When did you know you were going to attend Penn State?
- Thread starter TheGLOV
- Start date
There are a lot of interesting stories here. Good thread GLOV.
Notice no one who exhibits troll behavior participates in these....
Good point. I knew there was something odd, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
1.) Brother attended PSU - he's the reason I applied for Hazleton Campus instead of U-Park.
2.) Was already a big PSU football fan
3.) Really liked drinking A LOT
4.) PSU was still considered a strong engineering school even though it was at about it's absolute nadir for engineering ratings while I was there. I do not accept credit for that.
5.) in state school and still relatively inexpensive at the time.
6.) Didn't really care about going anywhere else.
7.) I knew I was going to Penn State when my application was accepted.
2.) Was already a big PSU football fan
3.) Really liked drinking A LOT
4.) PSU was still considered a strong engineering school even though it was at about it's absolute nadir for engineering ratings while I was there. I do not accept credit for that.
5.) in state school and still relatively inexpensive at the time.
6.) Didn't really care about going anywhere else.
7.) I knew I was going to Penn State when my application was accepted.
I grew up in northeastern Connecticut. There I developed an interest in meteorology as a teenager. I applied to Penn State, NYU, and MIT, which all had programs in that field. I was too dumb for MIT. I don't recall if I got accepted to NYU, but in any case I decided against an urban school. I was accepted to PSU and made that my choice without a campus visit. I never regretted that decision and consider the four years there among the best years of my life. I feel fortunate to live within four hours of the campus, which allows for occasional visits back, including a sports weekend Feb 5-7 with one of my former roommates and good friend.
I applied to two schools; Penn (Wharton School) and Penn State (Engineering). My father was a Penn grad and two sisters were Penn State grads. Anyway, I got accepted into both schools and was having trouble making a decision as the majors and the environment were very different. I took a day off school and drove to Penn, had lunch and sat in their quad all afternoon. On the drive home I decided on Penn State and have never regretted that decision.
My Brother went to PSU and when I went for a visit with my Dad we all stayed in my Brothers dorm room in Snyder. Dad stayed in and I went our to the Bars with my brother and his friends (Whistle Stop for those that remember that place) and they served me as a High School Senior - his RA was with us as well and knew the bartender which helped - I knew right then this place was for me.
When I came for dinner with my parents one time, I got served at the Train Station!
Choo-choo!
Choo-choo!
Knew I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer since I was a kid. Learned all I could about airplanes, flying, the mechanics, etc.
I applied to a handful of schools (PSU / OSU / UMD / Embry Riddle / Purdue and MIT).
Got accepted at all of em except MIT (I was still hoping).
I chose PSU because it was far enough away that there was NO chance of my parents asking me to drive up / down, yet close enough that I could come home on a whim any weekend I wanted to.
And the fact that they had a top notch football team lead by a Legend!
I attended '93 through '98 (took an extra year to enjoy my time)...
I applied to a handful of schools (PSU / OSU / UMD / Embry Riddle / Purdue and MIT).
Got accepted at all of em except MIT (I was still hoping).
I chose PSU because it was far enough away that there was NO chance of my parents asking me to drive up / down, yet close enough that I could come home on a whim any weekend I wanted to.
And the fact that they had a top notch football team lead by a Legend!
I attended '93 through '98 (took an extra year to enjoy my time)...
I applied to Penn State only because my guidance counselor told me the first three schools that I send my SAT scores are free. I had applied to Notre Dame and Rider College. I was paying for school with an academic scholarship, but it wasn't enough to cover ND, and I decided Rider was way too close to my family in Bucks County. I ended up choosing Penn State site-unseen and I have loved the place since 1968. Tuition during my freshman year was $525 and room and board another $500 or so. The best decision I ever backed into in my life.
My brother started at PSU when I was 4. My first awareness of this thing called "college" was from age 4, and it was shaped by the beauty of University Park (who wouldn't want to come here?!). The only college in the world to me was Penn State, although bro's girlfriend and now wife of 50 years went to Shippensburg at the same time. When we would come up to visit my brother, he had me stay in the fraternity with him, and the guys were great to me. There were a number of football players in the house then, so I was star-struck getting to say hi to them on a Friday and then watching them play on Saturday and then talking with them again on Saturday night. Or watching them on TV now and then. So PSU was it for me from the age of 4. I applied to a couple other schools just for show, but had no intention of going anywhere else. All through elementary school and Junior-Senior High I was the go-to guy when it came to knowing about PSU football!
