<p>Discuss!!!</p>
<p>Penn State > Pitt > Temple</p>
<p>these are the only schools i'm gonna apply to. my order is:</p>
<ol>
<li>penn state</li>
<li>pitt or temple</li>
</ol>
<p>can't decide which school is my #2. quite a pickle i'm in.</p>
<p>I agree with bts7390.</p>
<p>Apply to all three. Penn State main campus is tough to get into. Temple is no longer a "safety" school and has become much more selective than in years past.</p>
<p>Base on what? If someone is applying to both Penn State and Pitt I would wonder if they really have a handle on what they want in the college experience. Applying to Pitt and Temple, yes.</p>
<p>Temple's stats:</p>
<p>Percent applicants admitted: 60%</p>
<ul>
<li> 18% in top 10th of graduating class</li>
<li>50% in top quarter of graduating class</li>
<li><p>88% in top half of graduating class</p></li>
<li><p>15% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher</p></li>
<li><p>17% had h.s. GPA between 3.5 and 3.74</p></li>
<li><p>20% had h.s. GPA between 3.25 and 3.49</p></li>
<li><p>20% had h.s. GPA between 3.0 and 3.24</p></li>
<li><p>23% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99</p></li>
<li><p>5% had h.s. GPA between 2.0 and 2.49</p></li>
</ul>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 490 - 590
SAT Math: 500 - 600
SAT Writing: 480 - 580 </p>
<p>... I think many could consider it a safety school.</p>
<p>You can't overlook personal preference and "good fit " issues.
When we toured Temple with d, the tour guide was from a rural community in Western Pa. The kid wanted to live in the city for a few years, and Philadelphia was the place he wanted to be-- therefore HIS choice was Temple- pretty much based on the environment.
There is a real big difference between the campus setting of Temple and Penn State. For some kids, campus environment may be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>The OP doesn't give his stats or where he lives. All he says is that he is interested in only 3 schools. Penn State's main campus is tough to get into. Five years ago, if you had a 2.5 and were from Pennsylvania you generally didn't have much trouble getting into Temple. Today, by the stats that were posted 68% of the applicants admitted were in the top 25% of their class, 52% had a 3.25 or above and 32% had a 3.5 or above. And for those involved in education in the Phila area who actually follow what is going on at local colleges, it is well known that Temple is becoming even more selective and is pushing for broader recognition. Guidance counselors in local high schools no longer push Temple as the "safety" school that you get into, no sweat. They know that Temple is upping the ante. Is it an Ivy or a selective small LAC, no of course not but that's not what its mission is. Anyone who is interested in only those 3 schools would be imprudent to apply to only 2 of them unless their own academic statistics put them right at the top so as to make acceptances a no-brainer, in which event why are they applying to those schools only. (Plus each school has it's own character as to location, strength of different programs and many other factors that go into making a final decision on college selection.) So I stick to my earlier advice, the OP should apply to all 3</p>
<p>I still would have to ask, "What is that interests the OP in just those 3 schools?" I would assume he/she is a resident of PA and thus the state schools. With the event and extensive use of the Common Application I see kids applying to schools that they know little about. I think a little more homework upfront is inorder for all college applicants. One of the best stories is about a young lady touring either Hollins in VA or Simmons in Boston, doesn't matter. But she asked the tour guide about the male/female ratio and co-ed housing. Both are all girls schools.</p>
<p>That's a funny story! But you are right, it's important to research schools to really understand what they are all about and whether they are a good "fit". College websites offer a ton of info, if one takes the time to really dig into it. In the case of the OP, we really don't know why the selection is limited to those 3 schools but even scouring the websites for them will reveal meaningful differences which could influence whether one is a better match than the others.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Temple really isnt getting that much more selective. It's an excellent school, but I know the deans of the business school and asked why Temple doesnt try to make itself more selective. They essentially hold onto their traditional values of giving (pretty much) everyone an equal opportunity to higher education. It's still definitely worth looking at, especially if you can get into the honors program (or even if you cant--you can always switch into it if you want to).</p>
<p>Sure, Temple might be getting more selective than it was before, but it's not too difficult to be able to call it a safety.</p>
<p>It was my safety and I did pretty average in hs (Although I have connections up to the wazoo at Temple, so my hs record didnt matter).</p>
<p>Temple's not as bad a school as people make it seem. It has TONS of programs and is a good fit for a large number of people.</p>
<p>i agree that temple is the most under rated school out there. its reputation here in philly should be better than it is. i think outside of philly its looked at as better.</p>
<p>It's not very well respected at my suburban Philly HS. Quite a shame.</p>
<p>I am the biggest advocate for "good fit" on this board, and if someone decided that they would feel more comfortable at Temple than they would at the other two, I would tell them to go to Temple. Personally though, if you're just talking general, overall quality, I think Temple is a notch below the other two, although it is improving. All three schools though are closer in quality than you might expect.</p>
<p>I think admission stats are a good way to compare schools, because it shows the quality of students a particular school attracts:</p>
<p>(All stats for main campuses)
School, SAT 25-75 percentile, %freshman in top 10% of HS class, Acceptance Rate, %Acceptees Attending, %freshmen OOS, US News selectivity ranking, Princeton Review Selectivity Rating</p>
<p>Pitt, 1160-1340, 47%, 53%, 34%, 25%, 66, 89
PSU, 1080-1280, 37%, 62%, 35%, 28%, 87, 89
Tem, 1000-1200, 19%, 60%, 35%, 32%, NA, 82 </p>
<p>Sources-</p>
<p>US News "America's Best Colleges 2007"
<a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/premium/t1natudoc.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/premium/t1natudoc.php</a></p>
<p>The Princeton Review 2007 "The Best 361 Colleges"
<a href="http://www.princetonreview.com/college/default.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.princetonreview.com/college/default.asp</a></p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh Admissions Statistics
<a href="http://www.pitt.edu/%7Eoafa/stats.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.pitt.edu/~oafa/stats.html</a></p>
<p>Temple University Student Profile
<a href="http://www.temple.edu/factbook/profile06/profile.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.temple.edu/factbook/profile06/profile.html</a></p>
<p>In terms of business, I dont think Temple is behind the other two at all.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, PSU does not superscore their SAT's.</p>