It's the end of the year at PSU, so it's move-out day. It's amazing how students have to learn to manage their time in school and also learn to organize their belongings to fit in their parents' vehicles at the end of the school year. The campus provides a large wheeled bin to help students carry their belongings from the dorm to their cars. You must sign the bin out and return it by a certain time; otherwise, you will be charged a late return fee. There is a donation room designated for usable items you no longer want or need. The donated items go to the local Goodwill. The PSU campus police don't issue tickets to non-registered cars during the move-out period as long as you put on your flashers. Bottom line: that dorm room assigned to you better look like the day you moved in, or the student/parents will receive a bill for trash left behind, items left in the room, and anything damaged. read more

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We are...Penn State! My alma mater and my favorite college football team makes this an easy 5 star review. If I were paying today's tuition rates, this rating would be less than stellar. I think my tuition was $2,675 per semester back in the late 1990's. Good times from what I think I remember from those days in metropolis junior. Anyone who hasn't visited in the last 10 years would be amazed by all of the changes on campus. Tons of new buildings and lots of roads now closed to vehicular traffic, which is a good thing. Lots of changes in downtown state college as well. Many new high-rise buildings and development. Come back for a visit and enjoy all the university has to offer. read more

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This is my first time my family and I visit this University. It is a large university which is located in college town. The staff is friendly and kind. We visit almost every building on campus. There were many classes offered in the summer. The campus was full of the student. No masks are required in the campus. There are many hotels near by the campus. It is convenient for parents to visit our children. read more

Religion is like football here. Yes I got the order of things correct. One gets the sense that football is taken as seriously as a religion observance. This review is about the outdoor football fields only. I came up with my high school son's football team for a 7 on 7 passing tournament. The people of State College were without fail nice to our group. Moreover, the facilities were first rate. The tournament fielded about 70 or so teams but there was more than enough room to accommodate all the cars and buses. The lush green fields were immaculate. The Penn State football team practices on the fields sometimes but they also have an indoor practice facility. It seems that each sport had its own practice facility, indoor or outdoor, not counting the multiple (over 15) fields the tournament was held on. The grass was as green as emeralds without a weed, dry patch, or bare spot in sight. it was a thing of beauty to behold. I can see why the football team did not miss a recruiting beat in the wake of the Sandusky child abuse scandal a few years back. The football facilities are top notch and the entire university is spread out across an expansive number of acres outlined by mountains all in a serene, bucolic setting. As we left we passed the Penn State Center for Turfgrass Science. That program must be tops in the nation based on how well the massive grounds with acres upon acres of turfgrass around the university were manicured. Five stars, but I removed one because there was a dearth of permanent bathrooms close by which left tournament goers and teams left to use a bank of port-a-potties that quickly became ripe with unrelenting use and a baking hot summer day. read more

If you're looking for a world class education, beautiful college campus, amazing college football atmosphere, and overall outstanding college experience look no further than Penn State. The large campus and student population may be intimating at first, but after a couple of months, you'll find a group and surely find your home. Penn Staters becomes family and it's an honor to spend Football Saturday's with 109k of your best friends. read more

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I know you can get a good education there - or at any of their branch campuses - trust me. Students are generally sociable. For sure, they throw the best parties around. Arts Fest is good (minus the riots) and there's always fun folks trying to get you to support the cause du jour (I'm sure some folks have seen the volatile preacher roaming around Willard years ago - is he still there?). Visit the Creamery, sit on the Lion, don't go to Walmart. The food selection has gotten better over the years and I believe that it will only GET better - all they need there now is a Russian and a Burmese restaurant... any takers? read more

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The campus and stadium are 5 stars the students are lucky to go to such a nice University and they never have to leave campus for anything it looked like main street has everything they need. But the real reason for my stop was the creamery yep the creamery plus the the parking garage for a $1 an hour was worth the 5TH star read more

Pennsylvania State University - Campus - Colleges & Universities Near Me - University Park, Pennsylvania

The parking for undergrads makes sense, but requiring grad students of the law building to take a 15-20 minute trek to-and-from class is a bit unreasonable. This is only exacerbated by the freezing snow in the winter. read more