When I realized about 10th grade that I would never be good enough to play football at PSU, it was a huge letdown. When I got to know some of the athletes on the various teams at PSU, I realized that some of them were truly gifted, but others were pluggers who just worked their asses off to be as good as they could be. But I never had delusions that I could play at PSU, even as a walk-on scout teamer.
When I realized about 10th grade that I would never be good enough to play football at PSU, it was a huge letdown. When I got to know some of the athletes on the various teams at PSU, I realized that some of them were truly gifted, but others were pluggers who just worked their asses off to be as good as they could be. But I never had delusions that I could play at PSU, even as a walk-on scout teamer.
I was accepted at both Michigan State and PSU, but my guidance counselor screwed up my chance at an MSU Merit Scholarship by holding my award of semifinal status until the school's honor assembly--in May (and I was out of the country as it turned out on an exchange program). Never even told me about it.... So, with my dad out of work at the time, PSU Ogontz was a good choice as I lived less than 5 miles away. No regrets. We had no PSU background (had I realized it at the time, I probably could have gotten into MIT, which was my grandfather's alma mater) except for watching PSU football on TV twice a year (plus the usual bowl game). My dad went to Newark College of Engineering--but I sure didn't want to either be an engineer or go to school in Newark!. I probably should have applied at Princeton, as it actually was close to home--but I always thought of New Jersey as "far away" (I grew up in Bucks County). Never considered Buck U for a minute (=Bucks County Community College). Ended up getting a free ride my first year at Ogontz and almost a free ride my second due to scholarships.
Either they're not smart enough to come up with something off the top of their head or they're working on their back story now and will post later. Creative writing skills are a must in their situation.
Early years we l iced in State College ( Park Forest - 60's) while my Dad worked in Ad Sales for the Centre Daily Times.
Would go to home games where you were still allowed on the field and players would give you their chin straps if you asked hard enough when they left the field.
My father attended ( he passed away 2 years ago but my brothers and I created a Scholarship in the College of Liberal Arts for any returning service personnel returning home who wanted to get their degree at PSU under his name) , My oldest Brother attended , I attended ... 3rd Brother went to WVU and 4 th Graduated from UConn.
Those attending PSU were all fraternity members : Sigma APIs , Pi Kappa Phi and DU ( my father ).
Dad actually held the shot putt record albeit briefly at PS ... Joke was he was the only guy who participated in the event when he was in College... Brother swam and I briefly played soccer.
I love Penn State and we travel the 5.5 hours each way from our current residence in Long Island to attend a few home games each year.
It pains me on so many levels to have witnessed the BS over the last few years BUT as my father would say... " Never lose your passion or hope... Once that is gone... Never comes back".
I love Penn State !
Between my junior and senior years of HS I was "elected" to attend Keystone Boys State, an Americanism, civics training camp sponsored by the American Legion. It helped that my dad was the current post commander of the local post. This was held at PSU during the summer of 1962 and I fell in love with the place, all the open "grass" which is now sadly missing, and the old-style college campus buildings. Our classes were held in Sparks for instance. Juniata was really my only other consideration, but I chose PSU and the rest is history (Good, Bad and Ugly).
My mom went to PSU and I grew up in Lancaster, which is Penn State territory. I decided that I wanted to forge my own path and do something different than everyone else, so looked for city schools. Temple was too city for this Lancaster kid, but Pitt was just right. Lucky enough, it also had a good pre-med/biology track, which is what I thought I wanted to do. I loved Pitt but wasnt happy in the medical field after I graduated, so I looked to go to grad school for something else.
I decided on going to law school and began applying. My mom begged me to apply to PSU, so I did to get her to stop talking about it. After not getting into my reach schools, it was down to Penn State Law and a few schools in Pittsburgh. I decided that I wanted to get back to eastern PA, and job prospects in eastern PA were probably better if I went to PSU over staying in Pittsburgh. Dont tell my mom, but I also loved my time in State College and it was a great decision.
I guess the moral of the story is that PSU and UPitt are both fantastic academic institutions but they are very different. One is rural and one is city - it depends what you are looking for at various times in your life. I am still a die-hard Pitt fan, but some of my best friends are die-hard PSU fans. Anyway, good thread - really enjoyed reading your stories.
I decided on going to law school and began applying. My mom begged me to apply to PSU, so I did to get her to stop talking about it. After not getting into my reach schools, it was down to Penn State Law and a few schools in Pittsburgh. I decided that I wanted to get back to eastern PA, and job prospects in eastern PA were probably better if I went to PSU over staying in Pittsburgh. Dont tell my mom, but I also loved my time in State College and it was a great decision.
