#help-me-decide Penn state vs temple
Which campus and major have you been admitted to for Penn State?
What’s the cost differential and how would that difference be paid?
Do you want an urban campus or a more rural rah-rah school?
Are both schools equally affordable?
geography for Penn State at University Park; Women’s studies for Temple
Wanted a city school, but not sure temple has the same surroundings such as a boston or dc school. Do like a big football school. Cost is very close.
State college is not a city, but it’s about 100,000 people and a college town, so there’s very little you’d be missing. In terms of football well then it wins but you already know that.
Temple is urban. You can be in the historical center or the “university quarter” fairly quickly. You’ll see skyscrapers. Philadelphia compares favorably to Boston or DC, but Temple’s neighborhood is not the safest. The campus is safe though.
Were you admitted to the Honors College at either?
Personally I’d pick Geography at PSu, and add a women’s studies minor.
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I’d disagree vehemently with that statement. I lived in State College in the early 90s and have lived in Philly since '95. State College in no ways had/has the same kind of amenities that Philly offers. You’d be missing lots in the Arts, Music, Food, Museums, Theater, Diversity, etc
If you want a city experience you will not get it in State College, PA. If you want big time football you will definitely get it at PSU as it’ll be a dominant characteristic of life there especially on Football weekends not just on campus but in the entire town.
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I’ll also add though Temple Football isn’t on the same level as PSU there is strong student support for the team and Football Saturdays are dominated by pregaming and other activities and from time to time they do have good teams.
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I didn’t mean that State College is like Philly. Clearly, it’s not. But it’s also not rural in the way, say, Kenyon or Clemson are rural. You don’t have to drive 30mn to get to a movie theater or a restaurant. You can just cross the main avenue between the campus and the town. (Also, it’s changed a lot in 25-30 years. I’ve had someone tell me that at some point they only sold frozen fish and there were few “good” grocery stores.)
But there are excellent restaurants, theater productions, art house cinema&movie theaters, the arboretum and museum with the glass gallery are cool. There are lots of activities for students, too, paintball or go-karts or rope courses or what have you. It’s missing a mall though but not sure it’s all that important to students. There are also no skyscrapers, no international-level art exhibits, no international headquarters, no historical quarter, no Society Hill, no Penn’s Landing. In short, it’s not Philly, but most college students would find plenty to do in State College. If need be, getting to Philly or Pittsburgh isn’t difficult.
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I big city sounds exciting but how much will you be able to enjoy while being a college student? Eating out is expensive. Will you have spare cash for dining and entertainment? Then there’s the time component. You’ll be going to classes, studying, writing papers, etc. How much time will you really have to go explore the city? Once you graduate and have a job it’s a no brainer. For now, Penn State has enough things to do and keep you busy.
FWIW I liked Temple and Philly more than I thought. Visited two years ago for S20 and S21. The surrounding neighborhood is rough but campus is compact and on direct line to Center City. Reading Market is cool. That said, Happy Valley grows on you. Not a bad place to spend 4 years and I’m a Pitt grad.
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If you do go to Temple you’ll do as much stuff in the city as you want. Obviously some will take advantage of that more than others. For a suburban kid State College is probably fine but in no way is it a city experience if that is what the OP thinks they want. I’ve known several city kids that went there for school that didn’t stay for more than a year but these were kids that were use to what the city offered and found State College severely lacking.
I’d ask why do you think you’d want a city experience? Then maybe we could help you further. For example, if you are into live music such as Indie, Punk, DIY shows, or you want to experience a broader set of cultures and international environment or you’re LGBTQIA and want more tolerance and like minded people, etc
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