Originally Posted by baldbear
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Yes, it's a very good school (#37 ranked university by US News, just behind Case Western and ahead of BU and Lehigh). Also, has a very good undergraduate business program. I hope that answers your question.


Wow. That is very, very good. Had no idea that penn state was rated that high academically. Read your post, looked it up, and was surprised. This might be a first on this board, My apologies, I was wrong and spoke out of turn.


Be careful of how to rate a large school like Penn St. If you check a bit deeper into the US News report its admissions is rated as "Selective" as opposed to "More Selective" and "Most Selective". So you don't need great grades to get in. That is supported by its 54% acceptance rate which also is not great. 65% graduate which isn't bad but not great.

So why does US News rank it as high as 37? When you have 40,000 enrollment you can treat 10% of your student body very well--those folks who don't care about football, drinking, etc. Do they have a good business school? Sure. But not all 40,000 have access.

Someone mentioned Bucknell, which is #32. They have 3,500 students, more selective, 27% acceptance and 85% graduation. I'll throw a completely different look with Amherst College, #2 national Liberal Arts, 1,800 enrolled, most selective, 13% acceptance, 86% graduation. For fun, I'll pick another PA school that is private, Villanova. #1 Regional University, 7,100 enrolled, more selective, 45% acceptance, 85% graduation.

Also remember US News segments its list to National University, Regional University and National Liberal Arts. Forbes throws them all in one basket, where Penn St is #166. According to Forbes it's Williams, Stanford, Swarthmore 1-2-3. They base their poll on cost of education vs earning potential of graduates.

In the end, as I tell all folks I counsel, you have to pick the right school that fits your child.


"school that fits your child" might be the most intelligent quote ever posted on this site bar none. Thank you.
Many of these internet trolls throwing out all these rankings and about this school and that school, its nauseating. Don't they realize it's mostly BS used to sell magazines and direct internet traffic to certain websites? All these people all wrapped up in this nonsense. Recently read an article in the WSJ, written by an Ivy educated former Ivy professor. He has written a book debunking all these myths about the alleged perceived value of these "highly ranked" schools. In the end, the actual value is far less than one would think. Here's some anecdotal evidence for you. Know a girl that went Notre Dame, non-athlete, nearly $62k a year now. Very highly rated school. Surely for some on here not high enough, but high nonetheless. Parents made just enough money not to receive a nickel in aid. When all said and done, well over a $250,000 investment in their daughter. Those people had to earn nearly $500,000 after their tax burden to come up with the net $250k. Two and half years into college she decides she wants to be a teacher. She graduates and gets a teaching position at a beautiful catholic school. Maybe making $40k. A girl that got hired along with her, graduated from Cortland and went to SUNY Farmingdale for two years prior to attending Cortland. Her parents total investment all in, was nearly $50k. Please, I have got to hear the justification for dropping the other $200,000 for the superior ranking. Let's hope the folks who had to earn an additional $400,000 in pre tax money, to achieve the same result as the SUNY kid, found the value in having that Notre Dame sticker on the back of their ten year old mini van...