As a Pennsylvania resident with senior in high school, we visited Penn State University's main campus, University Park, in State College, a few weeks ago. My son is strong in science and math and has not decided where to apply to college. Thus, the right of passage college tour had been taking us to the schools he might be interested in attending. The cost of tuition, and room & board is very reasonable compared to the out of state colleges visited, so Happy Valley has to be considered. Luckily, the university ranks fairly well academically in addition to its reasonable cost for instate students. By standard metrics, it is ranked #59 among doctoral universities, and #131 based on value (bang for the buck). Not sure that makes it one of the "Public Ivies," as some claim, but its honors program in science has a strong reputation. Considering that we have also visited MIT, Lehigh, Carnegie Mellon, William & Mary and Colorado, Penn State slides into the lower end of this list, and is a decent place for a strong under graduate education and springboard for graduate school. The final list for applications awaits his next SAT scores. Our visiting day was cool and rainy. Although dressed for the weather, the two hour walking tour led by student guides was a challenge. We appreciated seeing the campus and being provided with lunch in one of the dorm cafeterias, but by the time we finished our exploration, we were soaked to the bone, head to foot. The campus is large, as expected for a student body of over 40,000. It was a variation of all the other schools we have seen. No better. No worse. Perhaps fewer very old buildings, and less interesting architecture than most. But, still well laid out, accessible by a free transportation system. It is right on the edge of the Borough of State College, with Main Street right off campus. That is a major plus. Schools without a connected town makes for a less stimulating overall experience for students. There is also excellent ice cream at the university creamery - a strong selling point. After the orientation and tour, my son seemed impressed with what Penn State offered for his desired majors. That tuition was less than everyplace else, especially with available financial aid, was another big plus. Too, it is only 3.5 hours from home; just close enough for a long weekend visit, but far enough to keep the parents from too many surprise drop ins. . Don't know where the lad will ultimately decide to apply, but I have no problem with him keeping Penn State in the mix. read more

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What a different world. I spent two years at Penn State. Having lived in Hawaii for the first 18 years of my life, life in State College was a change. First the switch from city to a rural locale. And the fact that things on the East Coast move more quickly. Something that did not sit well with me from day one. There are a lot of great programs here, but it seemed like I needed to make a decision on a major when I really had no idea what I wanted at age 18 with little real world experience to go on. For example there was a lot of prerequisites to get into the business program. I was handicapped from the start as I only was able to register when I showed up on campus. The freshmen who attended the summer orientation had a head start on enrolling in classes which I did not like. The classes I did take were challenging and the professors teaching were top notch. However the class sizes made them kind of impersonal and I felt like I did not get the attention I needed. It seemed too much like sink or swim. The campus is great. Very collegial and great facilities especially the union building and library (Paterno/Pattee). The sport complexes are obviously good as well. Plus there are many student activities to participate in if you want to be active. Being introverted with social anxiety, the environment here was not the best for me. The fact that Penn State is essentially a college town, there was no place nearby to escape from the pressures of college life. I am a city kid, so it just did not work. There was also some concerns I had with the university's handling of several incidents related to minority students that I did not like. Hopefully this has changed in the 8 years since I last attended. I think Penn State is a good school, but it is not a fit for everyone. In hindsight, I do not feel that I was equipped then for a school like this. However I think that the life I have lived since then makes me feel like giving it a go again. I think this has to do with identity in particular, something that was not developed at the time I was there. read more

Your child has problems and withdraws and they slap you with a huge tuition balance to pay off before the kid can study again. Not a lot of sympathy, even less support, and do they tell you that's what happens if you pull out? No. All they want is your money, even if they have to nickel and dime you to death. read more

