ME Junior @ Penn State Main, AMA!

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Hi everyone,
My name is Salt, and I am a junior/third year student studying mechanical engineering at Penn State University, at their main campus(University Park), in state.
Over the past 3 years, I've learned a lot, including tips, tricks, dos, don't, and absolutely do nots!

I am involved in the executive board of a major engineering organization chapter on campus, as well as the executive board for a major religious group chapter on campus. I've also explored a lot of different and diverse organizations that Penn State has to offer.

I've lived 3 years in the dorms, through unrenovated communal bathrooms, renovated AC dorms with single bathrooms, and mixed room type dorms, and it's not bad at all! I've experienced the ups and downs of campus dining too.

I know this is a server with high expectations, but for me, I was set on going to a public university right out of the gate due to the fact that I am in state, and so far I do not regret a thing!

I also have experience as a summer mechanical engineering intern at a small MEP design firm, so even if it isnt particularly on topic, feel free to ask me questions about it as well!

You can AMA about Penn State, although I will tend to know more about main campus affairs than branch campuses. Nevertheless, I will also attempt to answer branch campus questions too, although it will be less from my experience and more from online searching.

Thanks everyone, and I look forward to answering everyone's questions!

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AMA with Salt from Penn State

Have a question for Salt? Ask it using our “submit a question” button on this message! Make sure your questions follow server rules. You may also submit multiple times if you have multiple questions. While we cannot guarantee every question will be answered, Salt will pop in when he can to answer some that he feels he’s able to. We can’t wait to see what you have to ask!

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nullx1ety

Hi!! What do you think the hardest part of college applications are? and what do you think can really make or break an app?

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Hi! For me, I thought the hardest part was just writing all of the essays. I applied to a bunch of schools cause I had a fee waiver and quite a few of them had multiple essay sections, some of them weird questions or questions I couldn't personally relate to.
In terms of what can make or break an app, honestly it depends on the university you apply to.

For example, grades and course rigor(honors, aps, etc) definitely make or break your app at Penn State. If you have very good grades, you have a good shot of being admitted to main campus, but if you have not so good or bad grades, you will most likely be admitted to a branch campus. Additionally, for Penn State, applying early is key. Main campus only has so many spots and there are a ton of applications. If you apply late, your chances of going to main campus reduce significantly, so be aware of application deadlines.

For other universities, I know that essays and standardized tests have a significant impacts on admission, as well as potential interviews, expressed interest, grades, connections/relation to alumni, involvement, financial need, in state/oos, and a lot of other things. So, to reiterate, it is kind of tough for me to answer because it is highly dependent on each college(tip: check their common data set to see which things they prioritize!). At least for Penn State: grades, course rigor, and application submission date matter a lot.

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ave

Best phone plan for the area

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Generally I think all of the major providers and prepaid mvnos are pretty good. I've tried cricket wireless (at&t), Metro by t mobile, and I might try either boost mobile or total wireless (Verizon). At&T sponsors Penn state and they have the most cell towers on and around campus, so that could be a plus, I get 5g everywhere on cricket wireless. For t mobile, the signal and reception is good, although some remote areas on campus it could get a little spotty and there is still 5g on and around campus but 4g still plays a factor in some areas in state college. Verizon I believe only goes up to 4g lte around campus, so no 5g.

The downside is that for all of the providers, near major sporting events or for example the tailgate areas with a ton of people, you get throttled pretty badly and the reception becomes very spotty because of the sheer volume of people in the same area, so just keep that in mind. Maybe if I was on post paid instead of pre paid I would have a different experience

But yeah, if you are looking for cost effectiveness and a good plan, look to a prepaid plan from an MVNO, there is a sort of bidding war going on between them so the cost of a single prepaid line is crashing, to the benefit of us consumers.

Cricket wireless or Metro by t mobile would be your best bet in that regard. I didn't try boost mobile but I think it's at&t and t mobile combined so that could be something to try. Total wireless/ Verizon mvnos are a gamble since they only cover 4g LTE, but sometimes you don't need 5g and 4g can do. I have not tried a Verizon mvno yet though so I can't speak on any experience with that

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mintmobiile

how's the creamery :)

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The creamery is great! The bowls or cones are $6, which may seem a tad expensive given that they give you like 3-4 scoops of ice cream, but wow are those scoops big. And the ice cream is not cheap either, it's all made in house with all of the different flavors. There's even a taste testing program that students can join and test new ice cream flavors and recipes! The ice cream is so rich that by the time you finish your bowl or cone, you will be full! I highly recommend to come by and try one of their many flavors! The thing is that each week they have a different rotation, so for example, my favorite flavor so far, grilled stickies (think cinnamon bun), is not available at the creamery menu every week.

