Which college to look at (State College, Hershey: school, stadium, campus)

[maf763]

Parts of North Philly, maybe, but the area around Temple is far better than it used to be.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by maf763

Parts of North Philly, maybe, but the area around Temple is far better than it used to be.

Yeah, the point is that the part of North Philly that Temple is in is entirely safe.

[orrmobl]

You're right - USC had almost 5x the crimes that Temple did in the past 5 months. I guess things really have come a long way around there...

[lvkewlkid]

but i don't think USC is actually in Watts...its actually in West Adams, Watts is way too far SW...

[Unstable]

Swarthmore alum here, also a grad degree from Penn, if you have specific school rather than geography related questions.

[oc2nyc]

Wow, some great information and very useful in making the decision of where to look.
Swarthmore does not seem like a place my daughter would like. It sounds a lot like UC Davis or Berkley, both of which are very liberal as most of Northern California is. We have relatives there and it is not a place we would want to live. Too "crunchy" for us.

Honestly, I do not want her in an area similar to USC either, so Temple is pretty much out. And no, USC is not in Watts, but might as well be with the level of crime around that campus. Although, if you know the area is bad why are kids walking around at 2am in the morning???

So far Villanova and Penn State sound the best of the four. We are Catholic but it is not a like we were looking for a Catholic college. Nice addition though. The smaller campus, along with the majors offered in Health and Nursing, are a plus. She wants to do something in the Health/Medical field.

Penn State sounds like it is similar to some of the Cal State schools around here. Lots of people. It is a little confusing with all the different campuses around the state. I am not sure where exactly to look if we do consider that school.
We are also looking into trying to get her a scholarship in softball and so far Villanova and Penn State are the two schools she may like to play at. She has not decided if she wants to play in college or not.

Either way, this is a great start and it helps us in knowing where to visit when we are back there.
Thanks so much for the awesome information!

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by oc2nyc

Honestly, I do not want her in an area similar to USC either, so Temple is pretty much out. And no, USC is not in Watts, but might as well be with the level of crime around that campus. Although, if you know the area is bad why are kids walking around at 2am in the morning???

Because it's not really as bad as scared white people act like. Sorry, but I'm a white suburban guy, and have the common sense to be able to walk around North Philly without a problem. We only have the fourth biggest police force in Pennsylvania, which will be around if anything happens anyway. We also have one-button stations in case someone feels uneasy. We only have security stations all over campus in case anyone feels uneasy, but hey, it's not like crime happens at Penn State in BFE, PA, right?

[sbhubbell]

Ok so crime happens at Penn State. Let's compare University Park with Temple. I picked 2006 since it was the most recent data I could find. Robbery: PSU - 4, Temple - 17. Aggravated Assault: PSU - 2, Temple - 5. Burglury: PSU - 43, Temple 107.

[JHG722]

That's nice. Crime happens everywhere. Punks were running around Drexel and Penn jumping college kids.

[toobusytoday]

I would think that whether she wants to play ball in college would have a big impact on your search. Have you familiarized yourself with the requirements to play D-1 softball?
Official Web Site of the NCAA My understanding is that there are very few scholarships given. The students that I know that play sports in college went about the search differently then other students just looking at majors, size of colleges, class size, etc. Apparently, what the coach is like and what the team needs is a big deal.

There is just a huge difference between a small private and a large state college. If your daughter is a junior, I suggest you make the effort to visit both colleges ASAP and then you can narrow your search. I can tell you as a parent that has visited over a dozen colleges, if your daughter likes one, she probably won't like the other. Once you find what she likes that will really inform you on what other colleges might work. If she's a senior, just get those apps in right away. PSU has rolling admissions and the sooner the application in, the better the chance.