Out-of-State? Stay Far Away from PSU!

[PSUProspect]

<p>Warrior1183:</p>

<p>My D applied to PSU UP as first choice on application and picked Altoona as second choice. I don’t recall from the application any mention of DUS so I’m not sure what that means. D’s GPA was 88.96 (3.40?) at end of Junior year. Now it is 89.18 weighted. Her ACT was 24 and SAT 1680. Given this, she will be in the top 10% of PSU Altoona academically. I guess she’s somewhere between PSUA top and PSU UP bottom? Any other thoughts is greatly appreciated. Thank you.</p>

[warrior1183]

<p>PSUProspect…</p>

<p>Somewhere on that application she should have told them which college she was applying to (college of engineering, college of business, etc.) within the university. One of these “colleges” is call the Division of Undergraduate Studies, or affectionately known as DUS. This is basically for people who list their intended major as “undecided”.</p>

<p>For instance, if she applied to the Smeal college of Business (@ Penn State) she could have been given the 2+2 situation @ penn state altoona (i.e. Gen Eds and Pre Reqs at altoona, and Major Courses @ U-Park) because the college of business has pretty high standards for freshman. However, if she applied to DUS with U-Park as her first choice, she may get into U-Park because the standards are lessened, and it is easier to explore majors at the main campus.</p>

[PSUProspect]

<p>warrior1183…</p>

<p>I went back and reviewed the application and see where my D selected DUS, Starting Campus: University Park with Alternate Campus of Altoona. I didn’t see anything else but she told me that they informed her that the college is for Liberal Arts?</p>

[cosmicfish]

<p>@ IH8PSU,

Yes, I have. I’ve made generalizations based on my years of experiences as a Penn State student. If, though my countless interactions with Students, faculty and locals, I have noticed that a high percentage of them display certain traits or behave in a certain manner, then I feel qualified to say things like “a sizable percentage of PSU students…” or “most professors…”.

I grew up in that town, spent 24 years there, went to Penn State (and 2 other universities as well). I think you are correct in your statements, in the same way that someone with a papercut is right in saying that they have been mortally wounded. Penn State is backwards in some ways, but the vast majority of your complaints apply to any school, and most of the rest seem uncommon to all but you and a few sympathizers.</p>

<p>

I never said that ALL in-state students stick to their high school social group, I only said that MOST do so. From what I have seen during my time here, that is an overwhelmingly true statement. In fact, another current PSU student, wgordondan, voiced agreement with me on this point in his post (it was at the top of his list in case you want to go back and look)

Within my first year I had only a couple of high school friends that I really saw on a regular basis – despite the fact that the vast majority of them were still here in town. My enduring friends from Penn State came from hither and yon across PA, plus New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and California. They all had similar experiences, as did my wife. I don’t know ANYONE who, at the end of their first year, was exclusively or even mostly hanging out with their old high school friends.</p>

<p>

All I’m saying is that the State College bars are seriously off-limits until you are really 21.

Yeah. It’s the law. And State College is something of a hot spot for alcohol sales – we have something like the highest density of alcohol sales in the state, and ~30,000 attempting underage drinkers. It’s something they look out for.</p>

<p>

As I mentioned in a previous post, I met a ton of guys freshman year who got arrested during the first week of the semester trying to buy alcohol or get into a bar.

Then you know a ton of dumb freshmen. Getting liquor at PSU is not hard, not hard at all, but you can’t just walk into a bar or liquor store and expect to get away with it.</p>

<p>

Let’s say that the police in a certain the area have a policy of giving-out $10,000 fines for going 10miles over the speed limit. I know that speeding is illegal, and I understand that nobody has the right to speed, but that does not justify imposing severe, life-altering consequences for going 45 in a 35. Especially considering the percentage of drivers that occasionally exceed the speed limit by that amount. If you were about to be driving through such an area, wouldn’t you want someone to warn you ahead of time about the local speed-enforcement policy? And if you recognized that you are a heavy-footed driver, who is at a higher risk of incurring one of these excessive fines, wouldn’t you consider taking an alternate route that does not take you through the area?

Where do you smoke??? I knew major-league potheads, dealers, casual partakers, and in over two decades I know exactly one (1) who ever got busted, and he was swept up in a statewide sting!</p>

<p>Still, if you can’t handle the penalty… DON’T SMOKE THE JOINT! If your major plan in college is to get high, SKIP THE COLLEGE PART! You don’t need a degree to get wasted.</p>

<p>

You seem to have not understood why I included those pieces of information. I thought that when people read this post, that they would immediately assume that I’m shy, nerdy, or just generally a loser. I was just trying to explain that I’ve always been active and functioned very well socially outside of Penn State.

I know shy, nerdy losers who partied and got laid for 4 straight years at this school. Seriously, there are 40,000 undergrads on campus, you can either find people to hang out with or concede that 40,000 people all find you repugnant.</p>

<p>I will voice one assertion that I cannot prove – I think it’s you. I think the things that made you popular in high school are the very things that made you unpopular in college, and that you neither recognized this nor were willing or able to change it. Just a hunch.</p>

<p>

Trust me, the second I finish my last final I’m out of here and I have no intention of ever being in Pennsylvania again unless for the sole purpose of driving across it to reach other, better states.