Plus, at the start of the fall semester they give out free coffee for the first week, and their coffee is good. I think in spring its $1 for the week, but you can't beat $1 coffee unless you have paneras sip club

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p9h_

I wanted to know what the curriculum looks like for mechanical engineering students (i.e. what sorts of courses are you expected to/did you take each year so far such as engineering courses and then of course the major specific courses.

Additionally, I wanted to know how hard they are (your opinion) compared to AP classes that you took in high school (Calc BC, Physics C, Chemistry)

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Good question! There is an acedemic plan that penn state has made for mechanical engineers, I will try to see if I can upload it here as a pdf. It encompasses every class you need to take(if you come in with 0 AP credits) and a potential mock schedule. Here is the MechE suggested acedemic plan at university park: https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/engineering/mechanical-engineering-bs/#suggestedacademicplantext .
To give a brief overview, you start out by taking general courses to fulfill major entry requirements, like math, physics, chemistry, english, engineering design , etc. Then, once you enter your major, you take some engineering specific courses, like engineering mechanics, thermo, as well as a couple of more math classes and general education. Then, at least in third year, is where things get spicy. You basically take all ME and ME related classes, like for example this semester I am taking ME348 (circuits), ME390(Professional development), ME370(vibrations), MATSE 259(material properties), IE312(Industrial and manufacturing processes), and a gen ed. So far it's going good, but its kind of busy with all of my commitments for non class stuff I made as well.

In my opinion, college courses are generally more difficult than AP courses. See, in AP, lets say physics, you probably meet every day for maybe around an hour, most of your learning occurs in the classroom, and the course lasts for an acedemic year. In a college course, like physics, you meet either every monday, wednesday, friday for 50 minutes or tues/thurs for 75 minutes. In addition, you also have to attend a separate lab section(~2 hours) per week and a separate recitation(~50 mins) per week as well. On top of that, the course material is smushed into one semester, which is a little under half an academic year.

Plus, in a lot of courses, instructors expect you to review pre lecture material which takes a lot of time, whether it be videos or some textbook readings, or both! And, don't forget about the homework! And, additional practice problems! So it's very time consuming.

So I guess I could say AP courses give some good preparation for college courses, but college courses are on a much higher level of rigor and they consume a lot more time. It's very important to make sure you lock in and get your time management skills and potentially study habits under control, they will come in very handy.

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shawn | green

How is the student life?

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Thriving! There is so much variety of things that students can get involved in, it's almost unexcusable to not be involved with at least one organization/club or routine activity. Football season is here as it's the fall, and in my opinion we may have one of the best student sections in the big 10! People are pumped and they are passionate about penn state!
Separately, there are a ton of student organizations that cater to almost every niche you can think of. There is never a dull day on campus with this many organizations and activities available.
There are also frats and sororities if you are interested as well, they are active mostly off campus but i find that they don't really make a big factor into the student life.
There are also big events hosted by the university or organizations from time to time as well.
Downtown and the surrounding state college area is always busy and bustling no matter the day, but even more so on thurs night, fri night, and saturday due to parties and going out. But, again, you rlly dont neccesarily need to be involved in these parties, there are a multitude of other facets of the student life that really you can do away with parties if you wanted to(which is what I have chosen too, and I don't regret it!)
On campus housing is generally good, but i guess it depends on what floor you live on, what area of housing, and your roommate(s)
Overall, the student section is thriving. Do you have any more specific questions about a specific part of student life?

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ave | apply2mod

SALT omg! i am curious, what is your opinon on the branch campuses of penn state? ik sometimes campuses that arent the main ones tend to get shafted or overlooked so im curious on the penn state take

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Heyy! So, this is kind of a loaded Q:
Branch campuses generally offer the same level of education, albeit with a more limited set of programs available, as well as a less amount of social life and sometimes the positioning of the campuses being awkward. I will be honest here and say that the branch campus experience in terms of the stereotype "true college experience" does not match Penn State's main campus, but if you are looking for a cheaper education at about the same quality, branch campuses might be a good idea.
Branch campuses also range in size: from a couple hundred people to a few thousand.
Additionally, the size of each branch campus I would say is proportional to the amount of students attending.

