@benkenobi: your key differentiator should be net cost - you’ll have a good college experience and career from all three, but the differences wouldn’t justify massive differences in cost. For instance, I prefer the setting of State College because it’s a very nice college town but it’s only 4-5 hours away from many east coast cities (NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC) but that is NOT worth 25K more for PSU for instance.
On the other hand, if they’re all roughly the same cost for you, or if money truly is no object (ie., no loans in the picture), you could think in terms of where you’d rather work, Midwest (Purdue/tOSU) or East Coast (PSU)? Would you rather attend a Stem/techy university (Purdue) which creates a specific atmosphere you may like, or a university that offers many different fields of study, with all the diversity it implies?
Finally, are you a direct admit or not, and if not is admission to the college or the major competitive (ie., not only do you need to met pre-reqs, but also not all students who meet pre-reqs are admitted - vs. all who meet pre-reqs are automatically admitted.)
@MYOS1634 … thx really useful and very pertinent info. I am a direct admit to all… smeal (UP) and others. in the end I agree it depends as to where one eventually decides to locate themselves post college…
thx
are freshman allowed to bring a car?
@lolies123 Only if they are in summer session. Otherwise no. My daughter had a car for summer, then had to return the car home for fall semester.
I heard all freshmen get sent to the east halls… is it true?
How bad are the east halls…
@dankshrek A majority of freshman go there. But, a lot go to Pollock and the other halls. I am sure others can give you a better opinion of East. They are older. But, its very social. If that is your thing. Then its good place. My D wants to stay there for the “freshman experience”. She is knows a few other girls who go to Penn State that lived there when they were freshman and loved it. I am sure their are opposite stories.
I wouldn’t recommend East Halls, because they’re noisy, hard to study in, poorly insulated, and far from most classrooms. There are nice Living Learning Communities (“SLO” in PSU-parlance) that you can join if you want a smaller community of like-minded people.
http://housing.psu.edu/special-living-options
Choose your SLo’s carefully and you won’t have to live in East. 
My daughter is in East this year and really liked it. And she’s not a partier. She lived in Pollock over the summer and while more convenient to downtown, I think she likes East better. Everyone is in the same boat…
My daughter will be a freshman this Fall, and this is the exact topic that we are debating right now… we really cannot come to a decision regarding whether or not she will be better off in East or Pollock. She’s a good, serious student, and not a big partier- but definitely wants to go to parties, experience “typical” college life, be in the thick of things, and check out the parties during her free time. We are very much sitting on the fence. Is East TOO crazy and wild? And is Pollock too quiet, and would she feel “left out”? Any insight and advice from anyone would be welcome! All of a sudden the dorm issue feels like a more difficult decision than choosing a college! Lol.
My co-worker is a freshman this year. She is very shy and quiet and she LOVES East. She just spoke to my son and told him to pick East because it’s were she made all of her friends. According to her, it’s not what everyone makes it out to be. She said it is not too crazy or loud.
Aren’t all students in an SLO in the same boat too, and with the same interests right off the bat? And isn’t it nicer to be able to study when you need to, then go to a party, then go home to your own room where it’s quiet and where the bathroom aren’t reeking of vomit? (Sorry for being graphic - kids may want to avoid offending their parents’ sensibilities, but this is a real problem.) I guess this isn’t the situation 100% of the time but choosing East is taking a risk for the environment you end up in. Being in an SLO guarantees you’re with other freshmen and are a tight-knit group, it doesn’t prevent you from going to parties, and it ensures you’re in an okay dorm.
But it may be more useful to actually go and visit, if you can - supposedly, Penn State is within driving distance regardless of where you live in the state 
Being in East means it’s all freshmen too…and just because someone is in the same major as you doesn’t mean that they have the same partying sensibilities…unless you go into the clean living SLO where there are no parties and no one drinks at all. THEN you will get all the same type of kids. But plenty of engineering students party and plenty of students in all majors party…and plenty don’t. So being in an SLO, to me, does not change the risk of partying. My daughter and her friends are all in East. They go to some parties, but most of the time they are hanging in each other’s dorm rooms. I’m sure there have been times that the bathrooms were gross and students around them went overboard. But as I said, I’m not sure living in an SLO does anything to stop that.
SLO’s aren’t for everyone is what I’m trying to say I guess.
Is there a separate thread created yet for Schreyer applicants? Just got the email about decisions coming out in 2 days so I figured it’d be nice to have a separate thread for that discussion.
My D us trying to decide between UMD and Penn State. Any suggestion? Science major with hopes of medicine!
Choose the college with the lowest net cost. No parent/co-signed loans, as little debt for the student as possible (subdidized federal loans only if at all possible).
@joansass Both great choices my son went with PSU over UMD since they were about equal we could not justify the additional cost of UMD. Aerospace Engineering intended major.
Anyone with experience with the Smeal Sapphire Leadership Program, do you know if acceptances are on a rolling basis? Also, any idea what the generally look for? I’m assuming, obviously, leadership, but is it mainly essays based? Can you be in both Schreyer and Sapphire? Thanks.
I applied on Feb.1. And cannot understand why MyPennState’s application status still says “Your application has been received. Please check back here to make sure we receive all of your materials and for timely updates regarding your application. Thank you for applying to Penn State.” Anyone knows why?? =((
@klossy - Is everything checked on the right side towards the bottom under Application Checklist? If so I would call admissions. It should at least say your application is under review once everything is received
@moms27 my daughter is a freshman this year and is living in East. Last year I wanted her to choose pollock because I was nervous of the “craziness”. Once she found a roommate they together decided on East as their first and second choice. I recently asked her if she was doing it again would she stay in East. She said absolutely! She said all the freshman are there and she loves it and her dorm is one of the most far away dorms from everything( Hastings). Also, she has 2 freshman guy friends from her high school who are roommates in Pollock. She said they feel left out… and for the record these guys did better in high school then her and even being in East she is maintaining a great GPA, even better than her pollock friends. She was a summer freshman staying in nicer dorms and was still ok going to East. She was rather straight and narrow in hs but is social and definately checking out parties but seems to have found the balance of putting schoolwork first. She often times studies in a lounge in her dorm with no problem(chooses that over going to library) and there are quiet hours. I think your students dorm choice does not equate to how they will do educationally. No matter what dorm shes in, she will need to juggle school/social life. Hope that helps. Feel free to message me if you want more info.