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of town.</p>

[Duke26]

<p>Please tell me that wonderful post can kill this thread.</p>

[ephenst]

<p>As much as I’d like to applaud cosmicfish for that post, (all of his points which I totally agree with) I can’t help but feel like he was digging up old bones.
Yes I know what this thread is called but I think everyone has laid their cards on the table. There are good points and bad points and the OP had a particulary bad experience.</p>

<p>My point is that in digressing from the origional topic this thread has become more helpful to proscective students. </p>

<p>So as Duke said we should probably let this one die. Its for the best.</p>

[thf5017]

<p>Just a warning…I agree with the OP. I’m not telling anyone that they shouldn’t go here PERIOD, I’m just saying, if you’re considering PSU as an out-of-stater, make sure to consider your decision VERY CAREFULLY…make sure you might be alright with experiencing the things mentioned in the original post, because they certainly have A LOT of truth to them (not to mention the price tag isn’t as pretty for us out-of-staters, and it’s ony going to get worse with all the budget ■■■ ups)…I’m trying to transfer out, myself, for those exact reasons.</p>

[cosmicfish]

<p>With apologies, as I was reading the posts I missed the jump between dates on page 11 - I did not realize that the discussion on the original point of this thread died off a few weeks ago. Duke26, ephenst (nice name, btw) - I am okay with the thread dying, however much I will miss the chance to mix it up with my disgruntled future fellow alumnus…</p>

[cosmicfish]

<p>thf5017, since you posted today, let me offer some comments before this thread finally dies out. </p>

<p>I know that a lot people have a lot of expectations about college, but that doesn’t mean that they are all realistic - the same laws that bugged you in high school will bug you in college, perhaps even more so since busting college students is just so easy for cops to do.</p>

<p>I know that different schools better suit different people, but when you’ve only attended one university it is far too easy to think that its problems are unique and miss the fact that they are endemic. That the grass seems greener on the other side of the fence is an illusion of light and angles - it’s the same grass.</p>

<p>Lastly, there is an amazing amount of literature and media out there about the high school to college transition, and yet people still seem to miss that it is in many ways a very different world - whether you change or not is up to you, but it turns out that within a few years most people realize that they really weren’t that great in high school, and make changes for the better. One thing stays the same - people generally don’t like to hang around depressed whiners who think that they are much more interesting and entertaining than people give them credit for.</p>

<p>I will agree on the price tag issue, although again that is common to state schools. Many out-of-state students would be far better served in the long run by attending a cheaper in-state school. If that school does not get you where you want to be, you can always do a grad degree, probably for free. Assuming that you didn’t spend your entire undergrad partying.</p>

[wgordondan]

<p>Cosmicfish - I’m not sure if you read the entire thread, but one thing that was mentioned was how much the school changed, and the impressions of current students vs. alums. My dad went here and loved it, and from what he told me about his experiences I thought I would like it too. But when I got here I realized that it wasn’t the same school my dad had told me about. A lot of the posts on here are from parents and don’t accurately reflect what current students think/experience. Unless you have firsthand experience of the school now, your post seems a bit rash and not a true reflection of the current school.</p>

<p>P.S. - In 2 decades you only knew of 1 person getting arrested for smoking? Either that is a huge exaggeration, completely false, or you just didn’t know of the people getting busted. I read the police log almost daily and it isn’t uncommon for 5+ kids to get busted in 1 day this year…</p>

[cosmicfish]

<p>

Unless you have firsthand experience of the school now, your post seems a bit rash and not a true reflection of the current school.

I have pretty recent experience. I graduated all of 5 years ago (I started school, left, and then came back later to finish). I know that this is ancient history, or that my opinion is somehow otherwise invalid, but still it seems recent enough to have some bearing. It is my hometown, which I go back to regularly. I have friends still who are in town and/or in school, including my niece. I think I’m still pretty close to it.</p>

<p>

P.S. - In 2 decades you only knew of 1 person getting arrested for smoking? Either that is a huge exaggeration, completely false, or you just didn’t know of the people getting busted. I read the police log almost daily and it isn’t uncommon for 5+ kids to get busted in 1 day this year…

Well, it isn’t an exaggeration, and its not false, so apparently I just didn’t know the people getting busted. I worked my way through school by working in area restaurants, and I was literally the only person at my last restaurant job who was NOT getting high on a near-daily basis, and yet I only ever knew the one person to get arrested.</p>

<p>I just checked Penn State’s Clery Law statistics, and they had about 300 drug crimes arrests each of the last few years - which is an average of less than one a day for a school with 44,000 total students. Not bowling me over. And 5+ students a day cannot be that common a occurence - perhaps home football games and other big party days when cops are everywhere and students get stupid.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.police.psu.edu/cleryact/documents/2009-101504%20c%20PolicySafety_UnivPrk.pdf”>http://www.police.psu.edu/cleryact/documents/2009-101504%20c%20PolicySafety_UnivPrk.pdf&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Plus, that’s just arrests. Sentencing? Depends a lot on the amount of drugs, but most first-time low-quantity offenders get ARD which includes no prison time and an expunged record. Heck, the only people I have EVER heard getting more than ARD are those people who were dealing, using something harder than MJ (the guy I knew bought coke), or really managed to do something else stupid along with the possession. The scenario envisioned by the OP, the user with a felony rap for a dime-bag, that is a pipe dream, or perhaps the result of telling the cop and the judge what you really think of them. Not a typical result.</p>

<p>[Court</a> Report: Jan. 8 - Local | Centre Daily Times - State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estate](<a href=“http://www.centredaily.com/2011/01/08/v-print/2441366/courtreport.html]Court”>http://www.centredaily.com/2011/01/08/v-print/2441366/courtreport.html)
[Court</a> Report: April 15 - Crime & Courts | Centre Daily Times - State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estate](<a href=“http://www.centredaily.com/2011/04/15/v-print/2650070/courtreport.html]Court”>http://www.centredaily.com/2011/04/15/v-print/2650070/courtreport.html)</p>

[Dmooers]

<p>honestly IH8PSU, from somebody that devotes this much of their time to arguing online i am not at all surprised that you struggle with making friends. I have a feeling you would be posting the exact same things regardless of where you ended up going.</p>