD programs that you can get into as a student.</p>