UCONN or Penn State?

College Search & Selection
21

<p>DreamingOutLoud, I am sorry that you didn't get the money and are staying in state. I think you are making a mistake, but it is all about what fits best for you. I believe you should visit Penn State UP. I do hope you take the time to be thorough with your decision. If you visit both, I believe the decision will be easy.</p>

<p>Omniscient1,</p>

<p>"I'm sure that you're a bright kid, but you look too closely at the rankings. Rankings are only important when applying to grad school, believe me."</p>

<p>Rankings are important. They compile the resources, academics, professor ratings, and other parts of a university that set it apart from other schools. Penn State is #47, while UConn is #66. The difference of 19 is the same difference between Tufts. There is a difference academically between Tufts and Penn State UP, just as there is a difference between Penn State UP and UConn. Just as the difference between Tufts and Penn State is not negligible, neither is that between Penn State UP or UConn. If you went to Harvard, which I doubt you did, then I would listen to you downplaying the rankings, but someone from a lower ranked school downplaying the rankings is not surprising.</p>

<p>"I will agree that networking is very important, but when you compare the networking of a UConn and a Penn State, the difference is negligible"</p>

<p>Penn State is known for having the largest dues paying alumni in the country. The alumni connections of Penn State stretch across the country, and are incredibly strong up and down the east coast. The connections with going to UConn are very strong, as long as intend to stay in Connecticut after graduation. Even Princeton review reiterates this when they say, "Students report that the typical UConn undergraduate “is a Connecticut resident”. At Penn State, you will meet students from many of the surrounding states and from all over the country.</p>

<p>"... unless you go to an Ivy League caliber school, you will not see too much of a difference... take it from me, I'm sure that I have more experience with this stuff than you do."</p>

<p>I am bright enough to have learned several things. The most important thing I have learned is that age is just a number. A young idiot will grow up to be an old idiot with experience. While I am sure you are not an idiot, experience and wisdom are not one and the same. Take it from me, as I am also in the working world, a lower level job at a top level investment firm job hardly qualifies you to give life lessons.</p>

22

<p>I'm not going to argue back and forth with you.... its pointless.... I respect your views, but they differ from mine... learn to live with it.</p>

23

<p>DreamingOutLoud,</p>

<p>Don't pick a school just based on rankings...it seems that some on the board are advising you to do so and telling you that you'd be making a mistake if you do otherwise.</p>

<p>I disagree.</p>

<p>Penn State does have more name recognition and is probably ranked higher than the University of Connecticut. I've also found that where you graduated from undergrad has a lot less impact than people on College Confidential seem to think it does. I'm not saying it's not important -- it is, in some ways. But you also have to be practical and weigh the options.</p>

<p>AS was already stated, public universities' first obligation is to their state residents and you are unlikely to get significant aid from Penn State unless you are at the very top of their OOS barrel.</p>

<p>Rankings do NOT quantify the difference in academics between schools...it's faulty reasoning to say that the difference between Penn State and U Conn is just the same as the difference between Tufts and Penn State. They're three very different kinds of schools and the US News rankings do not aim to quantify academic quality. It's impossible to do so.</p>

<p>" "Students report that the typical UConn undergraduate “is a Connecticut resident”. At Penn State, you will meet students from many of the surrounding states and from all over the country."</p>

<p>Actually, the typical Penn State student is a Pennsylvania resident, too. That's the whole POINT of public colleges. Penn State and UConn have very comparable numbers of in-state students (Penn State has 68% from PA; UConn has 71% from CT). UConn is also a whole lot smaller than Penn State.</p>

24

<p>Jec7384, I apologize for being unclear but I actually have not applied to Penn state yet. The deadline is at the end of the month and I considered doing so just in case I did not get into the 10 private schools that I applied to or did not get sufficient aid from then. Since Penn State is more of a low match for me, I assumed their would be a slight possibility of getting good aid but as many mentioned, it still probably wouldn't be as cheap as Uconn.</p>

<p>While I would love to go out of state and do hope that I will still have the opportunity to do so I'm unsure if Penn State would be worth it. While I would love to go to school that fits me better then UConn, and Penn may be the better choice, I don't want to overload on loans.</p>

<p>"Don't pick a school just based on rankings...it seems that some on the board are advising you to do so and telling you that you'd be making a mistake if you do otherwise."</p>

<p>^You're completely right. The rankings don't exactly apply to everyone. There are schools that I'd choose over other schools that are way higher in ranking.</p>