City Life Minus the City

Introduction
Penn State is huge. There are more students in State College then there are residents. This has many benefits, but don't sign your life away just yet. There are a few things you should know before you become a Nittany Lion. I went to Penn State strictly for the program. Everyone told me I couldn't find a better architecture program. I didn't have much of a choice either. I was a small school boy being forced onto a large school campus as a result of my career choice. There just weren't any small school architecture programs. I would have loved to go to a small school and played a couple of sports on the side, but architecture took precedent. It was great to have the opportunities that a large school could offer me. But in high school all you had to do was sign up and you were on the team. Forget that. Most of Penn State's athletes are on a scholarship and specialize in one sport. Granted, sports are only one dimension of extra-curricular activities, but just know that whatever you go after at Penn State, chances are you'll have some competition. Some might say this is preparing you for the real world. But who really expects to be a professional athlete. To its credit Penn State offers many alternatives to competitive extra curriculars. instead of playing three varsity sports, I played five intramural sports.

Campus Life and Social Life
Do not go to Penn State if you like attention. You won't get it. Sure there are a ton of groups, activities and organizations you can join to bring the social and academic scene to a more manageable level. But a large school like Penn State is designed to give you the ability to shrink down in the back of the room and disappear. Its just like a large city. Don't get discouraged if you feel like no one knows who you are. No one knows who anybody is. This will change the closer you get to graduation too. Once you become involved in more of your major specific classes, you'll develop a core group of academic friends. Just remember if you want to meet people, its up to you. Just because you're surrounded by 35,000 students, doesn't mean friends will fall into your lap. Take advantage of the freshman dorm requirement, you'll never be around so many people your age again in your life. Unless you count retirement homes. Academics
Compared to other PA state schools, Penn State is impecable. More bang for the buck, thats what you're after right? The professors and TA's will always push you. The work load gets tough, and its up to you to respond. Mind you it's no ivy league, but compared to what your used to, there'll be a couple months of transitioning from that High School homework load. Although Penn State's academic expectations of its students are great, there are some things Penn State can't offer you. The University prides itself in preparing its students to succeed after graduation, but because of its location in the mountains of Centre County, you won't get the submersion in a large metropolis like you will from a school in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. The internship and summer job opportunties you will be offered in State College, are nothing when compared to those that are available to you in Philly, New York, Baltimore or DC. Look at it this way, what Penn State lacks in real world experience, it makes up for in education. So whats the benefit of living in the middle of nowhere? Mmmm glad you asked. Cost of living my friend. It's all about what you're after, but if you're after that high profile job, don't expect them to be sitting at a table in State College, PA at the job fair.

Student Body
There is no typical student at Penn State. Don't believe the hype, it's not a pure party school. For every person thats out partying on a Friday night, there's someone else sitting behind a computer or eating popcorn and watching a movie somewhere. It just doesn't seem that way because you never see those people. The streets are always packed on the weekends, especially football weekends. And you'll always be able to find a party to go to. The majority of the students have all experienced some degree of success in High School. Most of them are the ones that didn't have to work to hard to get where they are. What's that mean?!?! Oh, the whole priveleged white life thing. Hey, I fell into that category too. But the student population is primarily white. Not racist, and certainly not opposed to other cultures, but what do you expect from a bunch of sub-urbanites congregating in the middle of nowhere in central Pennsylvania.

In Closing...
I always said I could have been happy no matter what school I went to. I never fell immediately in love with the whole notion of "Happy Valley" when I visited the school, but the college experience is never a product of what you do as you wait for something interesting to happen. No one is going to come knocking down your door to get you to try new things. If you want to try it, you have to go out and find it. The great thing about Penn State is they offer so many things to try. Just be aware of the intangibles that they can't offer you as well.