I have mixed feelings about this university during my first year there. Coming from Seattle, WA, a very liberal metro-region of the pacific northwest, I did not know what I was in for at Penn State...and I guess central PA in general. I came here to get away from the west coast for a bit and to just experience east coast lifestyle -- well, this place is certainly not the right place! Anyway, more about the school itself... I was accepted directly into the school of Communication and I felt my classes were a little lackluster, as far as developing and fostering education. I did study, and it was not too difficult to get a high GPA. Of course, I'm sure this depends entirely on the programs too. I was just disappointed to hear how great the school of Comm is, only to find out how undeveloped it actually is. The campus is just GORGEOUS. I love the aesthetics of the school. It's also a very big school, so just prepare to ride the crowded CATABUS all the time, which I loathed. My biggest gripe of PSU was the majority of the students there. Now, let me make this clear...I said majority*, not all, so don't get offended by this, as this is an honest recounting of my experience there. I felt a lot of the students lacked ambition and motivation, except for a nice group of people I met early on during the semester. Not only that, but a lot of students are ignorant and downright rude. I can feel for all the minority members who attend PSU because of how predominantly white the school is. If you're white and you don't think there's a lack of diversity, then ask yourself this: How would you feel if you were the only white person in the room? Sure, you can blame it on the geographic location and try to justify it, but PSU really needs to work on its student diversity. Along the lines of this, I faced a lot of discrimination when I was there...a lot of racism toward Asian Americans and International students. Many of the students I had to deal with generalized all Asians into one group. Well, no wonder they do that. The school is so white that any minority members feel so disenfranchised and discriminated against. My black friends even noted the lack of diversity, which resulted in them sticking together because they had no one else who understood them. I overheard my white neighbors, PSU students, making fun of me once as I stepped into my room, making racial slurs. Not okay. I get that Seattle may not be the perfect place in the world, but people there are less ignorant about social and ethnic issues. These people...act like they've never seen the world beyond central PA. Perhaps they've never... I was also walking along the street one evening and I heard drunk guys picking on this gay couple. Uhh...not cool. Not cool at all. I'm not going to go in-depth because the crap they yelled at them were just vulgar and completely unacceptable. This also happened around a busy portion of the street, and people LAUGHED. How is this okay??? Apart from this, everyone stared at me as if I were from planet Mars, especially when I decided to break the hideous trend of PSU t-shirt, sweats or b-ball shorts with some sandals. No one wants to stand out there, and if they do, they will get ostracized. I'm so glad to have met so many of my good friends there, who helped me get by through the year. I wont even bother bringing in the football scandal issue much, but it only reinforces my argument that a lot of the students here tend to conform to the mass. I'm officially back on the west coast and I couldn't be happier. Penn State opened my eyes, my experience teaching me how oblivious, ignorant and cruel rurals of PA'ers can get. I feel PSU has potential, but party stigma that's literally engraved into 90% of the students there weigh it down. I'm not sure if I would recommend PSU to a high school student, unless she/he is white. I know for a fact I'm not alone on this. Many of the PSU students feel this way, read more

State College. Never in my life would I have thought that I would end up in the middle of Pennsylvania, far far away from my beloved California, and still far far away from my haven in Manhattan. Nonetheless, I made the conscious decision to come here to get my MBA. Upon flying into State College, my initial thoughts were, "Where the hell am I, and why are there so many trees/fields?" I was definitely not in the city or beach anymore. The first thing that I saw when I came to campus was Beaver Stadium. This thing literally took my breath away with his gigantic size. It really looked to me like the Roman Colosseum. THIS is what I'm talking about. Back where I got my undergraduate degree, we did not have a sports team, so I just didn't have that school spirit. By coming here, I know that would drastically change. As far as the campus itself, this place is huge. I was curious one day, so I decided to run around the whole campus. It was a nice 4.75 miles of good old PSU. So what makes this place nice? Well first of all, there is this huge alumni network that you might have heard of. With the sheer amount of Penn State graduates across the country, you'll have a hard time to find a company in which there are no PSU graduates working there. For you athletic types, you have multiple gyms on campus: Natatorium, White Building, Inter-mural Building, Recreation Hall. Each of these gyms are big enough to get your workout at, and have tons of facilities such as weight rooms, racquetball/tennis courts, basketball courts, diving/swimming pools, and of course a track. Say you want to watch a basketball game? Then you have the pleasure of going to the Bryce Jordan Center to do so. If you like to just hang out, then you have the student center, HUB ,where you can hang out with all your friends, grab some food, and take a trip to the bookstore. What I found, that was one of the coolest things here, was Berkey Creamery. Penn State has its own creamery where you can get milkshakes, and ice cream! There are amazing flavors ranging from WPSU Coffee Break, to Peachy Paterno. Prices range around $4 so it won't break your piggy bank either. Penn State really is a huge university. If you're coming here as an undergrad, then you have a plethora of courses to choose from. Whether you want to learn how to scuba dive, or quantum physics, Penn State pretty much has it all. Each of the individual majors provide tons of opportunities to get internships, network with top firms such as Goldman Sachs, and get a decent education in the process. So what are some of the downsides? Well, you're in the middle of nowhere. Literally the middle of nowhere. You're a 3 hour drive from Pittsburg/Philadelphia, and about a 4 hour drive to Manhattan. Good luck finding your favorite stores or things to do, because over in State College, your choices of food/drinks/stores is extremely limited. To get to major cities, there are a bunch of bus services such as Megabus, so if you don't have a car, you won't die here. All in all, PSU is just a huge national university. The school is consistently ranked in the top 50 national universities for your undergraduate program, and has a top 10 supply chain management MBA program as well. It's a great place for kids to get the full college experience. You live in a college town, have division-1 sports, a student body of 45,000 students, and the option to take any class you can possibly want. As long as you can get around the fact that you're away from ALL major cities, you'll find a way to survive, and in the process, have a great experience. read more