I guess the moral of the story is that PSU and UPitt are both fantastic academic institutions but they are very different. One is rural and one is city - it depends what you are looking for at various times in your life. I am still a die-hard Pitt fan, but some of my best friends are die-hard PSU fans. Anyway, good thread - really enjoyed reading your stories.
My father is a PSU alum and he and my mother first bought season tickets in 1981. For certain reasons, I focused on smaller schools for my undergrad and ended up with a final four of Grove City, Westminster, Behrend and Bradford. My final two choices were Behrend and Bradford but Bradford was the better opportunity for me (as an FYI, I wouldn't have gotten into Penn State or PITT main under normal circumstances). For grad school, PSU was the #1 program in the country the two years prior and the two years during the time I attended. They allowed me as a special admit (Michigan, Penn, Detroit, NYU and Columbia were my other choices) and that was that.
I was graduating from Indiana University and had submitted applications to several grad schools. One night, around midnight, I got a call from the chair of the PSU astronomy department (lovable guy but a bit out there) offering me a full ride (teaching assistantship) to Penn State. Life changing moment. I truly loved the life and education I absorbed at Penn State. And it lives on.
Ohh man, where do I begin..
So, one of my cousins and his wife were grad students at Penn State.
My cousin's sister graduated from Penn State Hershey Medical School.
My older brother graduated from Penn State in '06.
Another interesting tidbit.. None of us are from America!
I was born and raised in Kuwait. Did my kindergarten in California (my dad's sister stays there) during the gulf war. Then did my schooling years in Kuwait and when it was time for me to graduate (2004), it was kind of a given that my parents wanted me to go to Penn State since I already had family there and they felt that it would be best and safe for me to go there too. Since I was the youngest in the family and was going to end up going far away from home for university, they felt comfortable sending me to PSU. Although we did also apply to USC, UIUC, Purdue and few other programs. But in the end, PSU prevailed and thank god I went there. Man I wish I could relive those 4 years... have to be one of the best times of my life.
I ended up graduating from UP in 2008.
So, one of my cousins and his wife were grad students at Penn State.
My cousin's sister graduated from Penn State Hershey Medical School.
My older brother graduated from Penn State in '06.
Another interesting tidbit.. None of us are from America!
I was born and raised in Kuwait. Did my kindergarten in California (my dad's sister stays there) during the gulf war. Then did my schooling years in Kuwait and when it was time for me to graduate (2004), it was kind of a given that my parents wanted me to go to Penn State since I already had family there and they felt that it would be best and safe for me to go there too. Since I was the youngest in the family and was going to end up going far away from home for university, they felt comfortable sending me to PSU. Although we did also apply to USC, UIUC, Purdue and few other programs. But in the end, PSU prevailed and thank god I went there. Man I wish I could relive those 4 years... have to be one of the best times of my life.
I ended up graduating from UP in 2008.
In high school, I had a vague idea of being a weatherman. I looked for colleges and PSU and MIT were the best. MIT's application was too hard and too touchy-feely. So I ended up applying to only PSU and was accepted. Best experience of my life up to that time. Met my best friend of 48 years at orientation. He's coming in to relieve me this morning at work. my life has been a dream. Where else can you be wrong so much and still get paid outrageous amounts of money?
At birth.
Dad's dad went to Penn State
Mom's dad went to Penn State
Dad went to Penn State
Mom went to Penn State
2 uncles and an aunt went to Penn State.
Pretty sure our family blood is blue with a slight hint of white.
The freakin people on this board who have no emotional attachment to this university make me sick.
When I couldn't secure a nomination to the Naval Academy. Had been accepted to the Naval academy but my congressman and one US senator from my state had all underclassmen at the academy leaving only 1 available nomination from the other senator. A guy from the school district next to mine got the nomination - his brother was on the senator's staff. The Air Force Academy was begging me to go there but I had no interest.
Second choice was Miami University (Ohio), but they were changing to a semester system and I was told that they had not worked the bugs out yet. I did not want to get into a unsettled situation.
So I decided to go to my third choice at the time - Penn State. At that time it was very difficult to get into the UP campus from out of state, only about 4% of freshman at UP. Admissions counselors at PSU told me I would have great difficulty getting accepted to the UP campus and the only other person from my hometown area that was going to the UP campus then had to go through the Behrend campus to get to UP.
As soon as I was accepted to Penn Stae UP, I made up my mind to go there unless I received a last minute nomination to the Naval Academy. The rest is history and I have never regretted it. Absolutely loved Penn State and knowing what I know now, it would have been my first choice.
Second choice was Miami University (Ohio), but they were changing to a semester system and I was told that they had not worked the bugs out yet. I did not want to get into a unsettled situation.
