<p>Undecided major.</p>
<p>Any thoughts at all?</p>
<p>WE ARE</p>
<p>PENN STATE</p>
<p>Their alumni assosciation is crazy…but if you’re OOS, it’s not worth the cost</p>
<p>Are you in state for either school? I don’t know anything about Penn State. I know a lot about UConn. UConn is it’s own entity in a very small town with nothing except what is on campus going on. Will that matter to your student?</p>
<p>I definitely have the feeling that Penn State is slightly more cult-like than UConn. Without taking into account things like travel time, cost, and academic strength, I think the decision ought really to turn on whether you care more about football or basketball, with volleyball as a wild card. (Penn State’s women’s volleyball team has a streak going that even UConn’s women’s basketball team could envy – 102 straight victories, undefeated national champions three years running. Last year five of six starters were first-team All-Americans.)</p>
<p>How would the cost compare?</p>
<p>What do you think you might want to study? </p>
<p>State College is a great college town with many stores, restaurants, bars, etc. right outside the campus gates. Storrs is not much of a college town.</p>
<p>The nearest major city to State College is maybe 3 hours away. Hartford is not far from Storrs. </p>
<p>Penn State has to be tops for school spirit.</p>
<p>Penn State is in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>UConn is really in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>If this does not appeal to you, consider the University of Maryland at College Park. Same big-time-sports flagship-state-U atmosphere, but you can go to Washington on the Metro any time you want.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re from NY or NJ, which I suspect you are if you are considering Penn State and UConn (rather than your own state schools, which tend to generate little enthusiasm), you should know that Maryland has an abundance of out of staters from NY and NJ. You would feel right at home.</p>
<p>Having spent three years trekking to a well regarded upstate NY university that is literally in the middle of nowhere … and as a UConn grad … I take exception to statements that UConn is in the boonies! </p>
<p>Hartford and Providence are both within night-out driving distance. Actually more than half of the state of Connecticut is within an hour’s drive – including the state capitol and the beach and a bunch of malls. So while UConn is not in a city – it would be considered a rural campus – it’s not that far from civilization.</p>
<p>I believe the OP is from CT.</p>
<p>cnp55, I grew up in Storrs. The old joke was that they used to call it Store and then we got another one. Yes, you can get in the car and go to Hartford or Providence but Storrs is definitely the boonies.</p>
<p>RTR: LOL at Marian’s post…</p>
<p>Marian: um, yea the OP’s son is definitely waiting (at the edge of his seat) to hear from UMD…</p>
<p>The rooting factor can be pretty important to some kids. Which sport does your son follow, and which school’s team does he root for?</p>
<p>I think Marian has it backwards. My kids used to say, of Penn State, “You go to the middle of nowhere, then you drive another couple of hours.”</p>
<p>If you are in Conn, go there. PSU is too expensive OOS, IMO. </p>
<p>As for surroundings, it really depends on what you’re looking for. Personally, I prefer being able to walk everywhere, including bars, stores, restaurants. So, State College is appealing to me. I went to a school where we were in walking distance of ONE lonely bar.</p>
<p>PSU is about three hours from Philly, Pittsburg and about four from NY. It’s a long haul. But it’s real pretty out there and the FB team rocks (BB is TERRIBLE!)</p>
<p>Academics…hmmm…PSU is really strong in a few areas. Engineering. Business. Meteorology. Fine Arts/Music. Lots of other choices too, so undecideds may be able to find a path. Plain old liberal arts major? I think I’d go somewhere else.</p>
<p>The kids I have known at both have enjoyed them equally. PSU alumni are more rabid, perhaps because PSU has been a national football power 20 years longer than UConn has been a basketball power. In addition, PSU draws more rural kids than UConn does, because of the nature of the state (often described as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama inbetween). For many of those kids, going to PSU is the greatest adventure of their lives by far. PSU is a MAJOR party school, but has some strong departments.</p>
<p>Check the graduation and freshman retention rates–I believe PSU is one of the tops in the nation in its category. But if I could pay in state rates at either, that would be decisive, as I do not think the quality of academics or life varies much.</p>
<p>Okay…please add Maryland to the mix. </p>
<p>Penn State versus UConn versus Maryland…</p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>Congrats on UMD! Your S can get a great education at any of those choices so tell him to relax, he can’t make a bad decision. If the financial side is a priority, go with the instate option. If all are financially acceptable, attend the admitted student days and then let him go with his gut. When our kids got down to the final 2 contenders, we visited them back to back and they each came away with a decision. Personally, I like UMD (it was my S’s #2 choice behind UMiami), but your S will have the opportunity for a great experience, both academic and social, at any of the 3 schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for the ongoing input. My3…Son also was admitted into U Miami yesterday but has already ruled it out…too far and too expensive!</p>
<p>Uconn has more rich people than Penn state i guess?</p>
<p>^Why? Both states have a wide range of income groups in their populations, and both states have lots of other institutions competing for the kids. If anything, I suspect Penn State has MORE rich kids than UConn. Smart poor kids are more likely to be urban kids, and urban kids tend to prefer Pitt or Temple to Penn State, so that leaves Penn State with a decidedly more suburban (and rural) student body. Connecticut is proportionately more suburban than Pennsylvania, but it doesn’t have urban public institutions of the caliber of Pitt or Temple to compete with UConn for top urban students.</p>
<p>^^and I would venture a guess? that UMD-College Park beats the other two in terms of income groups…just a guess, though, based on personal observations</p>