I graduated from Penn State in 2000 and I still bleed blue and white. Penn State is an amazing school. The campus is beautiful with great a loving students and teachers. A very very big school but the family feeling does not make you feel like you are surrounded by thousand and thousands of students. I am still involved in the alumni association here in LA. I have been all over the world and I have always ran into someone that have graduated from PSU whether I am in Japan or Puerto Rico. The education and life experience I received at PSU is like no other. WE ARE.........PENN STATE! read more

Dear Penn State, I attended classes on your campus in U. Park. I skipped class. I even missed a final once. But I did it with finesse, and somehow I made it out in 4 years (OK, OK, with ONE summer session), and with a decent GPA. You taught me that it's never too snowy to go out to bars or parties, but it CAN be too snowy to make it to class. You taught me to survive a riot, AND a wicked dose of pepper spray. I learned how to avoid skeevy guys at parties by artfully dancing away from them. I went to your crappy movie theatre, and your crappy mall, but I didn't care that they both sucked. Your countless positive features made up for it. I will forever miss getting lunch at Irving's (everything bagel toasted with hummus, red onion, alfalfa sprouts and tomato!!), and lattes at Websters...and shopping at Abercrombie and working out at Body Works and drinking at Cafe... I love you PSU. Too bad you're in the middle of nowhere or I'd come back all the time. xoxo -dana read more

Finally! After all those years of hearing my parents speak of Penn State! we get to go visit on a family reunion. The campus is large and attractive. We got an easy place to park, but that's my Seattle parking karma (I am a parking witch) so I carry this practice. I was very pleased and grateful when we went yo the Alumni Association the staff was appreciative of my Mom's visit and stories. We spent time looking over old annuals and found other pictures of relatives. I am born in PA, here, actually, State College, transplanted to Wa at an early age. AAAHH Penn State! I grew up with my parents cheering and yelling for their fantastic football team! read more

I like to come here once a year to watch Penn State Nittany Lions kick their opposing team's butt. Coming from New York the drive is nice. Lots of cows and open areas. But I tell ya you will know once you are in the PSU area. There will be students all over the place. Take a walk down East College as there are plenty of restaurants and lounges. Pretty nice for a college town. WE ARE......PENN STATE!!!! read more

We are!!! There is a huge problem with this University, you pay parking permit and they anyways dispose of the place, they do not care if you paid or not for parking. read more

This review is actually for the Creamery as I have never in fact, attended Penn State. However, my uncle teaches there and my cousins attended, and I have, on multiple occasions visited the campus. I'd been on the campus back in the day, as in the early 90s before The Creamery was in its fancy pants new venue. This campus is gorgeous, and if I were inclined to live on the East Coast, and get what I've been told is a very good education, this would be my place. By the way, I have quite an array of Penn State clothing, and other Nittny Lion parafinalia. So, I'm kind of an honorary Penn State perma-student. I'm talkin, hoodies, sweat pants, shorts, pens, sutffed animals...You name it, I may have, at one time, owned it with the Penn State paw and name on it. It's probably as close to following a college as I'm going to get ;) Anyway, So, if you find yourself on campus and don't stop at The Creamery, you are insane. I said before Coldstone has the best ice cream, clearly, that is only true in California. Having been to the Creamery many times, I can attest to how fresh, delicious, amazing, wonderful, and just plain good it is. They now have a HUGE selection of products at their mammoth new location, so apparently it's the go-to place on campus? Also, the chapel is beautiful. My cousin got married in it last September and the whole thing was just perfect. The weather was nice, everywhere was green and lush, it was gorgeous. Check that out while you're there as well ;) And, you should probably take your picture with the statue of the lion... read more

