<p>I am from Pennsylvania and in my mind, PSU Honors is in the same league for prestige and quality of educational experience as the three schools mention by Saz above, for many fields of study. Although it has been the example given on this thread of a “non-elite” choice by several parents, I consider it to be “elite”. I base this on the caliber of the kids I know who have been accepted there and what I have heard about the experiences of those who attend(ed).<br>
My daughter has several friends attending PSU Honors and her impression is that there are many more students in engineering and science than in humanities. I was not sure how accurate this information is - does anyone here know?</p>
<p>thanks, sax</p>
<p>oh, and Katliamom- I was at Dartmouth for their homecoming (we’re talking 30+ yrs ago…), where they build a big bonfire. The residents of the H Parmington Foundation really DID throw a piece of furniture from their house onto the pile! And how can you think a school that lets dogs go almost anywhere on campus (Dartmouth) would be stuffy?? Fun place!</p>
<p>Couldn’t agree more about hours and quality of life. The 6 figure starting salary looks great to a 25 year old as you say, but salaries for what you put in look less generous when you’re 40!</p>
<p>The only lawyers getting rich these days are the personal injury guys. Oh if I’d only had more exposure in my youth!</p>
<p>Motheroftwo: Heres a nice link to PSU honors page.<a href=“http://www.shc.psu.edu/about/2005AnnualReport85x11.pdf[/url]”>http://www.shc.psu.edu/about/2005AnnualReport85x11.pdf</a></p>
<p>and more up to date but less info <a href=“http://www.scholars.psu.edu/prospectivestudents/process/2006FactsandFigures.pdf[/url]”>http://www.scholars.psu.edu/prospectivestudents/process/2006FactsandFigures.pdf</a></p>
<p>MOWC, how much good would your Chicago law degree be in terms of “opening doors” if you were inept or careless and made a mistake costing your firm millions of dollars? You’d be out on your ear and hard pressed to find another job. </p>
<p>The fact that your degree seems to “open doors” doesn’t mean that someone else with a less prestigious degree isn’t finding many "doors’ opened to them as well. That’s what I mean by tunnel vision: the assumption that because your success is attributable to factor X, then factor X must be a necessary precursor to success. </p>
<p>Your degree is still opening doors because it is considered in conjunction with a good track record. A lawyer coming from a less prestigious law school who has a good track record in terms of winning cases and brining in money will also find plenty of doors opened. You are probably not getting hired over people with less-prestigious degrees but more impressive resumes in terms of their experience - but of course that is a very subjective factor, often tied very closely to the specific type of expertise that your employer is looking for. That is – I don’t know what kind of work you do, but if for example your in-house work is for an insurance firm, your Chicago degree probably wouldn’t get you the job if you applied to work at a software firm, and you were competing against someone with a degree from the state u. law school but a lot of experience in intellectual property and technology litigation issues.</p>
<p>mother of two - from what I know, most kids at PSU honors are in eng, business, and sciences. But there’s also a mix of all other majors, including humanities and communications.
As to whether or not it’s elite, I’d say it depends on who you’re talking to. At our very competitive suburban high school, some of the HYP types consider it a safety. Some of the parents around here too. But lots of kids around here have been rejected - even more this year than last year.
Our experience has been good. What we’ve learned: even though it offers small classes and better advising, you still have to like a big school environment. It’s no Swarthmore. Classes are a mix of big and small. But the quality of the teaching and advising is very good. Lots of great opportunities too. So far…so good.</p>
<p>toneranger, I think the nicest benefit due to it’s size and offerings is that a student can’t possibly outgrow the school as he matures.</p>
<p>“Couldn’t agree more about hours and quality of life. The 6 figure starting salary looks great to a 25 year old as you say, but salaries for what you put in look less generous when you’re 40!”
It’s the same in investment banking. So many kids have aspirations to work at prestigious IBs like Goldman Sachs. Hey, from my experience, you end up working for less than minimum wage. You LIVE in the office, get very little sleep and have no social life. Many burn out in a few years. Yuk…</p>
<p>It does sound fun, jym626… although weren’t most schools fun 30+ years ago? I know, I sound like an old fart. Oh, wait, I AM an old fart.</p>
<p>Ooohhh, this is like a night at the fights-- ding- round two-- Calmom saying something to MOWC about getting a law degree, then not successfully using it for the long term in the outside world. Who is she talking about here?? Hmmmm… How delicately will MOWC, or Kirmum respond ? Stay tuned… as the CC world turns…</p>
<p>thread highlights? we are gaining on 30 pages, but I’ll look through the first 10 or so and list #s that helped me…the actual war stories mostly…</p>
<p>“toneranger, I think the nicest benefit due to it’s size and offerings is that a student can’t possibly outgrow the school as he matures”.
Sax - Agree. My son actually WANTED a big school environment so the honors program at PSU is a good match. He thought he would be bored at some of the small schools by junior year. At SHC, he gets some small intensive classes (probably more than he would than a place like Cornell or Penn). He loves the football too. I just wanted to point out that someone who really wants/needs a small school should research this option carefully. It’s not out there on it’s own - it’s part of a big crowded bustling university - and that’s cool as long as that’s what you want and expect.</p>
<p>Toneranger, I work alongside 30 year old ibankers who make my salary many times over, the little snots!</p>
<p>thanks, wecandothis-- I appreciate the highlights! I will look forward to them.</p>
<p>Toneranger - No one would expect PSU Honors to be Swarthmore (as an aside, my daughter GOES to Swarthmore). When I took my son to see Swarthmore as a h.s. junior (as an example of a small LAC that was near our home), he hated it. These were his comments: “This school is smaller than my high school and only a little bigger than my middle school! It is ridiculous to have all these buildings for so few people! And when you major in something, you will probably be in classes with the same few people for several years!” So a small school like Swarthmore does not appeal to everyone, obviously.</p>
<p>Also, as far as the selectivity of PSU Honors, they must use a similar admission process to the selective private schools and do not go just by SATs/GPA in selecting students. The essays they require are very thought provoking and different from the essays required by any other college. My nephew had 1500 SATs, decent but not top of the class grades in honors/AP at a very competitive public PA hs, and very few activities besides his sport, which he would not be good enough to play at PSU. He was not admitted to the Honors program, although he was admitted to PSU itself.</p>
<p>MOMofTwo - well I had some conversations on this board with a mom who DID think PSU honors would be more like a small LAC. Kid went there and not very happy. Most of my son’s friends ARE happy though. It’s a good program.<br>
You S sounds similar to mine - wouldn’t even visit Swarthmore. Or Haverford for that matter. Just not his cup of tea…</p>
<p>yikes, there must be a better way–</p>
<p>so far I only got through pages 1 and 2 (and I have to go pack for a college trip tomorrow!), but I picked out these posts as offering the most concrete stories of those who have been in the trenches and how it worked out for them:</p>
<p>1-5, 16, 23, 25-27, 29, 34, 45- 47, 49, 66, 72, 79, 80</p>
<p>I did not include the more theoretical discussions, as I personally found those interesting but maybe less so than the war stories</p>
<p>Anyone up for highlighting pages 2-5? next?</p>
<p>Well, my point is that the fact that it is not similar to a small LAC is irrelevant to whether it is “elite” or not.</p>
<p>marite-
Laugh… no point in crying. The poor newbie didn’t know any differently. We all have made goofs when we were newbies here. </p>
<p>I must ask, oldolddad- where’d you get the idea that Animal House was modelled after U of O? I am vaguely remembering that they might have filmed some scenes on campus, but thats about it.</p>
<p>wecandothis-
You are a gem. Anyone willing to take the next shift? Please??</p>