We Are Better "Daughter" version! / experience with Special Living Options?

[psuhouse]

I previously posted a while back that my daughter was interviewing for acceptance into Schreyer Honors college at PSU. Well... she did not get in, (despite being accepted into honors programs at Maryland, Delaware, and Pitt).


Despite not getting in, last night she enrolled into Penn State for next Fall!!! Entire house is thrilled for her. (especially me, cause my only other child decided to attend Maryland two years ago.)


Does anyone have any experience with the "Special Living Options" for incoming Freshman at U Park? My daughter is going to major in Chemical Engineering and is trying to decide if she'll choose one of the "SEO's" or just go into a traditional dorm. She is afraid the SEOs will be too studious and that the normal dorms won't be studious enough.

She is a straight A student thru her entire high school career, but is not a book nerd by any stretch...she is fun, social, and will be involved with the club gymnastics team. She is not a partier, but would still probably attend parties if that makes sense.

If anyone has any experience with any of the following SEO's I'd love to hear your thoughts.

- EASI - Engineering and Applied Sciences Interest House
- E-House
- FISE: First Year in Science and Engineering House
- WISE: Women in Science and Engineering House

Thanks much and We Are!

 

[Ralphie_]

Probably not a whole lot of help, but through social media my friends daughter met a bunch of incoming freshman and was able to find a roommate that had very similar interests and study habits, down to the same shoe size. Never any guarantees though.

 

[RT87]

House,

I feel your pain....my daughter also applied to (but did not get into) Schreyer. Despite the initial feeling of rejection - which worried me that she might sour on Dear Old State - she is completely locked and loaded for UPark in the fall.

She's not going into a special house, as she's looking at Psych or Political Science, but we had the exact same conversation. Sounds like the girls are similar in that respect, as mine was thinking about not putting in East as her choice, but then was worried about being with Jr and Sr students with not a lot in common, vs. East with freshmen who are all experiencing PSU for the first time but might be too crazy.

In the end she chose East, but did go the route of looking online for a roommate with similar interests. They also sound similar in that she's a straight A student but likes to have fun, plans to go to all the football games (she's obsessed with the ticket process) and would go to a party using the buddy system but definitely wouldn't go hunting for any party around. She found a roommate with similar interests and they're already online talking about how the room is going to get set up, etc. I think your daughter's thoughts are spot on (too studious vs not enough) but if she decides to go the non-SLO route she may want to consider looking at the online roommate match.

 

[psunovaluvr]

Went through exactly the same with my daughter in 2010. The Schreyer's thing was pretty big disappointment,at the time.Your daughter's profiles sounds a lot like mine. She ended up choosing the SLO in North Halls as a Food Science major. The Suite living was so much better than my days in West Halls. Ironically the 3 other suitemates were all Schreyers kids, which worried me at first. In the end she loved it all. Met great people and still had social activities, even being in North. One suitemate is her BFF.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

My colleague's daughter had the same experience....

He and his wife are alums (both engineering; she's a distinguished alum), and their daughter is looking at a few select B1G schools to study engineering (Purdue, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan). She has been accepted to all of them, and even as a civil engineering major at Illinois who boasts the #1 undergraduate program in the country (according to USN&WR). Anyway, she didn't get into Schreyer's, and her folks think that is due in part to (their perception) of how few math/science majors are admitted to Schreyer's. Is that true? Does anyone know if there is a bias there against science/math majors? I think she'll end up at Purdue or PSU even though Illinois rolled out the red carpet and gave her a one on one with the Dean of the College of Engineering when she visited.

 

[BigTimeBig]

SLO engineering house which was, and may still be, in west halls would be a good choice. It can be as "studious" or as "wild" as you want it to be, depending on who in the dorm you become friends with. Only issue might be who is randomly selected as a roommate, but that can be an issue in regular housing too.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[RT87]

Re: My colleague's daughter had the same experience....

Midnighter,

I'm assuming they're including engineering in the 'math/science' major grouping. I haven't heard that there is a bias against engineering; in fact, my nephew is in Schreyer (electrical engineering) and I believe as many as 50% of the students are engineering. However, that could be misleading in that a greater proportion of engineering students may apply to Schreyer. Bottom line is that it's not clear if going for engineering is a good/bad thing.

 

[Western PA]

My daughter was in almost the exact circumstance

It's been 15 years, she would advise your daughter to do the Women In Engineering program, especially if they have an introduction program held before the semester starts. Good friendships made there. Valuable also because engineering is a tough gig for women because so many of us men are still back in the stone ages.
She lived in Pennypacker and, to this day, the five friends she made there are a tight group. Five of the six completed their engineering degrees.
Count on a five-year journey in ChemE, with four semesters (two in the summer) spent working co-op terms. Co-op terms are very important to make employment connections.
And, even without Schreyer, she is doing OK. She runs a plant for Dow Chemical in Texas.




