Penn State....Good School?

[Sartre79]

Not "ranked" (I'm not big on ranking anyway), but I'm interested about reputation etc. . Anyone have any feedback/opinions/experience?

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[Apparition]

It's in a very rural but beautiful area and med center seems amazing, a lot of emphasis on primary care. I believe over 50% of graduates went into a PC specialty.

 

[Erina]

I went to Penn State for a Primary Care program this summer and absolutely loved it. 😍 The people I met were great and I loved that they were the first school to have a Humanities department...it shows that they really care about the other parts of being a doctor, beyond just knowing your medicine.

And by the way, there is a reason why they aren't ranked...I think in another thread, someone said that the dean didn't want to release info for the rankings because he didn't believe in the way schools are ranked--or something along those lines.

 

[strawberryfield]

look around their website a bit... it's pretty helpful! They have the only Level I trauma center servicing rural PA (outside the big cities), and seem to place a lot of emphasis on community involvement, and a BIG emphasis in training physicians in the humanities along with the sciences, although a research project is required as well. I thought the students were very laid-back and fun, Hershey is very rural, so-- cheap cost of living. They receive very little state-funding, so the tutition is a bit steep for OOS and a little cheaper for IS. Worth every cent IMO...

I personally loved PSU and am hoping to get off the WL! 😍

 

[sf1991]

Penn State has a solid reputation. Known for producing strong clinicians, taking a very humanistic approach towards medicine. they would fall about mid way in rankings for nih funding, and the college of medicine is expanding. new cancer institute, heart and vascular institute, and i think a new childrens hospital. plus, it is a regional level one trauma center. i would say the biggest drawback to penn state is the rustic location. the fact that its not in a major metropolis is probably the only reason its not more reputable. they match well, strong board scores, certainly won't close any doors for you. but then, so much of medical school is what you put into it. i chose it over three other acceptences, and can't wait to start!!


Penn State University COM class of 2010

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

Not "ranked" (I'm not big on ranking anyway), but I'm interested about reputation etc. . Anyone have any feedback/opinions/experience?

Penn State is the best university in the entire nation 😉

I have been to Hershey Medical Center quite a few times, and I think it is top notch (not that i'm some kind of authority on this, I can only compare it to hospitals in Reading (which suck) and Philly (which are good). But I have heard nothing but really good things about Hershey......the only bad thing is that it's not located at University Park, so there is some distance from Penn State in terms of being closely tied to the school (from what people have told me)

The best thing about Penn State, even better than football, is THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world (raised over 4 million last year, over 30 million since it started)....a childhood cancer philanthropy. They support families through all of the treatment, and even built a new cancer research facility from those funds alone. Med students get to be invloved in this, it's really something unique.

www.thon.org

 

[strawberryfield]

Penn State is the best university in the entire nation 😉

I have been to Hershey Medical Center quite a few times, and I think it is top notch (not that i'm some kind of authority on this, I can only compare it to hospitals in Reading (which suck) and Philly (which are good). But I have heard nothing but really good things about Hershey......the only bad thing is that it's not located at University Park, so there is some distance from Penn State in terms of being closely tied to the school (from what people have told me)

The best thing about Penn State, even better than football, is THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world (raised over 4 million last year, over 30 million since it started)....a childhood cancer philanthropy. They support families through all of the treatment, and even built a new cancer research facility from those funds alone. Med students get to be invloved in this, it's really something unique.

www.thon.org

hehe... love the Nittany avatar Ironman! 😍 👍

 

[FDoRoML]

I have to interject a bit here for people who are actually coming from a rural background. PSU Med School is not "VERY" rural. It is more somewhere between suburbia and rural. If Harrisburg were a larger city, it WOULD be considered suburban. There are lots of new housing developments, plenty of apartments, it's only 15 minutes outside of dowtown HBurg and Philly/Baltimore/NYC/DC are only a car ride away (1.5-3 hours, depending on which one you're headed to).

To me, very rural is something else entirely! 🙂

Now, State College... that's rural (except for the large population right in State College, there is like NOTHING around for 100 miles!). heehee

But I will say, if you're looking for the city life to be close by all the time, PSUCOM is not where you want to be. Well, personally, it's close enough to lots of major metro areas to enjoy your weekend with a fun day trip, but it's far enough away to not get dragged down by all the things to do (I prefer fewer distractions from studying!). I've also heard from many who attend school in major cities that they really don't get to enjoy them all that much. Too much studying, and you're way too busy during the clinical years.

As far as rep goes, PSU is very well known and respected among residency directors as providing superb clinician training... and many like the humanities aspect, too (part of being a good clinician is really understanding the humanities, anyway!).

Strawberry-- I am keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!

FD

 

[strawberryfield]

I have to interject a bit here for people who are actually coming from a rural background. PSU Med School is not "VERY" rural. It is more somewhere between suburbia and rural. If Harrisburg were a larger city, it WOULD be considered suburban. There are lots of new housing developments, plenty of apartments, it's only 15 minutes outside of dowtown HBurg and Philly/Baltimore/NYC/DC are only a car ride away (1.5-3 hours, depending on which one you're headed to).

