My son has been accepted in Penn State (OOS) with 2+2 (Harrisburg) program in Computational Data Science Major (School of Engineering). His stats are not that great specially GPA, only instate he got is VCU (in information systems - they don’t have data science). Other option he has is WVU (Information systems). Waiting on NC State and Univ of South Carolina as well.
We are wondering if OOS starting in Harrisburg makes sense?
I don’t know much about these majors but it appears that Computational Data Science (related to Computer Science) is quite different from Information Systems (more related to business). What are your son’s goals regarding the type of job he would like to have after college? Is he willing to take his college studies seriously? Is your family able to pay for an out of state school without taking out loans (other than the Direct student loan)? I’m assuming costs aren’t a major issue since he applied to several out of state schools. As I’m sure you’re aware, costs will be significantly higher at main campus the last two years.
I live in the Harrisburg area and can tell you that Penn State Harrisburg has grown a lot in recent years and has become a more residential campus. PSU Harrisburg just recently bought a private apartment complex adjacent to campus to expand on-campus housing capacity. It is one of the few commonwealth campuses at which students can stay all 4 years and earn ABET-accredited engineering degrees (though not in data science). Have you visited the campus? One of my son’s friends, who had very high SAT scores, is an electrical engineering major there and likes it a lot. My son plans to transfer from community college to PSU Harrisburg.
His interest is Data Science and he would love to get in the field of data analyst and big data - he applied in Information Systems in schools that don’t offer data science as major but is planning to include Stats as minor in those schools. If he is going OOS there is not much difference cost wise compared to NC State or WVU. I understand we are looking at 10k more for the last 2 years, which we are OK as long as he goes to a reputed school.
I’ve heard that people say that commonwealth campuses are like going to community college - we definitely don’t want spending OOS if the education is at that level. But the program he has selected and the curriculum we have seen says they are exactly same at both campuses.
We are planning to attend the accepted student tour in February.
I think some of the Penn State commonwealth campuses are more like community colleges, especially the really small ones with no on-campus housing. The larger ones, especially Erie, Harrisburg, and Altoona, are colleges in their own right, with many students residing on or very near campus rather than commuting from home. Let us know what you think after you visit the campus.
Some campuses are indeed like community colleges (largely commuter, open admissions, offering mostly general education classes), but not Altoona, Harrisburg, and Behrend/Erie, which are colleges with campuses in their on rights.
He could request DUS which allows him to start at UP for a fall or summer start
@airway1 Per the OP’s post in another thread, this student has a 2.7 GPA. He will not get into UP, even DUS.
If he gets into NC State, that seems like a clear winner to me, as data science is big there and not having to transition between campuses would be preferable, in my view. Doesn’t seem like a slam-dunk for acceptance though.
I’m not sure how desirable the transfer pathway is, compared to the other options. It sounds as if he’s feeling backed into the Penn State option because he doesn’t like the Info Systems major at his other schools as well, as opposed to having a specific passion for the Penn State plan. Did he apply to Miami OH and/or College of Charleston? They both have data science majors that he might like, and he could still apply if he wants more options.
UPDATE
I thought I’ll post an update to this thread:
This past Friday we went on the Accepted students tour to Harrisburg campus. It’s a smaller campus for sure, but definitely worth considering. My son was on the fence, but he really liked the smaller class size option and since he did get the “Discover Award”, I think selecting Harrisburg campus is now on top of his list.
Few things we found out when we were at the Harrisburg campus - Harrisburg campus has a bus to the main campus for job fairs. Which was definitely one of the important things on our list. Harrisburg housing facility even though small, it is one of the best on campus housing we have seen. Off campus housing is also right outside the college and there are plenty new ones under construction.
While we are waiting on other schools outcomes in March/April - I think my son now has his heart set on Penn State - starting at Harrisburg. Proximity from home, “Discover Award”, program choices and smaller class sizes has really been the major factor in his decision.