This post was edited on 4/2 3:56 PM by Western PA

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Re: My colleague's daughter had the same experience....

Originally posted by RT87:
Midnighter,

I'm assuming they're including engineering in the 'math/science' major grouping. I haven't heard that there is a bias against engineering; in fact, my nephew is in Schreyer (electrical engineering) and I believe as many as 50% of the students are engineering. However, that could be misleading in that a greater proportion of engineering students may apply to Schreyer. Bottom line is that it's not clear if going for engineering is a good/bad thing.

Interesting - thanks!

 

[manatree]

I've worked for the University since 1993 and my dept has always had 5-8 students working for us at any given time. Here are my thoughts.

The Special Living Options are great for kids who are a bit shy and not necessarily outgoing enough to make acquaintances on their own. The innate carryover in the SLOs means that there's a built in sense of community and will often have their own social events planned. For Frosh that might need a little help adjusting socially, I highly recommend it.

If your daughter makes connections easily I would leave it entirely up to her. Sometimes it's good to get to know kids outside of your major. Have a place to escape your curriculum. While I didn't live in a special interest dorm way back when I was an undergrad, my roommate and I were both Architecture majors. Having almost every class together, and living together got really old, really fast.

Either way, I would encourage your daughter to find some sort of outlet outside of her major. A club, im sports, volunteering, etc. That's one advantage of a University the size of Penn State. There is a wide array of clubs to get involved with.

Lastly, I would encourage her to look into getting a minor. It is very easy to complete a minor IF you plan ahead and start early. Most minors are only 18-21 credits, and with some savvy scheduling they are easy to fit into your schedule. For example, while her major might not care what GenEd math class she takes, a minor might require a particular GenEd math class as a prerequisite for a class that counts towards the minor. Also, there are some GenEd classes that could count towards the minor. You have to take your GenEds no matter what, so if you plan ahead you could have 3 or 6 credits of your GenEd count towards a minor.

http://bulletins.psu.edu/undergrad/programs/minors/

If she finds a minor that interests her, she should drop by the Academic department that sponsors it asap so she can start mapping out how to schedule for it.

 

[GoNavy]

Re: My colleague's daughter had the same experience....


I am going through exactly the same thing. My daughter got into every other honors program she applied to but not Schreyer's. Biotech major over 4.0 from a top HS in VA all kinds of AP classes etc.. - I thought for sure she would get into the program. I am 99% sure she is still going to pull the trigger for PSU because I think she likes the atmosphere better than the other schools but she definitely was disappointed not to get into that program.

Does anyone know if it is possible to re-apply once you are enrolled at PSU or if it is a once and done thing?

 

[The Spin Meister]

Sounds like she is a lot smarter than I but I would suggest the SLO. Dorms can get quiet noisy, hard to study. And at PSU, there is no problem finding fun social activities.

But the most important thing is building a network of people in her field. Being in the SLO she should get to know upper classmen for advise on classes, profs, job prospects. Most important is keeping those connections after college, they will always come in handy for jobs, joint projects, inside info, and more.

Best of luck to her.....and you!

 

[LionLen]

Not sure I'd put my freshman daughter in an all engineering (or all anything) residence. Are you sending a supply of pocket protectors with her? There's a big wide world of things and people to get to know at Penn State. If she's a straight A student she won't need to be in there to succeed. What if she decides she doesn't really like engineering? How any high school seniors know their entire future or real interests? She might find out by interacting with students in other majors. Ask some admission office what the % of students who change majors is. But in any case, I hope she has the same great experience that everyone else an the board has had at Penn State.

 

[G in Omaha]

My daughter is finishing her Soph year in Chem Eng, wow does time fly! She

was in East Hall last year and rolled the dice on roommates. Luckily she got a good one and they've roomed together this year in West Hall.
She liked East Hall due to the proximity to Beaver Stadium for football and Bryce for THON. And of course the creamery! However all her classes where across campus, not bad when the weathers nice to walk but a pain to get on a bus when it isn't. Even with the close relationship to her classes this year she often leaves the dorm in the morning and doesn't get back until late. She breezed through high school but has found that her Chem Eng courses have really tested her. She came in with some AP credits and pretty much jumped right into her Chem classes so she wasn't able to have some of the Gen Ed classes boost her GPA. Shes had to work harder to raise her GPA. Looking back she wishes she would have started off easier and built up her GPA. But on the plus side she's on schedule to graduate in 3 1/2 years. Which according to her will give her 4 football seasons.
I know this info probably doesn't help much, but bottom line is she loves PSU and Chem Eng! Mom and Dad don't like that she's so far away.
She's been in Women in Engineering, Society of Women Engineers, and Humanitarian Engeneering and Social Entrepeneurship the last two years.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Congrats to her, hope she opts for PSU, to your question ...

