Hi! I recently got accepted to PSU and Temple University! I’m planning on majoring either in biochemistry or food science with the hopes of becoming a doctor. I’m not sure which university would be the best fit with me and I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone has! I received a full tuition scholarship to Temple plus financial aid, and have not received any money from PSU. I also haven’t visited PSU, but everything i’ve read and heard about it has just made me fall even more in love with it! I did visit Temple, and although i love the city, i didn’t really like the school or the campus. I’ve planned a visit to PSU in the next couple of weeks so hopefully that’ll help me make a decision, but until then any thing you have to say would definitely help! Again, thanks so much!
Are you in a good financial situation? Penn State is the better school, but if you’re going to end up with a boat load of debt it’s probably not worth it. Although if you really dislike Temple I wouldn’t recommend that either. Maybe you could go to Temple for a year or two save up some money and transfer to a school you like better, assuming money factors into your decision.
Did you apply anywhere else? Temple and psu are very different. What made you apply to temple initially?
If you got a full scholarship did you think about applying to any private schools? They might give a lot of merit aid too. Some may even have openings still.
If it’s between paying zero at temple and $30 grand for psu, it would be hard to imagine passing up all that free money!
Where else have you applied?
Exactly how much would Penn State cost after grants/scholarships? How much is your expected family contribution and how much loans?
Ditto for Temple… although your scholarship covers tuition, what about room/board, fees, etc.
[Note to other posters when you start threads… it would be great if you include this info right from the start.]
If you love Penn State, and the entire “Happy Valley” environment, and your parents are willing to spend the money, then you should go. My son is at Temple, and it’s a good fit for him. Philly is a great place if you want internships in health care or biomedical fields, with some of the best medical schools and teaching hospitals in the country (if not the world). If you have your sights on medical school, it makes a lot of sense to go to the less expensive school, especially if you would have to borrow money to attend PSU. Medical School is brutally expensive, and it’s unwise to start piling up debts if you don’t have to. The dirty little secret is that almost every college in the country can provide a satisfactory pre-med curriculum. If your family isn’t worried about the costs, and you really crave the campus life that PSU offers, then it’s Happy Valley for you. Otherwise, you can still enjoy D-1 sports (pretty good basketball, in fact,but mediocre football) at Temple, along with all that Philly has to offer culturally.
Either Penn State or Temple would be a good place to major in biochem or go to medical school. However, if you were interested in food science, Temple doesn’t have that. Penn State, of course, has a variety of agricultural and natural resources-related majors in the College of Agricultural Sciences, including food science. And this is a great place to do food science - we have the Creamery, an arboretum, an agricultural museum, and faculty who specialize in things like artisanal cheese, probiotics, and mushroom growing, lol!
But, of course, cost is one of the most important factors. If medical school is in your future, keeping undergraduate costs low is very important - since med school debt can easily be $150-250K depending on where you go. It’s a difficult choice to pass up a free-to-you education at Temple. However, if you really dislike the campus and school of Temple…you don’t want to be somewhere you’ll be miserable!
Can your parents afford to pay for part of your education at PSU? How much debt will you have to take on? Remember, you can only borrow $5,500 your first year, $6,500 your second year and $7,500 in subsequent years, and Direct loans are capped at $31,000 for undergrad. Any additional monies would either have to be borrowed by your parents in the form of Parent PLUS loans, or borrowed from a private lender with your parents as co-signers. I really don’t think you want to borrow more than the Direct loan limit, though, even if you don’t go to med school.