UConn or Penn State for Undergrad

This admission cycle for colleges has f*cked over a lot of students, myself included. I have a 1560 SAT, 4.31 WGPA, multiple leadership positions, was captain for my varsity baseball team, etc.., and I ended up getting waitlisted at 9/14 schools I applied to, which included the likes of U-M, BC, and UVA. I got into the honors colleges for both UConn and Bryant, and I was planning on applying to PSU tonight since they are still taking apps. UConn is about 31k a year for me, while PSU should probably end up being a little bit higher. I'm struggling to get over the fact these are the options that are left for me, considering I could have 100% got into BC if I did ED, however I didn't since my EFC is 5 times what my parents are actually paying and I didn't want to be locked into that contract. I'm fully committing to grinding my ass off in college and want to make sure I can still end up being successful despite not getting into anything besides a safety.

9 Comments
 

If the options are UConn and Penn State, I'd say Penn State, hands down. That said, what campus are you gunning for with Penn State? If it's University Park, then yes. No questions asked. If you got into the honors college at UConn, you should also get into Schryers as well. 

 
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What state are you from? I don't really see a difference between PSU and UConn, but if you're from CT you should go to UConn and if you're from PA you should go to PSU? Why? It's an easy cover for you to be able to tell recruiters "I went to UConn to save money because I'm from CT and the in-state tuition with the honors college made too much financial sense to turn down." If you choose an out-of-state non-elite school then recruiters will know it was the best school you got into - no cover.

 

This is terrible advice, because if you are trying to break into IB from Penn State and  UConn, you are absolutely not going to do it through recruiters unless you are diversity.

Most state schools rely on finance clubs to get students on the street. That should be your starting point in research into career opportunities - what extracurricular stuff is available and how has that stuff placed.

 

I think PSU has a better IB pipeline if that's what you're looking for. Definitely have seen some PSU alumni around IB/PE and fewer UConn folks, although UConn has a much smaller student body so comparing hard #'s is more difficult. 

Bryant seems to market itself, along with Babson and Bentley, as a good business school but I rarely see folks from any of them. Babson is probably the best represented but just my opinion. 

 

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