I like both universities and got accepted to both. I’m a California HS senior accepted into PSU-Hazleton as one option and OSU as well. I’m planning to go into nuclear engineering. Nuclear engineering is a starting point for me as I am interested in researching fusion energy and subjects alike to it. I’ve heard many good things about both schools, but I’m drawn to PSU because of the alumni program. However, I know that the academic environment will be very different between Hazleton and PSUUP, where I want to “transfer” to after the undergrad years. I’ve heard that Penn State is well known in engineering, but I’m not sure if they’re more well known than OSU or if they’re about equal. I’m worried if the transition between one PSU campus to another would affect my education than if I went through the 4 or 5 years at OSU. I just really want to get a good engineering education, and more, that can prepare me for engineering in the real world. Any advice or anymore information beyond what is found on the uni’s sites would be greatly appreciated.
There’s little reason to go cross-country to go to a branch campus…just from the Common Data Sets, the average freshman stats at OSU are fairly significantly higher than Hazelton. Can you afford PSU’s high oos tuition? And if you can, would you be willing to pay it for a school whose main purpose is to ferry students on to a university after two years, much like a community college?
PSU 2+2 is like an expensive version of the community college to UC/CSU transfer pathway. Seems like it would be much less expensive to start at a California community college and then try to transfer to a UC or CSU. If a major in nuclear engineering is important, you can aim for Berkeley, but there 20 other colleges with ABET-accredited nuclear engineering that you may also want to target for frosh or transfer admission if you do not get into Berkeley. The lower cost out-of-state ones include Idaho State, South Carolina State, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Missouri S&T.
Can your family afford an OOS public? Why go to PSU if you are a CA resident and have such excellent in-state engineering options right at home, even in the Cal State system?
I agree that there’s no good reason to go cross-country to attend a regional branch campus. The PSU-Hazleton experience is going to be nothing like going to Oregon State. I’ve heard such excellent things about Corvallis as a college town and OSU is a state flagship. IMO it would be a better experience for you to stay on the OSU campus for 4-5 years than to attend PSU-Hazleton for two and then transfer.
I agree staying in California would be your best option, but otherwise, I’d recommend OSU over PSU for the reasons mentioned above.
Do they even have 2 years worth of engineering classes at PS Hazelton? I agree with the others that you would most likely have more resources and opportunities for research at a 4 yr university like Oregon State, and in CA.
Also what are your stats, did you not get accepted to PS University Park?
PSU-Hazleton accepts 90% of its applicants and is a very small school of about 1,300 students. The OOS tuition is approximately $32K per year. A California Community College, where the cost/credit is approximately $46, Tuition alone would be $1,400/yr (for 30 credits). Even if we add in a Room & Board cost of $12K, the annual cost of a California CC would be less than 14K/yr.
OP, what are your high school stats? What are you SAT/ACT Math scores? What is the highest Math course you have taken in high school (Pre-Calc, Calculus X)? Would remedial work be required for Math/English? Is it the appeal of going away to college that is driving this choice? Did you apply to any of the California State Universities?
What exactly is this PSU alumni program?
@Jamrock411 I just heard that the PSU alumni program is the biggest alumni program in the nation. I was told it would help me a lot in finding a job. GPA unweighted is 3.19, SAT score 1550, ACT 21. Yeah, I know not the best GPA and scores for someone interested in engineering. Highest math is AP Calc. AB. The reason I wanna go away to college is to not be so dependent on my parents and fall for the go home every weekend option at a closer university (like SJSU or even UCB). I did not apply to any CSUs, but I applied to UCB. I was thinking about going into CA CC, but I got accepted to OSU.
Are your parents able and willing to pay the yearly costs of the out-of-state schools?
Approximate yearly costs:
$45,000 Oregon State
$38,000 Penn State Hazleton
$48,000 Penn State University Park
If not, then you will probably be shut out if you only applied to UCB besides Oregon State and Penn State. In this case, the best option is to go to a California community college and then aim to transfer to a school with your major. Each of your first two years at a California community college will be about $2,000 to $3,000 in tuition and books, plus whatever your living expenses (if you live at home, that would be food, utilities, and transportation costs of a several thousand dollars per year, which would total to be much less than the out-of-state schools). It does not make sense to spend a lot more money to attend the Pennsylvania equivalent of a community college.
If some level of out-of-state costs are affordable, but Oregon State is too expensive, you may want to see if the following lower cost schools with nuclear engineering are still accepting applications: Idaho State, South Carolina State, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Missouri S&T.
@ucbalumnus I’ve talked to them and yes, they’re able and willing to pay. However, they’re putting a lot of their hope on getting loans. My father makes over 100k and mother around 75k, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for OSU tuition. I am considering CC, but I think it could be a waste of an acceptance to one of my top 3 uni on my list. I’ll see about applying to DeAnza and transferring to UCB, if I don’t get accepted (100% likely) and OSU does not offer a good financial aid package.
It would not be a waste to start out at a CA CC. You could take remedial classes to prepare you for engineering classes if needed. I would not pay over $40,000 a year OOS.
Parent loans (or parent-cosigned student loans) are generally a bad idea in most circumstances.
Here is the list of courses to take at De Anza to transfer to UCB for nuclear engineering:
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/report.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&sia=DAC&ria=UCB&ia=DAC&oia=UCB&aay=15-16&ay=15-16&dora=NUC+ENG
Of course, UCB is very selective even for transfer admission, so you need to do better at De Anza than you did in high school to transfer to UCB (but some other transfer target schools are less selective).
It is likely that other schools’ nuclear engineering programs have similar prerequisites, but you should check each school (e.g. Idaho State, South Carolina State, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Missouri S&T) to be sure. It may be possible that the more expensive ones like Oregon State or Penn State are affordable to your parents for 2-3 years (after low cost De Anza) even if they are not affordable for 4-5 years – but you need to talk to your parents about that.
If you can afford OSU, then go there. It’s still on the west coast and going to PSU-Hazleton would not be fun. Penn State is also overrated…
^ Well that’s certainly a very personal opinion.
IMO the continuity of staying at one school would be beneficial both academically and socially so I’d choose OSU if it is an affordable option.
I agree, I don’t see a reason to go across country for a branch campus.