<p>My ds was accepted ino the business programs at Penn State (Smeal) and OSU (Fisher) and received a merit scholarship from OSU. Aside from rankings (US News, Business Week) and putting the merit money, off the table for purposes of deciding between the school, it is a dead heat. I have been more impressed with OSU and its reach out to prospective students. I think they have gone a long way to making a large university feel personal whereas we get the big school vibe from PSU. DS is undecided with a slight preference towards PSU where he would know 2 or 3 peple as opposed to OSU where he would be the only one from our high school.</p>
<p>Can anyone point out additional factors, he and we should be considering?</p>
<p>I believe OSU is on quarter system Good and bad thngs about this. Different breaks than many schools.
Transportation costs a factor?
If he interns is there a greater chance of his staying in Ohio for summers? Is this okay?
Smeal has a pretty cool program for finance majors running a stock portfolio.</p>
<p>Again both are great schools. I know kids at both who are very happy.</p>
<p>The programs are comparable. If there is a big money difference, I would go with OSU.
At Smeal, was your DS invited to Sapphire? That can make a difference. </p>
<p>I don’t think being the only kid from your son’s high school is a factor. He will make friends!</p>
<p>OSU also has more of a city environment…although it is a small city…it’s more than just a college town (which is what PSU has). </p>
<p>As much as it pains me to say it, OSU has better sports teams. Football is generally better (although not always!) and basketball…well… .PSU has NO team as far as I’m concerned. </p>
<p>Your ds has two good choices! Good luck to him</p>
<p>Knowing 2 or 3 people at a school the size of PSU means that he will know about 0.006% of the student population. He will probably make so many other friends that he will rarely see old friends from HS anyway. Heck, my D1 goes to a college with about 1600 students. There are three students there that she knew before enrolling…they don’t socialize at all (other than waving “hi” when they pass each other on the sidewalk).</p>
<p>I would suggest you/he base the choice on other factors, without consideration of this one.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t let knowing 2-3 kids at PSU make the decision. </p>
<p>Sounds like OSU is financially better. If possible, see if OSU has any “ice-breaker” activities to sign up for the week or two before school starts. That’s a great way to make new friends!!!</p>
<p>Has he been admitted to the Honors or Scholars program at OSU? These students dorm together, and depending on the program, come a week earlier for activities before school starts. My Ds is very seriously looking at OSU, and will be there in April for admitted students day. He was very impressed by the numerous phone calls checking in with him throughout the process. Maybe one more visit to each school will help him decide</p>
<p>This is my one problem with Ohio State. The school year does not start until the end of September. They will be home a full month after most of their friends go to school. But that is not my real problem. They go to school at the end of September. At the end of October they have to make plans where to live the next year. They’ve hardly enrolled in school,have not met very many people and now they have to decide where to live after a month.<br>
Drives me crazy. Even though OSU says that you can stay in the dorms for two years, most students move off campus after Freshman year. I really wanted my kids to stay in the dorms for two years.</p>
<p>I am also not fond of the dorms at Ohio State. A lot of very small quads. The smallest rooms that we saw in any school we toured. Now the food service rocked. One of the best we saw. So many options.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your valuable input. Yesterday DS received some more personalized messages from OSU regarding an academic program he is interested in in addition to business/accounting. Again, we are not feeling similar reach out from PSU. For those of you who have children at PSU, could you tell me what specific programs there are beyond honors, Sapphire, at PSU to engage freshmen. Is there a shared book community, freshmen only advising, gathering of freshemen in September, etc? I am worried that DSwill get to PSU and find it difficult to get engaged whereas OSU First Year Experience appears to facilitate engagement. Again, this is not meant to bash PSU, an institution fow which I have tremendous respect- I always thought it a front runner for both my children.</p>
<p>Key questions to ask: what are the conditions for maintaining the merit scholarship? Sometimes they are unrealistically high. What is tha actual COA for each school with the scholarship and without? Including travel and room and board. Sometimes merit scholarships only put schools on a comparatively equal footing, instead of making one much cheaper. How would OSU stack up without the merit scholarship, if it is not guaranteed for all 4 years?</p>
<p>Knowing a couple of people at a place as big as Penn State makes no difference at all. I went to a college with about 1400 students with two HS classmates. I never saw one of them at all, and saw the other one only junior year when we happened to have a class together.</p>
<p>OP - sounds like you have made up your mind and are looking for justification?
Warm and fuzzy is nice but shouldn’t be a make it or break it - IMO.</p>
<p>If you are seriously considering Penn State then I have heard fantastic things about this program:
[LEAP:</a> Learning Edge Academic Program, University Park](<a href=“http://www.leap.psu.edu/]LEAP:”>http://www.leap.psu.edu/)</p>
<p>Actually my DS has not made a decision and we are going back to PSU for Smeal Sapphire presentation in April- it’s not “warm and fuzzy” to be given substantial merit aid, be invited to honors college and offered the possibility of dorming in a first year a living community affiliated with the John Glenn School of Public service-other impressive things were convocation and first year experience linkage with admissions office- - Leap is a summer program so it’soff the table for DS- again- what’s the freshmen experience like at PSU- what other programs are there for frosh?</p>
<p>Sounds like you are looking at some pretty nice perks at OSU. That’s terrific.
My s is a Smeal finance major - however - he was in the honors college so that made that first year experience a bit different. They also have a terrific orientation. </p>
<p>Regarding freshman experiences, I believe the dorms are designed to encourage interaction. THON is easy to get involved with (check it out online if you need info). They have an activities fair each semester where students can sign up for groups. Intramural and club teams are very popular. There are greek organizations for those who want to go that route. I don’t think it’s that hard to find your niche as a freshman…there’s SO much to choose from. </p>
<p>But your deal at OSU sounds sweet. Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>Ohio State does a really good job at recruiting. Their campaign is really targeted and top notch. I think that have great programs in place for their freshman if they want to take advantage of them.</p>
<p>Do I think it translates to a better experience for the students. That I don’t know. I don’t have any personal knowledge to say. I do know parents who kids have gone to OSU and they are not that excited about it. I can’t put my finger on it. The kids like Ohio State but remember it is a really big university. I don’t know how much different it is from PSU in the end. They are both really big and have great sports. If that is what your kid wants than great.</p>
<p>My D is torn between OSU and PSU, too, although she’s heading into Biology, not Business. She’s been accepted into the Honors program at both with the partial merit scholarships that come with them. </p>
<p>The biggest drawback with OSU for us is that it is literally our “hometown” school. She has admitted that she’d be more excited about going there if she could move the OSU campus a couple hours away from home instead of 15-20 minutes away! </p>
<p>The biggest drawback with Penn State for us is the OOS price tag. The Honors scholarships helps, but there’s still a lot left to cover. But she likes the campus and town as well as the Biology program. </p>
<p>We’re still waiting on a couple more acceptances and FA packages, but realistically, OSU is probably going to win out, since we want to minimize/avoid undergrad loans as much as possible. Affordability is a huge consideration. </p>
<p>I think both schools have done a lot of outreach, but I think she’s actually received more emails and mailings from PSU than OSU. </p>
<p>Just think - in a little over a month, this indecision will be over. For better or for worse, they’ll have had to make a decision. But then the preparation for freshman year angst begins!</p>