Couple things here.
#1 - MANY high stat kids CHOOSE to start at a commonwealth campus because they get the “weed out” classes out of the way in a smaller, more supportive environment. There is NO hand holding at UP, but the commonwealth campuses have smaller classes and resources easier to find because the professors know you by name. Others choose it because it’s less competitive so they get research opportunities as freshmen. Not all of the kids at commonwealth campuses were deferred from UP. In fact, most are not. 75% of the students at Erie campus stay there all 4 years. That was their choice of campus.
#2 - Penn State does not give merit financial aid. If you were expecting any, don’t. The honors college gets you about $5k and that’s about it.
#3 They certainly aren’t going to spend time evaluating applications a second time for summer for all 100,000 + applicants when even those who CHOOSE summer on their applications don’t always mean they are actually willing to go summer. What a colossal waste of time.
#4 The fact that Penn State gives an optional back up campus is to give students more options, rather than less. A Penn State degree is worth quite a lot in the job market and some students just want to graduate from Penn State for their future. They don’t care where they started, and neither do employers since the curriculum is the exact same. I wish Penn State gave a back up major option as well.
#5 There are a bazillion others waiting for the spot. The commonwealth campuses fill up fast because they are smaller. The University assumes, if you are accepted into a commonwealth campus and not interested in attending, that you will decline your offer thus leaving room for someone else. That said, many don’t do that so PSU has a pretty solid yield built into their calculations to determine how many will attend.
#6 Not all commonwealth campuses are created equal. The three I mentioned (Altoona, Harrisburg, Behrend) are typical 4 year colleges in small suburban areas. Many others are more community college and commuter-like and, while also a great option for someone wanting to stay close to home, would not be recommended for out of state students.
#7 You will get the ire up on a lot of people here if you say that commonwealth campus students have “less credentials”. It’s not necessarily true. The average GPA’s at Altoona, Harrisburg and Behrend are 3.1, 3.2, 3.4 respectively…similar to many colleges. There are many students that are accepted at UP campuses with a 3.5 and others deferred to commonwealth campuses with 3.8+…this depends on the major. So you could very realistically have a student at UP that had lower overall grades than someone deferred to the commonwealth campus simply because of the major chosen…when the major chosen on your application means pretty much nothing since no one is in a major at Penn State until sophomore year (excluding direct entry majors such as nursing, etc…)
Do not assume commonwealth campus students aren’t as smart. Some of those same students will actually graduate engineering because they started in a smaller environment vs the wiz kids that flame out at UP campus because they don’t expect the level of work or distractions involved. Happens every single darn year.
Off my soap box now! UP is an amazing campus and for some, it’s UP or bust. And that’s a valid choice. My one daughter had no interest in a commonwealth campus and luckily got in at UP (graduated 2019). But for others who may not have considered the value in starting at a commonwealth campus, disparaging them as “less than” is just not accurate. I’ve had one start at Altoona and two start at UP and we’ve toured Harrisburg and Behrend a number of times. If you’ve done none of the above, it’s difficult to judge.