<p>Hi, My son got admitted into both New Kensington and Erie Campuses. He is leaning more towards Erie campus while I am thinking about New Kensington campus. New Ken is 15 mins from home so he just have to pay tuition fee but at Erie he needs to pay for boarding too. What would be the advantage he will have if attended at Erie campus?</p>
<p>TIA.</p>
<p>First off, a lot of students take pride attending Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. The school is the second biggest in the Penn State campus system and is also second strongest in everything, from academics, social life, clubs/organizations and even graduation placement. Even though it is true, that most students attend University Park, Penn State Erie is actually the top 2nd choice for students attending Penn State and have students from largest backgrounds. ALOT of students choose to attend Erie over University Park since only 30% students transfer to UP after 2 years. The two majors that most students study are either Business or Engineering. Engineering is the strongest program on campus and is very regionally and even in some cases nationally known. Because of most students studying engineering, the vast majority of the student body is male. The main reason students choose to study engineering for example here compared to University Park is because there is special engineering majors that University Park doesnt offer such Software Engineering and Plastic Engineering and there is also the basics like Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical etc. The job placement for students getting internships and full time offers is amazing. Every semester there is a career fair in the fall and spring that various different types of companies small and large come and recruit students. Companies such as General Electric, Microsoft, Honda, Mitsubishi etc etc These are the same companies that come to the University Park career days and recruit the same students. My one engineering friend received a offer of $70,000 starting salary in his last senior year even before graduating! Part of the student population, there a very large influx of international students, especially from Asian countries such as India and China. On campus housing is actually pretty decent, we have a honors residence, single room residence dorms and of course the freshman halls. Alot of the dorms are updated and look very decent and most of the them are actually suite styled living. There is on campus apartments which are alright but we also have an apartment complex across the street called UGATES. That is where you can find the vast majority of parties and craziness that happens on the weekends. Truthfully, there isnt alot to do on campus, organizations do sponsor Friday night events to keep people away from partying and such and some of the events are pretty good. However, the campus can get boring at times especially during the winter and this actually allows for students to study alot, which is never a bad thing. In conclusion, I have to say that Penn State Erie is the best option for students who want to have something different from University Park. It isnt like other penn state campuses because this one actually has decent academics and activities and most students live on campus or near campus. I am proud to say that I actually enjoyed being here for the first two years before I transferred to University Park.</p>