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Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university which was started in 1855 in the state of Pennsylvania, USA. Penn State is a high ranked college and is often considered as a Public Ivy League in America. Since it’s an ambitious public university, it’s a hot favourite among Asians, especially Indians, as the tuition fee is quite affordable. Having said that, it’s quite difficult to make it to this university considering the number of applicants they get here.
Penn State is located in University Park in Pennsylvania which is a rather rural area. There isn’t too much to do around the campus, and life can get boring, so to speak. University Park Airport is supposedly the only good location in the entire area. Apart from the main campus of the Pennsylvania State College, the next well know place would be the city of Pittsburgh.
To start off with, the campus size of Penn State is a massive 5,500 acres with many recreational centres. The HUB is the epicentre of the campus where you find maximum students occupied with something or the other. There are two main libraries followed by small five libraries having more than 2 million volumes. Sadly, there is no bar on the campus but there are hundreds of coffee shops. Okay, not hundreds, but well you get the idea.
Though there are a few dorms available on campus charging roughly about $4,500 per year, most of the graduate students prefer to stay off campus for obvious reasons. Beaver Avenue, Beaver Canyon and College Avenue are some of the common areas where you see a lot of Penn students residing. The average rent would be anything from $500-$1,300 depending upon the size of the room. Apartments away from the campus are far cheaper and bigger and students get used to travelling by buses.
The climate of Pennsylvania is pretty severe. Winters are extremely cold with snowfall almost every minute. The roads are extremely wet and commutation becomes a problem. The temperatures fall as low as -15 degrees Celcius. Summers are bearable, but seem bloody hot when compared to the awful winters. On a whole, the weather at Penn State is something you would not look for.
Although Penn State University isn’t particularly known for excellent faculty, the students say that it’s just that. All professors are highly renowned in their fields, and fortunately this doesn’t get into their heads too much – they are always approachable, friendly and willing to go out of their way to help students.
As it’s a public university, you can expect some amount of Financial Aid provided your profile commands it. Moreover, since the college is of the Public Ivy League calibre, not many get scholarships, though Research Assistantships and Teaching Assistantships aren’t a problem.
If you’re a Penn State graduate, you’re surely paid a handsome salary by companies like IBM, Boeing, Johnson and Johnson, Bank of America.
Though there are a good number of Asians in this university, the Americans win the battle of looks. You can expect to see a decent number of studs and hot girls lazing around in the campus, obviously during summer. There are hundreds of recreational facilities in Penn State campus and many cafeterias. The nightlife at Penn State is quite famous. The popular areas/places for partying are College Avenue, Café 210 and Indigo.
Eugene O'Kelly - Former CEO of KPMG, Frank Smeal - Former partner at Goldman Sachs and the namesake for the School of Business, William Schreyer - Chairman emeritus and former CEO of Merrill Lynch
Good college, good affordability, good prospects. If only the chances of getting in are good.