So I decided to go to my third choice at the time - Penn State. At that time it was very difficult to get into the UP campus from out of state, only about 4% of freshman at UP. Admissions counselors at PSU told me I would have great difficulty getting accepted to the UP campus and the only other person from my hometown area that was going to the UP campus then had to go through the Behrend campus to get to UP.
As soon as I was accepted to Penn Stae UP, I made up my mind to go there unless I received a last minute nomination to the Naval Academy. The rest is history and I have never regretted it. Absolutely loved Penn State and knowing what I know now, it would have been my first choice.
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I lived in Snyder from Fall of 1976 to Spring of 1978. Also used to go the whistle stop with grad students that I worked with doing research during my senior year at Penn State.
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When I was a junior in HS my dad, an English and French teacher, took me aside and told me that my three older siblings, who had gone to U of Kentucky, Murray State, and Rutgers, had tapped out his meager college funds, and I was likely going to be on my own financially. It was nothing I had not already surmised. He got with his colleague the Guidance counselor and I got a scholarship to PSU UP which covered everything pretty much for the first two years. December of 75, when I got the schollie I knew I was going. After that I begged borrowed worked and chiseled my way through. Had I not gotten that schollie, it would have been Clarion or Slippery Rock for me. I would probably be a retired English Teacher right now, or an insurance agent or a small town cpa. Instead, by age 23, I was travelling all over the world as a corporate auditor--all over the US, Canada, London, Brussels, Abu Dhabi. My expense account was more than my salary.
My dad did give me a 74 Gremlin with 80k on the clock when I was a junior at psu. Yellow with an orange stripe. Graduated with a crushing 12k in debt.
Good times.
My dad did give me a 74 Gremlin with 80k on the clock when I was a junior at psu. Yellow with an orange stripe. Graduated with a crushing 12k in debt.
There WAS no decision: The entire extended family was all Penn State.
1975 I had football scholarship offers from in state schools like Millersville, East Stroudsburg, Mansfield, etc., but I grew up watching TV Quarterbacks on our local PBS station so I grew up with an affinity for PSU. I also had intimations of trying to walk-on at PSU, but when I got there I saw Keith Dorney walking down the street and the backpack on his back looked like a postage stamp. I was a D lineman and had nowhere near the size of Dorney and I was not fast enough to be a D back, so I just was a content student! It was a great decision because I made some great life-long friends and became part of the PSU family with many of you. In fact, some of us may have crossed paths at one time or another on campus. I lived in Nittany 28 while at PSU and loved every minute of it. Many fond memories of my time there.
Sweet car!When I was a junior in HS my dad, an English and French teacher, took me aside and told me that my three older siblings, who had gone to U of Kentucky, Murray State, and Rutgers, had tapped out his meager college funds, and I was likely going to be on my own financially. It was nothing I had not already surmised. He got with his colleague the Guidance counselor and I got a scholarship to PSU UP which covered everything pretty much for the first two years. December of 75, when I got the schollie I knew I was going. After that I begged borrowed worked and chiseled my way through. Had I not gotten that schollie, it would have been Clarion or Slippery Rock for me. I would probably be a retired English Teacher right now, or an insurance agent or a small town cpa. Instead, by age 23, I was travelling all over the world as a corporate auditor--all over the US, Canada, London, Brussels, Abu Dhabi. My expense account was more than my salary.
My dad did give me a 74 Gremlin with 80k on the clock when I was a junior at psu. Yellow with an orange stripe. Graduated with a crushing 12k in debt.
Good times.
Unlike many people from PA, I didn't really know much about Penn State. The locals in the corner of the state where I grew up were much more into pro football, and the local colleges, at least at the time. Plus I wasn't a football fan at the time (don't tell anyone!). Had never seen the Blue Band either.
Also, none of my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. had gone to college (a few more distant relatives had), so growing up there was never any talk about the college experience, no allegiances, etc. Just an expectation that I would go, if I chose to go.
Summer between junior and senior years of high school I was getting inundated with mailers about colleges and universities. I was looking at mostly smaller schools, had visited some as part programs in high school, and we had visited a couple of schools that summer I was thinking about. I got big, shiny mailer from Penn State and was immediately drawn to it, although I wasn't sure why. But it had me thinking "bigger" in terms of my thoughts on what I might do after high school. So my mother and I made the long trek down to University Park for an orientation day.
We parked the car, and started walking across campus to the HUB where the first meeting was. We had been walking maybe 5 minutes and my mother looked at me, and said, "This is where you're going, isn't it?" I don't know what look I had on my face, but she knew. And so did I. One of those rare moments in life when I knew in my gut this was where I belonged, and it was instantaneous. Maybe I went to Penn State in a past life, who knows.
