@HelenH , Incoming freshmen will pick a housing area, not a specific dorm. Robinson is the new dorm in North. And there are two new dorms in East (Earle and Martin) along with a handful of renovated dorms.
Renovations to Pollack haven’t begun, but that area is definitely a good option for those who want a slightly more affordable housing option (as unrenovated) and it is definitely a more central location with lots of SLO (special living options like first year students in biology).
@HelenH The newest dorms are East. North was renovated 5-10 (ish?) years ago (can’t remember exact timing?) and many kids like the quad rooms there (suites). North is the smallest. East is all freshman and mostly traditional doubles. Pollock is older but excellent location, also primarily traditional doubles. I know very little about West. South has a few newre/renovated dorms, but fewer freshman since sororities take up entire floors for some dorms.
You are guaranteed housing freshman year. The earlier you accept, the earlier you save your place in line. You have until May 1st to update your preferences as @Sophley detailed. So I would encourage you to visit campus, go to an Accepted Student Day, and check it all out. If you accept your offer of admission on May 1st (deadline), you are almost guaranteed to be in supplemental. (Study lounges, etc. with movable furniture and 4-8 students per room. Some kids love the experience of supplemental, some find it overwhelming.)
After freshman year, your name is in a lottery. This year, kids were told that everyone who wanted to return to live on campus received a room offer. It may not be your first choice (Nittany Apartments, single in Eastview, etc.), but everyone was given an option. My best uneducated back-of-the-envelope guess was about 50% stay on campus for sophomore year and 50% move off campus. My D is hoping to study abroad Spring 2020, so rather than try to sublet an apartment spring semester (very difficult and many kids end up eating a semester of rent because they can’t find a sublet), she is staying on campus. If you are on campus for Fall and study abroad/intern in spring, you are released from the dorm contract for that time. Not so with a private landlord/apartment.
I was accepted to Penn State’s nursing program on 11/28 and committed the same day. I’m seeing things about getting first choice housing the sooner you put in your choices, but I’m not sure how to do that. I’m also wondering which dorms most freshmen stay in and which have been newly renovated, or pros and cons to certain dorms. Thank you!!
@citymama9 They all are to the most extent, but East is ONLY freshmen…so everyone is new. No one knows anyone and everyone tries to get to know people. The other areas are a mix of freshman and upper classmen so it can be quieter with not as many people trying to get to know others because they already know a lot of people.
@citymama9 , since so many east dorms were closed due to renovation, I guess we can assume that those freshmen were pushed out to the other housing areas like Pollack. Now that those dorms are coming back online, I’m just guessing more freshmen will be in east and less likely spread out to the non-east dorms.
East has two newly constructed dorms, two renovated, and two being renovated. East has a brand new dorm opened just last year. The entire dormitory system is undergoing a rotation of renovation. The thing to keep in mind is that housing does not all cost the same, so don’t forget to check your budget.
East is the largest student housing complex in the country, apparently. You may like that, or want to avoid it. Waiting for a bus in January snow may or may not outweigh proximity to the intrmural building and hockey arena.
I was asked by a parent if a freshman could room with a sophomore at University Park. I thought this would be a good place to find the answer! I would imagine the answer is no, but not sure…
Some residential areas, such as North, have freshmen and sophomores. You’d have to ask Housing whether in these zones students are allowed to room even if they’re different graduating classes.
Yes, they can, if they select each other , select roommate as their first priority. Also, the sophomore woyld need to have been offered a contract for on campus housing in an area freshmen can live (so not Eastview or Nittany Apartments)
Any residence hall recommendations for incoming freshman engineering students? Not thrilled with wild parties, distractions, etc. My former college life involved being a Resident Advisor and Hall Director - so I’ve seen it all. Also, if my son is enrolled in the Summer program, any chance that the residence hall he has over that term would carry into the Fall/Spring semesters? Thanks!
@spqr70nj , there is virtually no chance that your assigned room for summer will continue into fall and spring. In past years, Summer Leap kids were put together in south/pollack area. You will likely need to move out after summer, but in most cases they let you store or put things on your bed in your fall/spring room before leaving…so you won’t have to drag everything home again. Plan to bring 1 to 2 big fans as summer dorms are not air conditioned.
West seems to have a lot of engineering and IST students. I wouldn’t exclude East, though, as it’s all freshmen and most of the renovated dorms and a renovated dining hall are there. It’s a great way to meet friends. My daughter was in East (Earle) and she thought is was pretty quiet. Since first year courses like the gen eds are located all over campus, I wouldn’t get too hung up on finding a dorm right near the engineering buildings.
We aren’t 100% PSU quite yet (maybe 60%-70%). Should she go ahead and accept the offer just to make sure she gets a renovated East dorm? Do you have to accept offer to pick housing or can you just put a housing deposit down and accept later?
You only pick a housing area, not a specific dorm. So she can indicate her first preference as East, but won’t get to choose the new or reno buildings (although the odds are in her favor anyway since those now outnumber the old/non reno buildings, and soon all will be reno)
Yes, you have to accept you offer to put down a housing deposit. Discussion of whether that is refundable should you back out is in another thread (it’s not).
All the housing is basically identical apart from location. Supplemental housing is really not terrible. If you are saving money and are undecided, there’s no reason the lie awake over this
