<p>How have your kids managed to feel comfortable and happy at PSU? It is such a big school, yet the polls show that students are really happy there. Is there anything special that your student - or the school did - to help kids in their freshman year?</p>
<p>Not at Penn State specifically, but my kids identified types of groups they wanted to become involved with PRIOR to arriving on campus, and then made sure to get to the first meeting so that they would have a readymade set of friends with similar interests…music groups, intramural sports teams, religious groups, etc. It’s nice to have a “second circle” outside of the dorm friends.</p>
<p>No personal experience but when we visited PSU Main campus, my son fell in love with the IST department. He was told that they have special housing set aside for the IST majors, which really appealed to him. Now, just has to raise his GPA a few notches to get in!</p>
<p>Like any large school, students need to reach out and find groups that fit their interests. PSU has more choices than you can imagine and has a fair at the beginning of each semester to help students see what’s available. Intramural sports are big. Thon is a terrific community builder. Greek life is there for those who want it. Freshman year is the best year to make all those connections. </p>
<p>The kids I know who go there (and I know many) are mostly happy…including my s. My experience has been that you know when you walk on campus if it’s a fit or not. If you don’t like crowds, and a big-spread out campus, and are on the shy side, well, it may be a bit intimidating. Some kids see spirit, others see annoying “rah rah” behavior. But I think you can get a feel for that on a visit. My s LIKED large schools on his visits…and his perceptions were right on.</p>
<p>What is the IST department?</p>
<p>Sorry. Information Sciences and Technology [Penn</a> State College of Information Sciences and Technology](<a href=“http://ist.psu.edu/]Penn”>http://ist.psu.edu/)</p>
<p>Your “quest” for knowledge on this topic is insatiable! So, a couple of things:
- I will reiterate the opportunity to choose special interest housing. For example, “HAC House” that runs community service projects.
- Thon! Thon! Thon! Let me clarify that your daughter should join both a Thon committee and a Thon team, early. Thon supports virtually all of the non-medical services for child cancer patients at Hershey Medical Center. For example, it funds the playroom and child life activities, housing for the families, transportation for the families, etc. If your daughter is even half awake, she can join a team and a committee within the first couple of weeks of school. The difference: a Thon committee works on a specific aspect of Thon. For example, there is the finance committee, the operations committee, the spirit committee (or some such thing), a committee that books the bands and entertainment, etc., etc… Joining a committee gives the students the opportunity to work in a group in a purposeful way and the kids learn a LOT about cooperation and about how to organize and put together an endeavor. A Thon team, on the other hand, gets together for fund raising, but also, and this is a very important aspect, “adopts” a family. The family has a child cancer patient or survivor. The team visits the family, or the family visits the team, and they both make a big fuss over each other. The families do this voluntarily and are very grateful to the students and engage them in a big way. The team will also travel on some weekends to locations in Pennsylvania to “can”, (collect money). The team becomes quite cohesive because of the participation in these activities. Teams are based on groups on campus; for example, fraternities and sororities, religious organizations, departments, campus organizations, or just groups who want to form a team. You will notice that many Penn State students will sign letters or emails with the closing “FTK”. This means “For the Kids” (with cancer), and the Penn state students internalize this purpose to the point where this becomes a strong bond.
- Join a service organization. For example, a friend joined “Circle K” which is sort of a junior Rotary organization focused on service. She found this extremely rewarding. Here is a list of service organizations and you can go back to find other organizations also:
[Index</a> of Student Organizations at Penn State](<a href=“http://www.sa.psu.edu/usa/studentactivities/searchresults.asp?orgcat=Service&offset=0]Index”>http://www.sa.psu.edu/usa/studentactivities/searchresults.asp?orgcat=Service&offset=0) - Your daughter can take a PE class. There are fantastic ones at Penn State! She can try a sport that she has never tried before. There is a ski class where they are taken to a nearby ski resort and given a four hour pass plus a lesson. There is a sailing class where they go to a nearby lake. There are sports that she may not have tried before like squash, handball, scuba, you name it. Many people in these classes will be beginners, and there will be a relatively small group in the class.
- The writing seminar, required of freshmen, will be small.
- Even in big classes, there are small tutorials or labs.
- Intramural sports
See my last PM for more information.
FTK,
levirm</p>
<p>Is this the college that D wants to go to but is worried that the drama queen girl will also go to?</p>
<p>My husband and I and S1 all went there and DD’s friend is there now. PSU is a university of small communities. There are so many choices, but you must choose to be part of one or more of the communities. From dorm centric (intramural, student gov), to activity centric (it does not have to be Thon) to major centric (there are some that are quite small communities), the key is to get involved at some level. If you sit in a dorm, or class, or library, or large room and never participate, you will not feel as if it is small. But the smallest school can feel large if you never get involved in it.</p>
<p>If it is a real concern, take the option to start in the summer when it is smaller and more laid back.</p>
<p>Does anyone have an inkling about what life is like for grad students at PSU?</p>
<p>You can make a big school small, but you can’t make a small school big :-)</p>