Not only did Penn State send a letter that is purposely worded in such a way as to temporarily fool the applicant into thinking that they got accepted into the actual Penn State, a few days later they sent an envelope welcoming my kid to Penn State even though they 2+2’d him to Brandywine for CS. The envelope also contained some Penn State swag including a “We Are” sign you can put on your car…it is complete sham marketing with Penn State trying to convince you that getting into Brandywine is somehow the same as getting into UP which is an absolute joke as one of my son’s friends who is not very good student at all got into Brandywine. My son has appealed and changed his major from CS to DUS, but we have not yet heard back on the appeal (going on 5 or 6 weeks). Fortunately he has been accepted by Virginia Tech for computer science/school of engineering and by Pitt’s department of computer science so he has some good schools to choose from with a couple of more applications to other good schools still pending.
By the way, the fact that Penn State makes you select a second choice campus as part of the application proicess tells you all you need to know about the desirability of those campuses to most people. The only reason my son selected Brandywine as a second choice is because he was forced to list a seocnd choice when the actual and truthful second choice campus for him is none.
It’s a competitive process to get in, and the 2+2 for some kids is their only way to get in. I don’t think anyone is trying to “fool” anyone. Nobody is forcing it upon the applicants. If they don’t want to go, they don’t have to.
Hello all. Just received a 2+2 in for Chemistry (Eberly) in Altoona. How does DS go about requesting reconsideration to UP? I apologize if this was explained already. Thanks in advance!
Altoona, Behrend, Harrisburg are real 4-year colleges -in fact some students choose to stay there all 4 years- and if I were asked my opinion should remain as the only branches. The others - Dubois, Abington,etc… should join the PA community college network, with clear paths to UP or PASSHE schools following the CA Cc-> UC /CA cc-> CSU model. But clearly no one s interested in my opinion and the PA higher ed system has been suxh a mess for so long that
If they are not trying to play games with applicants then why does Penn State word what is actually a rejection letter from the UP campus as congratulations letter for your acceptance to Penn State when you are not really being accepted to Penn State but instead are being shuffled off for two years to a satellite community college type campus that the applicant most likely only selected because Penn State forces applicants to list a second choice. Additionally, why do they then follow up by sending you an envelope with Penn State “we are” swag when you were even accepted into the “real” Penn State? There is nothing wrong with the Commonwealth campuses for students who want that experience but Penn State needs to stop pretending that it is somehow equvalent to UP in any way whatsver except that it provides a backdoor into the final 2 years at UP and the schools are nominally called Penn State
I honestly don’t think there is some conspiracy out there to trick applicants. Got it - a kid wants to go to UP. Would it somehow change the end result if the first words in the letter were we are sorry you did not get into UP versus congratulations? Can the applicants not read more than the first sentence? Do you really think there is someone playing games??? Gimme a break.
I don’t know what they are trying to pull, but wording the letter the way they do definitely fools applicants and then sending Penn State swag definitely fools some applicants into thinking they got accepted to UP when they are actually getting rejected. Thus is something that the people in the addmissions department has to know, thus the fact that they don’t change how they communicate indicates to me that there is either ill-intent or incompetence involved. My son saw his “acceptance” letter on his phone and immediately called me to tell me that he was accepted into Penn State before he read the entire letter (when you see a letter that starts off with “Congratulations” why wouldn’t you think it is good news?, especially if you are an excitable 17-year-old teen?). An hour or two later he comes home and I can see by his face that something was off at which point he tells me that the acceptance he thought he received from Penn State was actually a rejection with them trying to shuffle him off to Brandywine. I personally am fine with him going to Virgina Tech or Pitt where he has been accpeted for computer science, but I could tell that my son was really fooled for a short time into thinking he got into Penn State and he was pretty hurt once he realized that what was worded as an acceptance letter was actually really a rejection. It would be more honest and less hurtfull for the school to be above board in the way it commuicateds a rejection. My son changed his requested major from CS to DUS and has asked for a reconsideration which is still pending, but personally I hope that he chooses Virginia Tech or Pitt which accepted him in his choosen major even if he does get accept to UP in DUS.
Just for the record, students who graduate from a branch campus don’t have a diploma that says “Penn State Altoona”. Their diploma reads “Penn State University”. Some of the branch campuses offer excellent 4 year degrees. I know at Altoona you can get an engineering degree. So, although I agree the letter could be written a little different, I don’t think people should be putting those branch campuses down. Some students need a smaller class size start before entering such a large university their junior year, as well. It is a good option for some. I agree there are too many though!
DUS essentially just means undecided…so it is by definition less competitive than the highly competitive majors and is pretty much just a default selection for reconsideration by those who were rejected in compeitive majors.
I’m not sure that DUS is any less competitive at this point than Chemistry, but I can’t find any similar majors on PSU’s list of majors (see below). Did you check the box to be considered for a summer start? If not, and you are able to start in the summer, you can request Chemistry or DUS summer. Or look through the list for a possible major in another, less competitive PSU college (Agriculture, Education, HHD). Good luck.
The satellite campuses have their place and are undoubtedly good fits for some students, but it is not the same experience the UP campus and I doubt that a degree from those compuses (even if the diploma just says Penn State) are seen in the same way as a degree from the UP campus by some employers or graduate schools. It is like going to school at Slippery Rock or West Chester. Those schools have some good programs and are undoubtedly a great fit for some students, however they are different from Penn State and rightly or wrongly, a degree from Slippery Rock or West Chester is not considered as impressive or valuable as a degree from Penn State, just as a degree from Penn State is not considered as impressive as a degree from MIT or CalTech for a someone who is in science. Not that there aren’t some terrific and talented graduates from all of the aforementioned schools, but it is just reality that the school you receive your degree from has a large impact on future opportunities that you may be presented with.
I did see a debate elsewhere, but not on here, saying a branch campus degree still says just Penn State with no mention of the branch so no one will know if you went to UP or not, but I don’t know that for sure. So they were saying it shouldn’t matter if you went to a branch all four years… But my concern is, does that dilute the PSU-UP product at some point? Some believe in rankings and others don’t, but is that why PSU got a ridiculously low score form Forbes (#408)?
My son was accepted to both UP via RD, and EA at VTech for CS.
One of the main problems with the entire college admissions process is the complete lack of transparency as to what the actual criteria are. It is really difficult to figure out what schools are acually looking for and how they arrve at their decisions in many cases. My son was 2+2’d by Penn State for CS but was accepted to another school in a differrent that is objectively more competitive than Penn State for computer science and that other school rejected a family friend’s son for computer science who is objectively a superior student compared to my son
You’re welcome. Immunology and Infectious Disease is a possibility if you are interested in biochemistry; Secondary Education if interested in teaching chemistry.
Again, the degree only states Penn State University. So they would have the same opportunity.
The feel at many of the campuses is similar to a “real” college. If you look at the student population, they are as large as some. For example, Behrend has about 4500 students and RPI has about 5500. If a student goes to Altoona, they typically travel to University Park on the weekends… so they can get the feel that way.
In regards to academic rigor, if you choose the correct campus known for that major, the rigor is there. It has to be, or they would flounder if they transfer to UP their junior year in something like engineering or business.
In many cases, especially OOS, if PSU is your dream school… it can reduce costs significantly.
So I guess it depends on your circumstances. I just wanted to point out some positives of the branch campuses.
Coming from someone who went to main, has 1 son at a branch, and another going to main in the fall.
