<p>Jagga9 – Hmmn…how old are your peers? In the adult professional world Penn State is most certainly taken very seriously. It is a major research university and my older daughter was lucky enough to participant in National Science foundation research projects beginning the summer after her freshman year. In her sophomore year she had a very well paid internship with a large company.</p>
<p>Penn State is a huge school so yes there are parties in Happy Valley. There are lots of happy kids at Penn State…and yes there is, I assume, under-age drinking, etc. It is, however, A HUGE school with many kids who don’t spend their lives drinking. While the branch campuses are much easier to get in the main campus in University Park can not be assumed to be a safety unless you have a solid GPA and solid SAT scores. It also is rather expensive for a public school…(it is not part of the State system…it is an independent public school.)</p>
<p>Penn State is the home of the worlds largest student run fund-raiser and what an amazing event to witness. [Home</a> | THON.org - Conquering Childhood Cancer](<a href=“http://www.thon.org/]Home”>http://www.thon.org/)</p>
<p>If any of your peers are hoping to be engineers then they may want to take a look at Penn State…it is a top-notch engineering school. Penn State also has a medical school (Hershey Medical) and a law school (Dickinson School of Law). I don’t know how Penn State is ranked in non-science related schools…but most of their science and engineering programs are ranked quite high and are most certainly well respected and, of course, taken seriously in the adult professional world.</p>
<p>As you may have guessed I am a Penn State alumni – BA and MS, am married to a Penn State engineer…the daughter of a Penn State professor (deceased) and the mother of a soon to be Penn State alumni! While I’m not much of a sports fan…I do, on occasion, along with most other alumni bleed blue and white! </p>
<p>I know it’s a personal preference thing…my younger daughter wanted to do something different and will not go to Penn State…nor Binghamton (another excellent school…she was accepted and invited to the Scholars program). She wants to blaze her own path!</p>
<p>There are many, many wonderful schools out there…and while Penn State certainly has it’s share of parties…it is Happy Valley after all…it also is a top-notch research university with many excellent programs, and most certainly, should be taken seriously!</p>