Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus Top Questions

I spend alot of my time in the Student offfice, just hanging out with my friends and do work both for class and different clubs and organizations. We are big when you get here, but you soon see how small it is and how each of us fit in somewhere. I am either in my room, gym, field, class, or offices. We are most known for..THON! It is the highlight of our Spring semester.

The size of PSU is just right. Its possible to find your way around after about three weeks but after being here for a year now (I transferred from Wagner College on Staten Island) I still find things downtown that I haven't seen before. I do enjoy PSU's football months but honestly when PSU is football free it couldn't be any better. The atmosphere is so relaxed. During football months downtown is crowded and it's IMPOSSIBLE to find a place to park. One thing I love about PSU is that because it is so big there are so many clubs and organizations to get involved in. The size and amount of clubs also keeps the club sizes themselves smaller than usual so it is easy to make friends. What they say about Happy Valley is TRUE. Everyone here is so nice and the administration goes out of their way to help you if you have a good attitude.

The school is big but theres ways to break that down. There's a club for everything imaginable, from disc golf to model railroading to fly fishing, to even something more mainstream like baseball. The thing about it being big is if you can find your niche or group of friends, the size can only help you. Penn State is recognizable on the national scale, and thats great for networking and future job prospects. One problem I think a lot of people have is the school's in the middle of the mountains, 2 hours from the nearest big city. If you're a city kid this may affect you but really I didn't think it was a big deal, there's still plenty to do and ton's of culture like you'd find in a city anyway.

School is large but that is nice because there are always new people. You get to know people in your dorm and in some classes. Dining commons food is normally complained about, but I think it is better than what would be at some other schools. Decent variety of food choices on campus. Despite some questionable food days, PSU has a good food situation.

Obviously, Penn State's a big school. If that's not what you're looking for, then don't come here. However, if you want a lot of opportunities: socially, academically, and professionally, then PSU is a great place to be. There are lots of people at Penn State, so you can pretty much find your niche anywhere. Frats and Sororities are pretty big, too, if that's your thing. On the whole, there is something to do virtually every night you're up there. One thing that's great about having a large school is that it has a huge alumni base. This is good for interviews, because chances are good that you'll be being interviewed by a PSU grad, thus, you already have some common ground. Most of facilities are in great condition; specifically, the Business Building is virtually state-of-the-art.

Penn State has everything anyone could want. It's huge, but still intimate. Anybody with any interest can find their niche here. I will take with me the pride that everyone feels for Penn State. We have the largest alumni association, so that says a lot. My grandmother, uncles, great uncles, dad, brother and cousins are and will be alumni along with me, so it creates a great sense of pride and unity in my own family. My friends here are my family and I know I'll be seeing them as long as I come back for football games, tailgating and other events. I hope I can send my kids here someday. The biggest life-changing experience happened to me at Penn State. I studied abroad for a semester during my Junior year. It was a great experience. I learned about myself, my home and so much about people, culture and life. Penn State encourages students to study abroad, and rightfully so.

The best and worst part of this campus is the size. Penn State is huge, therefore it offers a wide variety of activities and courses and many opportunities to meet new people. The problem with this is that it can be difficult to get to know your professors, and you need to know them if you ever want a recommendation for anything. Furthermore, most of the classes are taught by graduate students and lecturers, not full-fledged professors. This makes it even more difficult to get a decent recommendation for future endeavors. Most graduate schools, law schools, and medical schools only want recommendations from tenured professors.

It's a very big campus and, if you don't create a place for yourself, it's easy to get lost in the sea of students, here. Most of my friends from home laughed at me, because PSU's reputation is obviously for partying, not academics. I only came here for financial reasons, and never would have chosen it. It's kind of sad how stories containing the illegal actions of our football team populate the local papers; even so, an obsession with football flows through the veins of most students. There's certainly a lot of school pride - the level of solidarity is comforting to some, and nauseating to others. The stereotype of Penn Staters being very interested in partying and getting wild is definitely true; while most students attend class and do well enough, I would not say that intellectualism abounds. You're more likely to find trashy sorority girls wandering the sidewalks than motivated students with their nose in a book.

The first thing people ask me when I tell the I go to Penn State is if I go to the University Park campus or a branch campus. What does it matter? There's this stigma that if you go to a branch campus you're not as smart as someone who goes to University Park. That's not true. Branch campuses have many smart kids too, as well as honors programs. Just because you go to a branch campus doesn't mean you're less intelligent than a student at University Park.

This school is just the right size. At Penn State, you have the option to meet any people you want to in a variety of social settings. Some of these are organized by the university, and some are organized by others, but they truly offer a range of life experiences. At Penn State you are constantly challenged to make decisions about the type of person you want to be, about the lifestyle you want to live and how you want to make an impact. Many people say that Penn State is too large for them. Friends and acquaintances have told me that they wouldn't want to come here because it's too big and they wouldn't want to get lost in the fray. The truth is, you just need to get plugged in and that won't even be an option. Once you make close friends here, however you choose to do so, you can hardly walk to class without recognizing a familiar face. As the years go by you begin to have classes with the same people and to become good friends. You also tighten bonds with those you met in the beginning. For me, a student organization provided better friends than I've ever had before. They have helped me to adapt and adjust to school as time has gone on. They are one of the most important parts of my experience here.