Pitt Johnson or Penn State Altoona (real estate, transfer, high school)

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

Pitt. It really doesn't matter where he does his first year or 2. The program he's interested in is #1 in the country at Pitt. He needs to get a post grad degree. If he graduates from Pitt in that field, it means something.

I am thinking that also. I think Pitt is the place to be for him and in a year or so he can transfer to the main campus.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

Oh my poor kid. He has the above choice to make. He is pretty bummed as he wanted to get into the main campus's but got into the other campus's instead. Its ok. Amazing one of the kids in his class with a lower SAT score (1050) got into Penn State Main. The reason ; her dad is good friends with the powers that be.

Anyway, can anyone voice their opinions on either ; good, bad or ugly?

It's almost impossible to get on the Penn State main campus first year. 60,000+ apply for around 8,000 spots in the Freshmen class.

[Rust Belt Kid]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

It's almost impossible to get on the Penn State main campus first year. 60,000+ apply for around 8,000 spots in the Freshmen class.

It's not that hard to get in. Out of those 60,000 applicants about half are offered admission to the main campus and then only around 8,000 actually accept the offer.

It's the same for Pitt. In 2017, 27,650 applied to the main campus, 16,521 were accepted, and 4,123 attended.

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by Rust Belt Kid

It's not that hard to get in. Out of those 60,000 applicants about half are offered admission to the main campus and then only around 8,000 actually accept the offer.

It's the same for Pitt. In 2017, 27,650 applied to the main campus, 16,521 were accepted, and 4,123 attended.

I don't know about this. Two of the kids in my sons class are number 8 and 10 in the class and they got in. The rest got into the other branches. The one other child that got into the main campus had her dad whos is a friend of a dean there.

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by Rust Belt Kid

I think they are both rolling admissions, so someone that applies early has a better chance than someone that applies in the winter.

Both schools will be similar. Johnstown is probably the most rigorous Pitt branch campus, while Altoona probably ranks behind Behrend in that regard.

The likelihood of your son eventually transferring to the main campus is high, so he should base it on whether he'd rather go to Pittsburgh or University Park. That said he probably has an advantage over the people that do 4 years at the main campus. The 101 level courses at the main campuses are usually 300 person lectures that may or may not be taught by someone interested in teaching. By doing 1 or 2 years at a branch campus, they can get a better foundation in a smaller environment in (generally) easier classes.

I'm not sure why someone would make this comment because it is definitely not true. I can speak confidently about UPJ. The overwhelming majority of the students do not transfer to main campus unless they want to major in a program that is not offered at UPJ. Main campus treats branch campus transfers like any other transfer from other colleges.

I'm not as familiar with Penn State Altoona, but I will bet the majority of students complete their degree at Penn State Altoona and don't transfer to University Park. The majority of students end up at these branch campuses because they were not accepted at main campus. Penn State Behrend is a little different because they have some unique engineering programs.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

I don't know about this. Two of the kids in my sons class are number 8 and 10 in the class and they got in. The rest got into the other branches. The one other child that got into the main campus had her dad whos is a friend of a dean there.

OP, I understand your son's frustration (and your own), but I honestly don't think these things happen (at least not often but I would never say never). I know of two cases where pretty powerful Pitt faculty had children who could not get accepted to Pitt main campus. I find it hard to believe that a Penn State dean would get his friend's child admission. That would be more trouble than it's worth.
Both Penn State and Pitt have admissions rates around 50%. They are not especially easy to get in to given the high number of applicants.
It isn't easy to transfer, either. Your son will need to keep working hard if he plans to transfer to main. It is definitely doable but should not be viewed as any kind of guarantee.

[okaydorothy]

Thank you all for your opinions and advice.

To throw another spanner in the works ; my wonderful son has been awarded a 4 year tuition scholarship for either Temple, Penn State or Pitt thru ROTC. He has been accepted in Temple and Penn State (altoona) and is waiting for official word from Pitt on their decision. It is fantastic and of course we are thrilled.

[Benzman66]

Penn State Altoona use to be just a two year degree campus up till a few years ago, then underwent an expansion to 4 years. I took some classes there many years ago and had no complaints. Can't say how things are now, but from what I hear, it is much better.

Granted, Altoona area has more to offer than J-town, plus it's only about a half hour from State College since I-99 is completed.

[gg]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

The one other child that got into the main campus had her dad whos is a friend of a dean there.

It isn't what you know, it is who you know. Happens all the time. Good learning experience for him to witness that. It happens in the business world as well of course. All about networking and kissing butt.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by gg

It isn't what you know, it is who you know. Happens all the time. Good learning experience for him to witness that. It happens in the business world as well of course. All about networking and kissing butt.

Good grief--this doesn't happen 'all the time' at universities. Maybe things were different decades ago, but Universities have to justify admissions procedures (public universities even more so). It is an elaborate process that receives a lot of scrutiny. Many professors and higher administrators have children who do not get accepted to the university where they are employed (and receive tuition remission). It is highly unlikely that a Penn State dean somehow got his friend's child admitted. People would find out about this and it would cause problems that would not be worth the dean's time. There are a lot of factors that go into admission decisions, and two kids may look the same to you but will not look the same to admissions officers.