My mother wanted me to go somewhere closer, but she didn't pressure me. I only applied to Penn State (the hubris of youth, perhaps... or maybe my high school guidance counselor telling me I could get into just about any non Ivy I wanted), and thank God they accepted me to main campus. The rest, as they say, is history, and it was the best decision I ever made. The experience shaped me in so many ways, and I got to do things I never even dreamed of doing before then.
Also, none of my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. had gone to college (a few more distant relatives had), so growing up there was never any talk about the college experience, no allegiances, etc. Just an expectation that I would go, if I chose to go.
Summer between junior and senior years of high school I was getting inundated with mailers about colleges and universities. I was looking at mostly smaller schools, had visited some as part programs in high school, and we had visited a couple of schools that summer I was thinking about. I got big, shiny mailer from Penn State and was immediately drawn to it, although I wasn't sure why. But it had me thinking "bigger" in terms of my thoughts on what I might do after high school. So my mother and I made the long trek down to University Park for an orientation day.
We parked the car, and started walking across campus to the HUB where the first meeting was. We had been walking maybe 5 minutes and my mother looked at me, and said, "This is where you're going, isn't it?" I don't know what look I had on my face, but she knew. And so did I. One of those rare moments in life when I knew in my gut this was where I belonged, and it was instantaneous. Maybe I went to Penn State in a past life, who knows.
My mother wanted me to go somewhere closer, but she didn't pressure me. I only applied to Penn State (the hubris of youth, perhaps... or maybe my high school guidance counselor telling me I could get into just about any non Ivy I wanted), and thank God they accepted me to main campus. The rest, as they say, is history, and it was the best decision I ever made. The experience shaped me in so many ways, and I got to do things I never even dreamed of doing before then.
like Big O, I also lived in Snyder, though only from the Fall of 1976 to Winter 1977/78, as I had been accepted to PSU foreign studies in Cologne and spent my last term overseas. Oddly enough, I actually graduated officially before I took my last exam, as my last final in Cologne was a couple of days after graduation.
My dad, his best friend, and my sister all went to Penn State. My grandmother (dad's mom) LOVED JVP! But, I knew I was going to Penn State when I was about 9 or 10 after pretending to be Curt Warner and Kenny Jackson in the backyard playing with my dad. Listened to most of the games on the radio back then and watched the Penn State Football show on Sunday morning to actually see highlights of the game.
My Bro was there 1978-1980. He started at Ogontz. I ended up living in Nittany Halls - Really liked it, all single rooms. I kept my room key as a souvenir and its still on my key chain. They didn't charge me for it since they were tearing my dorm down right after I left.
I had that exact same experience with my daughter when I took her on college visits. She had that look in her eye when we toured Marshall and I knew that's where she was going to attend. She did and loved every minute of it. Sometimes something just clicks.
Lundy, if it was not for me, his brother Roger would NOT have passed Economics class. Trust me on that one sir!
Not at all the sharpest pencil in the box. Actually, he was probably an Un-sharpened pencil if you get my drift.
No family connections to PSU, always thought I'd go to Nova. Lived in eastern PA and dad was Nova alum. Sophomore year HS visited PSU for state track championships(track still at Beaver Stadium). Loved it and Nova was getting too expensive for family with 5 kids coming up for college expenses. Senior year my Mom got wind of a new program, Penn State Scholars(many years before Schreyer existed) from high school guidance counselor. PSU was inviting "top" student from each PA high school to come visit, take tests for scholarship money and get guaranteed admission to any program except 5 year Med school. I was about 5th in class but nobody ahead of me wanted to go. Mom found out about it at last minute and got me signed up. Drove up crack of dawn for tests and visit. Dad got lost and made wrong turn so we were late arriving . Best thing,stumbled into back door of registration in East Halls and met great lady running the program. Got me set up and made a great contact. Took the test and did not get any money,but got the application to fill out that was already stamped with "accepted".
Never had the senior anxiety about if I was getting in, never applied anywhere else. Got West Halls for housing and was all set. Ended up working for PSU track and field as student manager too.All thanks to Mom. Younger siblings also participated so 2 more sisters are alums. Daughter graduated 2014. Recently downsized and moved to State College and drive by the stadium everyday. Still a bit surreal.
Never had the senior anxiety about if I was getting in, never applied anywhere else. Got West Halls for housing and was all set. Ended up working for PSU track and field as student manager too.All thanks to Mom. Younger siblings also participated so 2 more sisters are alums. Daughter graduated 2014. Recently downsized and moved to State College and drive by the stadium everyday. Still a bit surreal.
