PSU: rigor does matter, but Art is a different beast and artistic experience&skill will be paramount.
Could she start in GD and if it doesn’t work she switches/is switched to Integrative arts? If she does Integrative Arts, she could add a “professional” minor. For instance:
https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/information-sciences-technology/information-sciences-technology-minor/
https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/bellisario-communications/digital-media-trends-analytics-minor/
https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/intercollege/entrepreneurship-innovation-minor/
Glad you’re open to both Rowan and Delaware-- both attract pretty serious students from my neck of the woods, not party kids at all, but kids with lots of interests who have been pretty involved with cool stuff on campus. I’m not from New Jersey so don’t know what it was like a generation ago, but I’ve seen kids at Rowan get into tough and competitive grad programs… and Delaware kids have always done well- so they are doing something right.
Penn State attracts a MUCH jockier/sports/party hearty crowd at least in my part of the country. To pay out of state rates for that seems illogical to me.
I went to Glassboro State College in the late 80’s and my son is a junior at Rowan now. I assure you, there is almost no resemblance to the GSC I remember!
Other than CPSLO, as you probably know none of them are in any way exciting or worth flying to. May as well send her across the country to an area that has a lot more in the way of GD, publishing, more affordable than Private colleges here, and near family.
Yes, they usually funnel those that don’t make it through GD into IA, but my only issue is applying to GD means less of a chance of admission. However, the person on the phone mentioned that she can reapply if not accepted, so we should call and try to understand that more
weird, I deleted the part about CPSLO and then it somehow got attached to my other comment …
PennState main campus is extremely highly ranked, and recognized all over the country. THey also have an Arts/Arch SLO that I’'ve heard nothing but great things about. PennState main campus is awesome, I am truly one of the cult followers. THere are some things not to like, to be sure, but it’s an amazing school with an amazing reputation and alumni network which helps when trying to get internships and jobs. 
We are thrilled with our choice of that for our older kid and would be thrilled for her if she got in.
I want to echo earlier comments both about Temple being top notch for graphic design (and all things art through Tyler School) and about Philly transit being safe.
Just jumping in to say that University of Delaware is an amazing option. The location is so much better than PSU. The town is outstanding, and it is so convenient to Wilmington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC. I am very familiar with both schools and most kids from our area would certainly say that PSU is a MUCH bigger party school than Delaware. Our school sends about 100 kids to PSU main and many more to branch campuses every year (Instate) and dozens to Delaware (OOS). U of D gets higher ranked students from our area. WCU is a great option as well for a smaller school than the other two.
Thanks everyone…we rearranged things according to cost and effectiveness of the U…
PSU Main
PSU Abington (actually has a good Art New Media program and my girl being an introvert means she doesn’t absolutely have to have a huge campus)
Jefferson (East Falls) (expensive but good reputation and known on west coast)
Temple (still not sure about this one they are sooo huge and of course the safety issue off campus and still concerned about the subway to and from center city)
I’d like Arcadia but hubby said no one here recognizes the name
Did u rule out Drexel? It’s right next to UPenn, Amtrak, has Graphic design, Co-Op and easy ride to PHL airport.
I’m curious how Jefferson is well known when that name is only a year or two old? Arcadia is a wonderful little school and I would imagine that name recognition is not nearly as important as skills or portfolio.
Just make sure you are comparing apples to apples. The experience at PSU Abington would be nothing like Arcadia or Jefferson or Temple as it is mainly a commuter school, despite all the new dorms
She could start at Arcadia then transfer to PSU Main if she plans on doing 2y Abington->PSU UP.
No one knos the names of colleges in other regions. Employers don’t hire based on college name - achievements matter more.
Hi! Great thoughts- Jefferson proper has been around forever, so JEF would be piggybacking off of that. I’m working to keep Arcadia on the list, but not sure about it.
PSU Abington…, it’s commuter but lots of kids stay for the weekend, and hopefully she’d get lucky and meet kids that do. THis particular kid is happy with a few friends, a book to read, a nice library nearby and grocery store and places to walk to. With occasional romps into a nice place to eat in Center City …so I think there is a sense in which Abington would work better for her than Temple, where there is a huge campus but you’re stuck there and I don’t even know if they have a public library that is safe. or a grocery store she can walk to …etc. They are apples and organges to be sure but I am not sure that’s a bad thing.
Drexel is the quarter system, and also at 67K for COA, even with the internships, I just don’t think we can or should swing that. We will never get any aid and she is not a scholarship candidate. She’s also really against the idea of the quarter system. SOme of our community colleges here have it and it seems pretty stressful. I wish it was less expensive and semester based 
I could encourage her apply and see what she thinks later of course. But tell her, unless a total miracle happens and they throw her 20K per year it’s not happening. …
She would likely use the stores on campus and they do have a huge, comfortable library with comfy chairs as well as stacks and desks.
However she should apply to the Honors Program - especially since it guarantees 4y of housing.
Hi! To be sure, we decided to keep Temple on the list but it still requires thought. Generally university stacks don’t carry a lot of modern fiction. My daughter is an avid reader of the classics as well but has probably read most of the ones in which she is interested. …very different from a public library.
Stores on campus - I’m sure there are a lot but it’s not the same as a nice little walkable downtown. Unless Temple has basically created a town inside a city. I haven’t been there in forever so I really don’t know
I’ll check out the Honors Program. I doubt she’d want the extra work…,as a primarily art student your projects can be quite consuming…They built a LOT of housing in the past 5 years so they may be able to accommodate most of the kids that want to live on campus.
@CalmingTea its been a looong time, but I used to manage Temple’s main campus bookstore, and we had a decent selection of fiction books with new ones every week. It was like a mini bookstore. Not sure if buying books is in her budget but there are leisure books around if she wants.
We ended up taking Jefferson off the list…I’m sad; 
I really liked a lot of things about it but it’s ranked so low and yet so expensive it didn’t really make sense. We put Seton Hall on as a replacement, as they are famous for giving TONS of MERIT aid money and flying in and an out of Newark would be a piece of cake. My d is not a NYC fan but the idea of slowly easing into it from a suburb seemed good to her.
We are talking about putting Fordham on the list, it’s very expensive and a bit of a reach. However we have family in upper manhattan as well as Long Island so we are reaching out to see what they think about the Bronx campus of Fordham and how it would be a for her.
College libraries nowadays have reading rooms with lots of new popular fiction, design thinking rooms, mini videoconference rooms, study group rooms, huge comfy chairs with just 4 plugs for a student’s screens, etc…
They don’t really have lots of print classics, except in old editions for Scholars to want to compare them, since most classics can be found or borrowed online for free. (You can get tablets znd readers at most college libraries too.) However they have thousands upon thousands of scholarly books necessary for research papers and which can only be found there (which you can borrow from around the country through a system there’s called interlibrary loan.)
Always check out the library when you visit a university though.
Most college students spend almost their whole time on campus. If they go ‘into the city’, it’s probably once or twice a month max, even those who thought they’d be out every Friday and Saturday night.
I read through all of these posts looking for thoughts on Temple. Now I’m dying to know, where did your student end up?