Hi, I have a question specifically about Penn State’s Schreyer’s Honors College application and the first essay (pasted below).
Today, technology is ubiquitous and always on. For example, videos from cell phones can capture intimate family moments, help bring about revolution as seen in the Arab Spring or be used by police to track down terrorists. The former CEO of Sun Microsystems is quoted as saying, “You have zero privacy anyway….get over it.” If you were a policy maker, how would you balance an individual’s right to privacy and a community’s need for national security?
I am unsure of what to make of this essay. I feel like the prompt is contradicting itself. Could anyone please explain or give some insight into what they think this prompt is asking?
Anyway, on first read I’m interpreting it as follows:
If you were president, or a member of Congress, what kind of policies/decisions would you make, considering:
that people have a right to NOT be filmed or recorded
and also
that filming and recording people can be immensely helpful to the government, the nation, and society?
Would you ignore the good of the nation, and decree that an individual’s privacy is the most important thing? Would you ignore an individual’s right to privacy, and say that the good of the nation is the most important thing? Would you strike a balance between the two camps? How?
@bodangles wow thank you so much that actually makes a lot of sense now! I was struggling to see it that way but i understand now, and your questions at the end helped loads.
What was your essay question?
One I particularly liked was, “If you were tasked with creating a new Mount Rushmore, where would you put it and who would you put on it?” I made an even mix of men and women, tried to have a few different nationalities, and put it where Mesopotamia was (“the Cradle of Civilization” and all that). There were a couple others. As far as I can recall, they were all at least a little bit creative. This current one strikes me as a little dry, but that’s just personal preference.
Looking up the rest of this year’s prompts now – at least the second one is pretty interesting. You could go a lot of ways with “What experiences would you like to have? What places would you like to visit? What people would you like to meet?”
I’m a third-semester current student, so I’ve taken advantage of honors scheduling/housing and have taken five honors classes (two English, three math), but haven’t gotten into the thesis stuff yet.
I’m in engineering (thinking chemical) with a hopeful Spanish minor, if I have enough room in my schedule to complete it. I really like the perks we get – I do all of my studying in my room since the honors housing is generally quiet, and it’s close to the HUB and to the dining hall in South. Scheduling early is a GODSEND at such a big university. One of my E-Design groupmembers, a freshman, asked me the other day if I had ever had trouble scheduling a class because it was full. He said he was on the watchlist for three classes he wanted. I’ve never had to do that since we schedule so early.
I had a rough transition to college, as I am introverted and kind of slow to open up to people, but the honors classes I’ve taken have been filled with really cool, intellectual students. And they’re smaller, which can be nice when two of your science classes, for example, are in big lecture halls of 300 students.
What about you? Do you have an idea of your future major, or clubs here that interest you, or whether PSU is your first choice?
@bodangles I was considering engineering for a bit too! I think I want to major in the sciences now, possibly biology. I’m considering medical school too.
PSU is definitely up there in my list of schools and SHC would definitely be a perk that would help it move up in the ranks. I don’t really have a top choice now, I’m waiting to see which schools give me money and then I’ll decide.
I hear the honors housing is really nice though. I’ve been to campus once for a football game a couple year ago (not an official visit or anything) but one of my close friends is a freshman so I’m planning to go stay with her in the spring! I’m definitely interested in club swimming at PSU, since I don’t want to compete on the varsity level and I know a lot of people who do club and love it
Nice! Two of my aforementioned groupmembers are BME on the premed track.
That’s smart planning. Fingers crossed that everyone throws lots of scholarships at you! My final choice came down to two schools that were pretty similar in price, so I ended up choosing which campus I liked better.
Now that they’ve finished (I think?) renovating all the bathrooms in Atherton, it’s super nice. My room this year is smaller than last year – I moved down a couple of floors – but it’s cozy, and the heaters work nicely, and it’s quiet, and I love the renovated bathrooms. And there’s a computer lab downstairs.
That’s cool! I’m a bit too clumsy for sports but I’ve heard that it’s a great way to make such a big school smaller. Like your own little family. I know someone who does club crew and she likes it a lot.
@bodangles : do you think the honors classes are much more difficult than the regular courses? My daughter is interested in Schreyer but I’m concerned at how difficult getting an A in an honors course is compared to the general courses.
@PAscience2016 So far, I’ve gotten A’s in four and am on track for a fifth if I don’t screw up this exam tomorrow. [-O< The two required English courses (ENGL/CAS 137H and 138T) had, at least when I took them, only 100 points per semester, so if you missed an entire point on something, that was a percent off your grade. That was stressful but the class average was pretty high, if I recall correctly. Lots of A’s and A-minuses.
Other subjects can be hit or miss. I’ve heard that Chem 110H is brutal. Math 140H was very theoretical, which was difficult for me, but the prof bumped up grades based on “improvement,” which changed my A-minus to an A. Math 141H wasn’t nearly as theoretical, so I carried a solid 97% for basically the entire semester. It might vary by professor, too.
So if she doesn’t take four honors courses at the same time (I’m sure some people do, but one or two is fine with me) and maybe asks around to see if a particular class is known to be super difficult, I’m sure she’ll be fine!
Edit to add: Since honors classes tend to be smaller, it’s also easier to get professorial help if you do struggle.
There were a couple others. As far as I can recall, they were all at least a little bit creative. This current one strikes me as a little dry, but that’s just personal preference.