To me, very rural is something else entirely! 🙂

Now, State College... that's rural (except for the large population right in State College, there is like NOTHING around for 100 miles!). heehee

But I will say, if you're looking for the city life to be close by all the time, PSUCOM is not where you want to be. Well, personally, it's close enough to lots of major metro areas to enjoy your weekend with a fun day trip, but it's far enough away to not get dragged down by all the things to do (I prefer fewer distractions from studying!). I've also heard from many who attend school in major cities that they really don't get to enjoy them all that much. Too much studying, and you're way too busy during the clinical years.

As far as rep goes, PSU is very well known and respected among residency directors as providing superb clinician training... and many like the humanities aspect, too (part of being a good clinician is really understanding the humanities, anyway!).

Strawberry-- I am keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!

FD

Thanks FD!!!!!!

You're right, Hershey is not "very rural" lol just "very rural" compared to where I'm coming from!! 😉

 

[star22]

I have to interject a bit here for people who are actually coming from a rural background. PSU Med School is not "VERY" rural. It is more somewhere between suburbia and rural. If Harrisburg were a larger city, it WOULD be considered suburban. There are lots of new housing developments, plenty of apartments, it's only 15 minutes outside of dowtown HBurg and Philly/Baltimore/NYC/DC are only a car ride away (1.5-3 hours, depending on which one you're headed to).

To me, very rural is something else entirely! 🙂

Now, State College... that's rural (except for the large population right in State College, there is like NOTHING around for 100 miles!). heehee

But I will say, if you're looking for the city life to be close by all the time, PSUCOM is not where you want to be. Well, personally, it's close enough to lots of major metro areas to enjoy your weekend with a fun day trip, but it's far enough away to not get dragged down by all the things to do (I prefer fewer distractions from studying!). I've also heard from many who attend school in major cities that they really don't get to enjoy them all that much. Too much studying, and you're way too busy during the clinical years.

As far as rep goes, PSU is very well known and respected among residency directors as providing superb clinician training... and many like the humanities aspect, too (part of being a good clinician is really understanding the humanities, anyway!).

Strawberry-- I am keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!

FD

WOW east coast has a different definition of rural. Im from the west coast where rural can mean 300-400 miles from anything (or more if you are from Alaska). 100 miles-- thats practically suburbia

Also what about the cheesiness factor in Hershey... I have seen pics of the hershey kiss street lights and I'm wondering if it is a super-kitchy tourist town?

 

[Apparition]

hehe... love the Nittany avatar Ironman! 😍 👍

What does Nittany mean? I know it refers to a PSU mascot but that's all I know.

FDoRoML, I'm not saying that it's rural in a bad way. I'm hooked on the area after the interview and on the school. I guess it's pretty relative. I haven't walked on grass in years so even a moderate amount of farms and pastures looks rural to me. I do 😍 Penn State.

 

[FDoRoML]

WOW east coast has a different definition of rural. Im from the west coast where rural can mean 300-400 miles from anything (or more if you are from Alaska). 100 miles-- thats practically suburbia

Also what about the cheesiness factor in Hershey... I have seen pics of the hershey kiss street lights and I'm wondering if it is a super-kitchy tourist town?

Yeah, I agree... even State College is not VERY rural... now, parts of the midwest (Dakotas, portions of Wyoming, etc) are VERY rural--- 500 miles of nothing. 😀

As far as cheesiness factor-- Hershey is just a regular upper-middle class town (richest area around HBurg, best schools). It happens to be the home of Hershey Co, so there are a lot of hints around. The town itself is not touristy... but the amusement park and chocolate factory are. It's popular in the summer but it's more of a transient tourist town-- they never stay for long.

It's sort of a "roll the streets up at dusk" kind of town, so as a med student you wouldn't have much reason to be in the heart of Hershey. The med school is along a different road than the one that runs through the main drag, so unless you live on Chocolate Ave (I kid you not, that's the real name of the main street!!), you probably won't see much of downtown Hershey (take the "downtown" lightly). And for night life, you'd head to HBurg (or one of the major nearby cities) anyway!!

FD

 

[strawberryfield]

What does Nittany mean? I know it refers to a PSU mascot but that's all I know.

well, there's a mountain near State College called Nittany, here is a link from wikipedia that has a short explaination of it. Perhaps someone else on here knows more?? 😉

 

[doctorFred]

nittany refers to the mascot, the nittany lion (HAIL TO THE LION!) nittany lions were mountain lions that went extinct in the pennsylvanian wilderness in the 1800's.

as for hershey, it's a fantastic medical center. i have tons of friends who went there for nursing and another handful who are going there for their m.d. i would love to end up there. plus, you get to drive to state college on the weekens for penn state home football games, which are a sight unrivaled in modern sport. on home football weekends, state college becomes the third largest city in pennsylvania behind philadelphia and pittsburgh.

