We didn’t get to visit, and I don’t know anything about the culture of the school other than it’s known for big sports and Greek life. Are there other elements here, for a gay engineering student who has no interest in either? What’s the political climate here? Is there a substantial international community?
Centre County in Pennsylvania went blue in this last election - in large part because of the university. There is room for everyone at Penn State. There are LGTBQ+ clubs and activities and even a church on the main drag with their rainbow flag flying high.
Even though PSU Is known for football etc…there is PLENTY for kids that aren’t interested in that. Saturdays in fall revolve around it, but there are other things to do and the rest of the week and year do not focus on it.
The political climate on campus leans left for sure - although there is certainly a place for conservative students as well such as clubs and organizations. And no one will say anything about it either way. But overall, I’d say that it’s a very open and welcoming community to a diverse set of students. That said, 20 minutes outside of PSU, in the rural central PA areas - it is a more conservative area.
PSU has about 7500 International students. Student demographics are 67% white and 32% minority (with further breakdowns for Asian, African American, Non Resident Alien, Hispanic)
I have two Asian children and I wouldn’t hesitate to send them to PSU. In fact, we are still waiting to hear for one of them!
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Full disclosure, I want to point out that while State College is fairly liberal, the surrounding area (local and county wide) is extremely conservative. You won’t find a more diverse small town anywhere else in PA – but it is still PA.
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and @greenbutton
Thanks for the replies!