I am currently a junior in high school thinking about attending Penn State but Ive heard of a couple of negative aspects about campus life that I was hoping to get cleared up.
The people at Penn State come mostly from in state and aren't very friendly or open to anybody outside their friend group from high school and don't care to open up to new people.
The Greek life is very extreme. I'm not against going to parties or having something light to drink and just hanging out with friends but Ive heard it gets very intense and people just show up to get black out drunk every night.
Speaking of Greek life it seems like a lot of people who attend Penn State are meatheads that just care about partying. This is something that doesn't totally bother me but id like to have some friends that I can have a stimulating conversation with or whose first priority isn't to get drunk.
I was also wondering if its possible to achieve a well balanced social life while keeping up academically.
Not true. PSU has a large OOS contingent and tons of international students. My daughter doesn't hang out with anyone from high school. All of her friends are from college.
you do not have to be in Greek life. Only 17% of Penn Staters are. So you can go to frat parties or, more likely, you can avoid them altogether. You can be a drinker or not. You can be a partier or not. My daughter is in the middle and my niece is in Life House (non drinking contract) and they both have tons of friends.
The average GPA for freshmen at PSU is a 3.7. This is not a school of meatheads. The students are dedicated and there to get a good degree from a good school. There are parties at every single school. Even the small private catholic ones. It's everywhere. You can be in, or out of it, as much as you'd like.
The kids at Penn State are social and active in general. There are over 900 clubs to join, lots of athletics etc…Keeping a balance of social life and academic achievement is the goal for all of them.
This is nonsense. Penn State students are ridiculously outgoing. Seriously, it's hard to walk on campus without one of them asking if you are lost and need help. If you want friends, you can find them. There are bazillions of clubs and classrelated orgs....BUT making friends does take time, and work, as it does everywhere.
Greek life is a dominating factor on campus and that can get tiresome. The Greek system is currently under scrutiny again after the (allegedly) hazing-related death of a student , and has had its privelages curtailed: instead of 45 events a semester, they can only have 10. There will be no spring rush and quite likely no rush next fall. They can't have parties bigger than the firecode occupancy. PSU is considering a ban on freshmen pledging at all. The greek parties are massive and problematic, and while of course they can be avoided, it can make more sober students feel annoyed.
PSU is full of freshmen who came and have no self-regulating abilities. They will flunk out quickly. I believe there is an excessive drinking problem but that is not exclusive to PSU. It has a party reputation but it is a hard school to do well in -- most students are working really hard, but with 40K on campus, there's enough bad behavior to get your attention. So, yes, there's some stupid. But a lot of fantastically talented people, thoughtful people, altruistic people.
But could you be happy if you are not a partier? Absolutely. You will have plenty of sober company. If, however, you are easily swept along with a crowd, easily convinced that the “freshman experience” is paramount, or want friends handed to you on a a plate, you might not like it here, or might prefer a commonwealth campus.