Pros and Cons of University Park

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
1

<p>Right now its my top choice but I'm weighing out all of my options..I've already been accepted and visited but I want to know how people who go there or have gone there or know someone who went there feel. So please give me pros and cons. Thanks</p>

2

<p>which other colleges are you choosing among?</p>

<p>what are you planning to major in?</p>

<p>what are you hoping to get from your college experience?</p>

<p>are you in state our out of state?</p>

3

<p>Out of state. Considering Oswego and Syracuse. And my major is political science…my main thing for college is getting my work done but I still want to have fun</p>

4

<p>Here are a few observations/comparisons:</p>

<p>Syracuse is most highly priced, is about equal to Penn State in National ranking, but has fewer students and smaller class sizes. So here you seem to be trading off cost of med size private vs. huge OOS public. Both PSU and Syracuse offer big sports and a partying culture.</p>

<p>SUNY Oswego overall is most cost effective but lesser prestige and like many regional universities is probably strongest for education and business majors. It does not offer big time sports. I don’t know about whether it is a party school or not.</p>

<p>Price (total COA/yr)
Syracuse 51K
Penn State 37K
SUNY Oswego 29K</p>

<p>Number of Students
Syracuse 14K
Penn State 38K
SUNY Oswego 7K</p>

<p>Ranking
Syracuse Nat U 55
Penn State Nat U 47
SUNY Oswego Reg U 67</p>

<p>I would also take a close look at the academic requirements for your intended degree of political science as well as the university’s general education requirements to see whether there are differences. Here are some links for you.</p>

<p><a href=“http://polisci.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/doc/Political%20Science%20Major.pdf[/url]”>http://polisci.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/doc/Political%20Science%20Major.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://laus.la.psu.edu/current-students/advising/recommended-academic-plans/pdf/PLSC10.pdf[/url]”>http://laus.la.psu.edu/current-students/advising/recommended-academic-plans/pdf/PLSC10.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Maxwell</a> School of Syracuse University](<a href=“Political Science Department”>Political Science Department)</p>

<p>[Program:</a> Political Science?B.A. - State University of New York at Oswego - acalog ACMS?](<a href=“Program: Political Science–B.A. - State University of New York at Oswego - Acalog ACMS™”>Program: Political Science–B.A. - State University of New York at Oswego - Acalog ACMS™)</p>

<p>i would also highly recommend that you visit each school a second time and sit in on some classes in your major.</p>

<p>good luck and it seems like you have some great choices.</p>

5

<p>I’ll give you a pro for Penn State… Since it’s a large school with VERY large departments they are able to offer a tremendous variety of courses. The first two years will make little difference with regards to what you will be required to learn. However, once you reach the junior/senior years the difference will become stark. The larger school, like Penn State, will allow you to schedule classes which you find more interesting or desirable. </p>

<p>For example, Penn State Engineering is HUGE. This semester I saw they are offering a class on how to control electronics with your mind. A smaller university would most likely not be able to offer an advanced course like this.</p>

6

<p>Psu person. I too am considering Oswego and penn state … But for meteorology. Nonetheless, I would enjoy discussing our thoughts on this stuff. If you’d like to as well, private message me today :)</p>

7

<p>Pros: Penn State alum really do take care of each other. The network of connections is vast, but you have to be independant and self-directed enough to take advantage. Similarly, there are lots of resources (tutoring, planning, jobs, internships) for students but you can’t expect anyone to either tell you much about them or hand them to you. The town is wonderful, and there’s lots to do and it’s a fairly safe place to live. Winters are better than Syracuse, but not by as much as you’d think. Classes are demanding and rigorous. (as for meterology, there is NO school better in the country)</p>

<p>Cons: You are pretty much on your own. If you can’t manage yourself, PSU is often a struggle. The party culture is beyond what you can imagine, beyond what is good for anyone. (The U is trying to control it with little success) Classes for freshman are huge. There’s lots to choose from, but you will schedule last. There are lots of gen eds which will take up a lot of your time. </p>

<p>My son was a poli sci major at PSU and worked at PSU’s center for the study of terrorism as an intern (for class credit, not money) doing data entry. His professors were excellent but often the TA’s were unresponsive and policies are inflexible, which is what you get at a huge university. You are a number. You are replaceable. If you can be responsible and keep an eye on your academics you’d be fine at PSU (which despite the party reputation, is really truly a pretty demanding school, academically). If not, you should attend a smaller school that is going to help you do that.</p>