Should your daughter decide to enroll at PSU, she could apply to Schreyer. I know several kids that didn't get in as true fresh that were accepted to Schreyer, as well several that did not apply as HS seniors that were accepted at Schreyer after their 1st year.

Those that join while at PSU enjoy all but 1 of the Shreyer benefits. The 1 they miss out on is the $5,000/yr award (believe that is the number). That only goes to those that are accepted to Schreyer as HS seniors.

Tom

 

[91Joe95]

If I may make a suggestion on the co-op program...

Nobody ever mentions it, but the actual co-op schedule can be changed. I did an eight month co-op in spring and summer back to back. Fantastic approach as the projects you work on are bigger and more involved. Then the following summer I did my third co-op. Ended up graduating che in 4 years with 7 full semesters and 1 summer session between my freshman/sophomore years. The key is to get the job offer and then tell your employer what you want to do. This is something they would also want for the same reasons as you. Then go back and tell your co-op coordinator the new work plans and they will be more than happy to accommodate.

 

[PhillipintheValley]

My daughter did not get into Schreyer either. She's an AE major, minoring in Chinese. She decided against special living option and loves her experience in Hartranft. Glad the walls can't talk because I lived in Hartranft also. My son lived in North in an SLO hall that he wasn't a part of. He liked living in a suite with his 3 mates, but didn't interact with most everyone else since he wasn't a part of the SLO group. I think going with regular housing will be fine. To echo WPA, have her join SWE and WEP. Both are great support systems for female engineering students. My daughter just spent two days with a prospective student as part of the WEP program. It's invaluable. Female Engineering students that participate in WEP graduate at a much higher rate than any other demographic.

 

[Bygsky]

Sorry to hear this. Tell your daughter to kick butt with grades, get involved with socially redeeming activities like THON committees and apply for Schreyer Gateway during her sophomore year. I think new gateways will even get some scholarship dollars, at least they were talking about. Schreyer is a great thing to have on a resume.

 

[psuhouse]

Thanks much for all the insight everyone! As usual, this board comes thru!

Great info and thank you all for taking the time. Amazing how many similar situations there are.

For the Glory!

 

[GoNavy]

Re: Congrats to her, hope she opts for PSU, to your question ...


As always - thanks for the great info Tom.

 

[swordsman_l]

Re: I'd like to join the "daughters in PSU ChemE club" also

Mine graduated from U MD with a BS in Chemistry. Decided she wanted a more "practical" degree, and applied for PSU Chem E PhD program. Was the only non-Chem E undergrad accepted.

First year was really tough--she'd spend 16 hrs on 5 homework problems, but made it through. The secret here is that PSU ChemE wants to broaden their applicant base, so its in their (PSU ChemE dept) best interest to show that bright students with a non-engineering background can be successful PhD students. She loves the program, and has a fabulous thesis project. Goes to Cal-Berkeley, Brookhaven labs to do experiments with fancy super-duper X-ray equipment.

She's a TA this semester. She's the cute, petite one....

 

[tboyer]

Don't feel bad, Shreyer can be a lot of pressure

Schreyer kicks kids out if they don't maintain a very high GPA, something like a 3.6? And in Engineering that is very tough even for a good student working very hard. It adds pressure and there's already plenty of pressure for the average ChemE. Nobody should go into engineering expecting to maintain a 3.5 -- if they can, great, but it is very unusual. The grading is brutal and it's the hardest coursework at PSU.

 

[tboyer]

Regardless of dorm choice,she should get involved with WISE and WEPO

PSU has great organizations and support systems for women in engineering because they historically have difficulty keeping women in the program.

One of the reasons there are so few women engineers is because the grading is brutal and women are more likely to freak out about bad grades and quit the major. The support network becomes really important.

Also I think Wise partners with NASA to offer small undergraduate research grants to women. The money isn't much but it gets you connected with a PSU professor to work in their lab. That was hugely beneficial for my daughter.

Another thing really worth considering is -- enroll in the summer. There are special courses and orientation for engineers in the summer that are really nice -- they schedule you for some of your gen-ends -- speech and english. That helps you start out with a good GPA, which helps you compete for scholarships and other stuff.

But the best thing is -- because you have credit earned before freshman year, you get select the following year's classes ahead of your freshman class. Really helps to get into the sections you want.

 

[PSU Soupy]

Phillip I knew that I liked you....first year Hartranft guy myself.

thanks for the help on yesterdays thread.


PSU Soupy.