I will echo those comments. Penn State can be a bureaucracy and it is easy to get no when you want to do something outside the norm. But if you can connect with the right person, they will bend over backwards for you. You have to be willing to ask.
And ask again of someone else if needed… And, honestly, every college has their own ‘personality’. My incoming freshman daughter has already received personalized communication from her college. My sophomore daughter (in SHC) didn’t get that.
good luck with the decision.