Bro, the only thing better than downing a 30-pack of Natty at 3pm while you pregame with your other bros and random slampieces is doing it at Penn State University. Now, we're all very aware that bros are both the smartest people in the universe AND the richest people in the universe, so it's unnecessary for us to pay tuition, unless you count "paying tuition" as "betting $3,000 of your dad's money on the Nittany Lions kicking the piss out of Ohio State this weekend". Sure, your token "whipping boy" bro is probably studying and getting good grades, but he's also DD'ing when you and the boys are working on local cougars at the watering holes. The best thing about Penn State is that people label it as "bro heaven". And they say that like it's a bad thing?? Bro heaven is an understatement for this oasis. Get your favorite slampieces and hop on a one-way ticket to the pound town express, because We Are Penn State, and we're the best brollege in the world. read more

I have attended several dinners and a few lectures at the Conference Center, so I thought it was time for a review. The conference center is spacious for a large group and there always seems to be ample parking. You can also access the conference center by taking the Red Link bus from campus. They are well equipped for modern day presentations with computers, software and the hardware necessary to put them on. read more

I am the former Duke of Penn State Berkey Creamery, so I am very well acquainted with the campus and am very qualified to provide a review. I am also a Michigan alum, so I am not predisposed to positive bias. The campus is very large and quite pretty. It's a great place to visit any time of the year. If you're lucky you might even land yourself a cute nurse from here (who is also smart and very well trained in critical care medicine at the prestigious Penn State School of Nursing!) read more

Honestly, I regret leaving this school as a distance learning school. This was the first school I enrolled in to work on my BS degree and I transferred to another school for a more specialized field. Worst mistake ever. Only after experiencing a horribly disorganized online distance learning college did I realize how great PSU is for distant learners. read more

I was able to tour Penn State University campus before my brother's college basketball game. It's a beautiful campus. We didn't have a problem navigating around. The Nittany Lion Shrine is a great place to take photos. I definitely enjoyed my short visit in State College, PA. read more

Come on!! I gotta love it. It's my Alma Mater. Wish I was young enough to go back and do it again. Great Times and Great Memories! Lots to do, Lots to see, and Lots to eat!! read more

What else is there to say? Best university ever...one major gripe though, they had the gall to send a letter asking for money from me on my b-day, great timing PSU!!! read more

Pretty chill. Great tailgates. Ok bars. All off campus apartment bedrooms are dorm style with 2 beds though which is really weird.

Gorgeous campus, very large, great mix of old and new! Proud that one of my girls is here and receiving and excellent education.

Ummm I drove like 4 hours to get here for this logic concert and those ******* canceled it Bc of bad weather. Like boi I'm ready to die I'm fine w getting hit by lightning but this man was under a roof he's chillin hes a ***** for not coming out and performing read more

My daughter goes there. She loves it. In the business school. Reasonably affordable tuition, even for out of staters, when compared to other schools. A great value when all is considered. Safe area, picture-esque, sort of idyllic college town. Big college town, 40,000+ undergrads. Real nice, big campus. Have been to some football games in the fall. I highly recommend going, especially to a homecoming game. Lots of fun. Insanely giant tailgating situation during football games. Like many schools, the kids like to blow off steam and have some drinks, but the kids seem to keep things under control. Frat police a great idea at PSU. I graduated from UMass, being a Mass. resident, but my heart is with Dear Old State. read more

