Son is accepted to Pitt, Penn State, and Temple Engineering, with Honors at Pitt and a small scholarship at Temple. They are all about the same price.
He cannot make it to the admitted student’s day at Penn State due to his sports schedule (tennis team is too small and they can’t do without him.) He has had a thorough visit of Temple and his sister goes to Pitt (also engineering)
Does anyone have feedback about comparisons between the three programs? Does Penn State emphasize co-ops? Do they have job fairs to help students find co-op opportunities? How strong are the research opportunities at PSU and are they readily available? What is campus life like at Penn State if you are not of the partying ilk?
He is looking for any feedback that will help him to decide.
I would find a way to visit Penn State for this decision. These are all large public schools but that’s where the similarities end.
Pitt is direct admit which is a plus. Penn State alumni network is huge.
Research is available at all but you’ll be pretty busy with engineering classes.
Internships and co-ops can be done. I knew several classmates that did co-ops at Pitt back in the day but it wasn’t pushed. Today most kids find them on their own.
@chmcnm he is going to contact the engineering department to see if they will provide a visit for him on a day that works for him. I’m not sure whether such a big university will accommodate. Finger’s crossed.
And I know college trumps tennis but his team forfeits if they don’t have 5 players and that is the size of their team, so it’s a quandary.
There’s no wrong choice, but almost all students I see who are admitted to Engineering at Penn State go there vs the other two. They tend to be impressed with what they see and I know, at least locally, Penn St seems to be favored with hiring.
We’re semi-rural (in PA) so hiring in cities might vary based upon which of the three are closer to them. It could also affect which school is preferred with students. Penn St is also fairly rural.
Worst case you can do a self tour. I would go even if he can’t get an engineering tour. Our HS probably sends 20-30 kids a year to Pitt and PSU so my kids just contacted some friends and got personal tours.
If your son is interested in nuclear engineering then Penn State. They have a reactor.
I’m a Pitt grad but I actually enjoy Happy Valley and the surrounding area. Your son will know pretty quickly which environment he prefers. Good luck.
I think having the registration and housing perks of honors at Pitt is a big plus. Pitt and Temple are urban campuses. I would choose Pitt for location and honors.
Congrats on your son’s three great options. I would do the following:
–Research the advantages that the honors program at Pitt will provide. At some colleges there is a huge benefit to being in the honors program. If there are significant benefits to the honors program, this could be a big positive for Pitt.
–IMO you need to find a way to visit Penn State if he is seriously considering committing to the school. It has a very different vibe as compared to the more urban schools on the list. One is not better than the other but they are different and fit is important.
–I’m sure your S can find non-partiers at any college (especially one as large as Penn State) but (this is purely anecdotal) my non-partying son felt that being in an urban setting provided some nice additional social outlets.
–FWIW I know people who have had great experiences at all three colleges. There has been some recent noise on CC about concerns regarding the area around Temple so that may be worthy of some additional research if Temple is a serious contender.
My D works with a number of students at her co-op company from Pitt. They have a really well supported co-op program if that’s important. Their honors program is supposedly excellent. Congrats to your student!
Temple is in a terrible neighborhood, and it’s not just a recent thing. I would go with Penn State or Pitt, rather than Temple, just because of safety issues.
Thanks for all the responses. Does anyone know about Penn State Co ops? Required or optional? Does Penn State have job fairs for co-ops like Pitt does?
There are huge job and co-op fairs and employers from PA/NYS/MD/VA/DE book a year in advance to make sure they can be there. The alumni network is huge.
Assuming your child got into Honors at Pitt but not at PSU, how does he like small classes? Because Engineering classes are going to be very large and impersonal, which can be fine for some but alienating for others, so Honors at least allows him to have a few classes where he can interact with the professor and peers directly (discussion-based, interactive classes are typical for Honors classes).
Yes I was talking about Penn State.
I don’t think there’s a difference in terms of professional opportunities (though I think PSU has a bit more reach in the VA/MD/DC area and Pitt more towards the Midwest) so the big difference is going to be living in a city v. living in a college town. I tend to think the best time to live in a college town is when you’re in college because the town is centered on students’ needs/wants&there’s plenty of time to live in cities as an adult when you actually make money, but the point would be moot if your child doesn’t like college towns
And the other difference is going to be Honors classes at Pitt v. regular classes at PSU. You may want to investigate whether there are special, smaller sections of Engineering for Honors students, for instance, or what part of regular gen eds would be replaced with the Honors courses at Pitt.
Son managed to get in for an admitted students day yesterday and he was very impressed. Despite large classes in first two years and classes taught by grad students, engineering at Penn State is a really strong program. He was reassured that if he wants to partake in research opportunities there are many who will work with him even as a freshman(maybe not engineering specific but bio or chem labs would take him. Penn State is more inclined towards shorter internships but it sounds as they are flexible and he could even get credits for a co-op if he does some projects while participating.
The new buildings on the engineering ‘campus’ that is on the west side of Atherton are looking beautiful. One building serves as the bridge over Atherton. They are expanding maker space, classroom space, and offices for engineering.
He hasn’t decided yet, but Penn State definitely got higher on the list yesterday.
My son got accepted to Penn State engineering school for computer science. PSU was a top school on his list. He dug deep and found some dissatisfied students in the engineering school unfortunately. Incredibly huge classes in freshman year that some classes are offered online. Students were unhappy with professors and the computer science program. I hope it’s different for other engineering programs. Heard great things about alumni connection but PSU was unfortunately not for my son.
Interesting. The students I know who have gone there for engineering are more traditional wanting mechanical or civil, etc. I’m not sure I can place one who went there for cs. The employers I know who definitely seem to prefer a Penn St diploma also are in civil or mechanical (mostly civil since that is H’s specialty).
It’s perfectly fine for your student to have gone elsewhere, of course. What’s the perfect school for one student isn’t the path for another. None of my three sons even considered Penn St (nor engineering or cs). You just piqued my curiosity about engineering since what I hear back at school differs. I appreciate your response!