Before this summer, each branch campus had their own mini administrations and resources. However, since Penn State is kind of going through a budget crunch, like many other public universities are, they made a change: Smaller branch campuses are now grouped together administratively, in that they share the same administrative resources, but they remain separate campuses. This was mostly due to cost cutting and to combat declining enrollment in branch campuses.

I will say that while branch campuses are still a good option, as I illustrated above, they are on the decline, whether it be financially, resources they can harness, increasing costs, declining enrollment, etc.... I have a hunch that Penn State may close some of the smaller and less successful branch campuses or spin them off into the state system, but that is pure speculation on my end.

TL;DR: About the same education, not the same "college experience" (some students call it high school part two in some cases), declining enrollment in branches have led to cost cutting measures. If you attend a big branch campus, like Harrisburg, Erie/Behrend, Abington, Altoona, Berks, brandywine, etc.. then nothing much to worry about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_University_Commonwealth_campuses

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jp kafky | jp studies @ oxford

how hard is it managing academics and being on executive board of your organizations? do you think you have enough time for going out with friends and stuff?

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Abel | Penn State '28

Freshman at Penn State here.
What are some tips/life hacks that you would suggest to someone in my place ?

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Sorry for the late reply!
I will say it's a skill that you learn. At first, it can be quite challenging, since I am on the board of multiple orgs, and on top of classwork, I have to deal with club commitments and club meetings, and staying active and involved. I definitely do have time to go out with friends regularly, but only if I manage my time wisely and there are not many exams in the week. I will say, though, that last semester was especially difficult, and some times I had to cut club involvement and going out with friends to complete all of my classwork and studying I need.
So, if you manage your time well, you should be able to juggle everything. However, if it's an exceptionally busy week, or you don't manage well for xyz reason, be prepared to cut some activities out to leverage acedemic priorities

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Apologies for the late reply!
(Belated) Welcome to Penn State! I hope you had a great first or second semester so far!
Here are some tips I have for students like you starting out at penn state, some of these have been hashed a lot by your professors I imagine so sorry in advance:

• Use your resources. PSU has a ton of resources, you just have to go and find them! I find it useful to type "(resource name) psu" into google or your favorite search engine to see if we have it. Most of the time, we do! Resources available at penn state have definitely gotten me out of some problems during the academic year.
• Go to office hours. Professors have office hours to help you learn and understand the content, or to just be there for you in case of extenuating circumstances. You pay for them too thru tuition, so use them! Good for recommendations too. I need to take heed of this tip myself, since I need to fit attending more office hours into my schedule.
• Manage your time wisely. I remember as a freshman and sophmore, I had a lot of dificult weed out/gen eds before my major classes this year(junior year). I had to invest a lot of time and effort to complete all of the work and study for the exams, as well as manage clubs and social time. It's definitely doable to do everything, you just need to stay on top of things, organize your priorities, etc.
• I will say that there are some weeks where it's crunch time. For example finals week, or maybe a random wk in the semester where classes have everything stacked. Unfortunately these weeks are where you may need to choose priorities, like if u want to study more for an exam and do more practice problems , or go out with friends for a few hours. I reccomend studying more but it's up to you. Again, using time wisely.

• Don't eat at the hub too much. It drains your dining dollars since there is often no meal plan discount. I may have low food standards, but the dining halls are actually pretty good!
• Don't buy/rent textbooks in advance of classes, wait until the first week when your profs say what you need or don't need.
• Always bring a charger or power bank with you. You never know when you need it, if you forgot to charge your phone or laptop, or someone else like your friend needs some juice for their phone
• Stay out of trouble! I feel old saying this, but generally if you stay out of trouble in the residence halls, you'll more likely to be successful acedemically. Avoid drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc in res halls, since technically it's illegal due to federal law. Plus if I become an RA I will be sad 😦

There are many more tips and hacks I have, so if you have any specific questions or tips you need, just feel free to send a dm @mellow urchin !

Oh, and some life hacks:

• West cookies are goated. You may already know, but if you didn't try west cookies, YOU NEED TO!!!!!!!!!!!
• Get a bike, it shortened my travel time around campus by about half. Made it feel much smaller but also I can get to places faster
• Stay warm during the winter. It may not snow a ton but it gets chilly weeks on end. A good jacket, hat, gloves, and boots if needed are necessary.
• Root for penn state during the college football playoffs! You may never see it again!
• Have a dislike for ohio state's football program (be nice to the fans though, it's just football after all!)
• Lots of club meetings have free food

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moraltheologist2.0

Since going to a good college for three years, what is your best advice for how to make friends as a freshman? Especially if you’re out of state.