Going to PSU was the biggest mistake of my collegiate life. It's a school that strives for mediocrity and accomplishes that goal with astonishing success. The PSU community, as a whole, is void of any real desire to succeed in anything that isn't related to football. Instead of addressing any of its many deep, material, and systemic problems, Penn Staters generally focus on re-framing issues and ignoring problems. For example, I can't tell you how many times I heard that it wasn't "fair" to compare the quality of a PSU education to that at private a number of schools, because private schools have "advantages." Academics are very clearly not a priority in State College. Admittedly, the school does have a reputation for having a large and valuable alumni base and, in spite of what I wrote in the last paragraph, it does have a reputation for having decent academics, but neither reputation is earned. As I already wrote, the academics are very, very underwhelming, and the alumni organization was even worse. I also have degrees from Syracuse and Cornell, and both schools are markedly better than PSU in virtually every category that was relevant to my time as a student - both big (i.e. quality of education, reputation, alumni network) and small (i.e. on campus amenities like weight-room hours and quality). That said, I will say that Happy Valley is very scenic (as is UP), and very, very safe. It's also a lot of fun to spend a weekend, especially if you're in your young 20's. After a couple of weekends, the college bars lose their charm. But, they are good for a go around. Football games are also a ton of fun, but PSU is a one trick pony. After football season, PSU's athletic scene is pretty much over unless you're into women's basketball, women's volleyball, or wrestling. Men's basketball, baseball, and lacrosse exist in name only. Unless you really want a mediocre career, and you want to be average at it, I would not go to PSU. It's not worth your time, and there are way better options out there. I don't think that the posters that are building it up have experienced other schools and are thus not really able to make reasonably comparisons. read more

If I could give a review of less than one star I would do so. The recent fiasco involving the football program is just the tip of the iceberg as far as I am concerned with this institution. My experience after four years of having my son on campus is that negligence, insensitivity and apathy permeates this school on many different levels. I sent my son to Penn State with great expectations after touring the campus and seeing all the facilities. He was an honors student with A's in AP courses taken at Pittsburgh, bright, dependable and excited for a new experience. That same person after four years (and no degree), at Penn State is confused, frustrated, lacks confidence and has no idea where to go from here. The guidance is non-existent, the staff either is clueless or simply does not care about the students attending this school. Once the tuition check goes through the kids are forgotten until the next bill hits the internet. I know it is a large school, and there are a lot of kids in that kind of environment. However, my son could have been dead for all the interest they showed in regard to attendance, guidance and career planning. If you value your children, if your expectation is that the school you send them to will be at least a little responsible for their welfare and their education while they attend school, then Penn State is not the place. Don't waste your money or your children's time, look elsewhere. read more

Recently attended an open house. By far it was one of the most disappointing experiences to date. While the campus is huge, no one, including the staff, knew where the building was that housed the architecture department. When we finally arrived at the building, we had occasion to speak with one of the professors, who was the individual giving the presentation. That would be the only professor we encountered all day. In a word...he was pompous. We asked him questions about current and past high school classes, to which the professor replied that "it doesn't matter," with absolutely no follow-up or clarification. CAD and Rhino don't matter? Ok, then. When asked what qualifications the school desires, the answer was merely "the best and brightest." Well, there you go. We should have cut the visit short, but being gluttons for punishment we forged ahead. The tour was conducted by 2 students. One was lovely and the other was inaudible. As we toured the classrooms, there was not one professor to provide any insight on the classes. The labs containing the printers were meager...you could count the number of 3D printers on one hand. The need for printers was so great some students raised money to buy their own. $40,000 a year in tuition and not enough printers for the architecture student body. The wood shop was phenomenal. That was the highlight of the experience. Lastly, the aforementioned professor and the two students chronically mentioned that the school is the best. Over and over and over. Made me wonder why they had to say it so often. read more

I got my doctoral degree from PSU in 1999, but I detested the place. It's great for undergrads, I suppose, who are looking for a good time. But I'd never send a kid of mine to the place. Game weekends are a nightmare, and there is always some form of trouble going on. It is best to just stay away from downtown during those times. As for what goes on that doesn't get in the papers, you don't want to know. There are some good upper-level teachers there, but this whole "We are, Penn State" mentaity is childish. Yeah, great place for partying, ignoring harsh realities, and playing to appearences. Not good for much else, and can be damaging. read more