 

[notdeadyet]

Penn State is a fantastic school. If it were in Philly or Pittsburgh, I'd apply, but am not applying due to Hershey. I personally could go rural or urban, but living in Hershey with Harrisburg being your nearest "big town" would personally drive me nuts.

It's a location thing. Again, I'd consider Penn State Med itself one of the most underrated degree. Great program.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

hehe... love the Nittany avatar Ironman! 😍 👍

I love golden retrievers!

 

[xanthomondo]

Yeah, I agree... even State College is not VERY rural... now, parts of the midwest (Dakotas, portions of Wyoming, etc) are VERY rural--- 500 miles of nothing. 😀

As far as cheesiness factor-- Hershey is just a regular upper-middle class town (richest area around HBurg, best schools). It happens to be the home of Hershey Co, so there are a lot of hints around. The town itself is not touristy... but the amusement park and chocolate factory are. It's popular in the summer but it's more of a transient tourist town-- they never stay for long.

It's sort of a "roll the streets up at dusk" kind of town, so as a med student you wouldn't have much reason to be in the heart of Hershey. The med school is along a different road than the one that runs through the main drag, so unless you live on Chocolate Ave (I kid you not, that's the real name of the main street!!), you probably won't see much of downtown Hershey (take the "downtown" lightly). And for night life, you'd head to HBurg (or one of the major nearby cities) anyway!!

FD

LOL i went to hershey a few weeks ago for an acs meeting, i loved the street names
chocolate ave
cocoa way

and the hershey kiss lampposts are amazing

the constant chocolate smell makes you nauseous after a while though

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

I have to interject a bit here for people who are actually coming from a rural background. PSU Med School is not "VERY" rural. It is more somewhere between suburbia and rural. If Harrisburg were a larger city, it WOULD be considered suburban. There are lots of new housing developments, plenty of apartments, it's only 15 minutes outside of dowtown HBurg and Philly/Baltimore/NYC/DC are only a car ride away (1.5-3 hours, depending on which one you're headed to).

To me, very rural is something else entirely! 🙂

Now, State College... that's rural (except for the large population right in State College, there is like NOTHING around for 100 miles!). heehee

It depends on what you define rural as being I guess. State College itself is not rural at all....it has one of the largest high schools in the state (State College High) and has a decent dowtown area.

Hershey, with a population of of about 13,000 is actually much smaller than State college, which has a pop of about 40,000. And when you are actually at the med school in Hershey, although it may be closer to more urban areas, you actually feel like you are in a very rural place. Literally, its like look to your right....farms.....look to your left.......farms......look in front of you.....medical center and school, look in back of you....one strip of road with small town and chocolate factory

But, with that said, you are right in that State College is MUCH more isolated, whereas in hershey, you can make it to philly in an hour and you are right outside of harrsiburg

 

[strawberryfield]

I love golden retrievers!

Yeah, my golden and all goldens are just awesome dogs, so smart and sweet and fun loving! 😀 👍

 

[swim2006]

Penn State is a great school for clinical experiences and seems to have many students interested in pursuing PC, peds, and rural medicine, and the people interested in the more competitive specialities still get good residencies. Everyone there seems to be very helpful and laid back.

 

[MossPoh]

Penn State is the best university in the entire nation 😉

I have been to Hershey Medical Center quite a few times, and I think it is top notch (not that i'm some kind of authority on this, I can only compare it to hospitals in Reading (which suck) and Philly (which are good). But I have heard nothing but really good things about Hershey......the only bad thing is that it's not located at University Park, so there is some distance from Penn State in terms of being closely tied to the school (from what people have told me)

The best thing about Penn State, even better than football, is THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world (raised over 4 million last year, over 30 million since it started)....a childhood cancer philanthropy. They support families through all of the treatment, and even built a new cancer research facility from those funds alone. Med students get to be invloved in this, it's really something unique.

www.thon.org

No bias from the person with the good ol' nittany lion for his icon tough. 😉 I agree THON is a great cause and raises a lot of money. Unfortuently it seems there are a lot of people that do it more to glorify themselves than the kids, or just flat out steal money from it...doesn't it seem like every year some frat gets caught skimming a bit of cash? I've raised money for it on my own...3000 bucks in all of a half hour work for two years in a row...just give it straight to one of my friends that handled that stuff. It is great though to see the kids faces...They actaully get to be kids for a bit....most of them are stronger than their parents I think.

As far as proximity to the school..yea not exactly "close" but for a football game and whatever else it isn't so bad. Just get 3 or 4 people in a car and follow the line of cars through the little twisty roads.

If you like school spirit then PSU defintley seems to have it.....I run into people that see me wearing PSU tshirts and stuff abroad and they just go up and start talking....I've seen that with people that didn't go to main campus, only got a masters,phd, whatever..... doesn't seem to matter.