Penn State

[kilroy55]

I am not from Pennsylvania.  The job prospects are similar to every other school not in the T14.  You will have to work hard to find a job outside of Pa.  I have plenty of friends who are working out of state.  Temple places in Philly.  The vast majority of their grads stay in Philly or over in Jersey.  I can't say much more than that because I don't know.

[SCK2008]

Great info.  Thanks for it and thanks to both of you for taking questions.  Definitely a big help.

[arich24]

So, I just booked my plane ticket for Carlisle's Open House and Scholarship Dinner (March 28-30).  Anyone else going to be there?!

[arich24]

So, I just returned from my "view law schools" roadtrip, and Penn State's Carlisle campus was one of my stops, and I fear I may have chosen the wrong location for me.  Perhaps I made the mistake of going to DC and Baltimore first.  By the time I got to Carlisle I was tired of living out of a suitcase, I had fallen in love with the big cities, and it was rainy!  I toured the temp. building which is nice enough, but directly across the street from a massive, dirty truck stop.  I asked my tour guide when she thought the new building would be done, and she thinks it's going to be longer than what they claim.

The town of Carlisle (and note I say town not city) is indeed quaint; however, I don't think I managed to find the hot spots and fun cars all current students told me about.  I did see a large population of sketchy/dirty people though.  It's a really neat historical town, don't get me wrong...but, there's just not much to it, but...like I said, it was rainy and dreary the entire time I was there.

The quality of education seems great.  The class I sat in on was a first year class (Contracts), which def. had the possibility to be very boring, but the professor was great!  He was humorous, open, knew all the students names, etc.  I sat through the whole 2 hour class even though they told me I could leave whenever...I was genuinly into it as were all of the students.

My biggest concern is placement after though.  I want to go into International Law and eventually work for the government (abroad or domestically).  Penn State is extremely regional.  I know I could get a GREAT job after graduation, but in central Pennslyvania...or perhaps I could head back to my home state and still get a great job as a lawyer, but the thing is, I don't want to practice (it would only be a backup for me).  My dream is State Department, DOD, DOJ, etc etc etc, and I have come to the realization that it would be a miracle to land those jobs coming from Penn State.

I'm heading back to Carlisle Friday for the scholarship dinner and open house.  I'm hoping for better weather and more opinions, etc.  Who knows, maybe it will win me over big time this go around.  I'm post afterwards of course:)  Congrats to all accepted...please do not let me opinion thwart your decision, I just realized on this trip that I am a city girl!

[mm1405]

I'll be there this weekend! 

[arich24]

I'll be there this weekend! 

Are you flying?  If so, are you flying into MDT?  I have NOOOOO idea how I am getting from the airport to Carlisle and back...and I would prefer NOT to spend a ton of money on a cab...*sigh* I wish the school would send a shuttle...

[mm1405]

I'm flying, into Philly though b/c its close to my bfs family. We got a rental car for a few days though for about $90.  Try hotwire... otherwise go to each car rental's individual site and look at their specials. I think we got a 1/2 price on budget's website for an upgraded car... may be cheaper than a cab!

[kilroy55]

So, I just returned from my "view law schools" roadtrip, and Penn State's Carlisle campus was one of my stops, and I fear I may have chosen the wrong location for me.  Perhaps I made the mistake of going to DC and Baltimore first.  By the time I got to Carlisle I was tired of living out of a suitcase, I had fallen in love with the big cities, and it was rainy!  I toured the temp. building which is nice enough, but directly across the street from a massive, dirty truck stop.  I asked my tour guide when she thought the new building would be done, and she thinks it's going to be longer than what they claim.

The town of Carlisle (and note I say town not city) is indeed quaint; however, I don't think I managed to find the hot spots and fun cars all current students told me about.  I did see a large population of sketchy/dirty people though.  It's a really neat historical town, don't get me wrong...but, there's just not much to it, but...like I said, it was rainy and dreary the entire time I was there.

The quality of education seems great.  The class I sat in on was a first year class (Contracts), which def. had the possibility to be very boring, but the professor was great!  He was humorous, open, knew all the students names, etc.  I sat through the whole 2 hour class even though they told me I could leave whenever...I was genuinly into it as were all of the students.

My biggest concern is placement after though.  I want to go into International Law and eventually work for the government (abroad or domestically).  Penn State is extremely regional.  I know I could get a GREAT job after graduation, but in central Pennslyvania...or perhaps I could head back to my home state and still get a great job as a lawyer, but the thing is, I don't want to practice (it would only be a backup for me).  My dream is State Department, DOD, DOJ, etc etc etc, and I have come to the realization that it would be a miracle to land those jobs coming from Penn State.

I'm heading back to Carlisle Friday for the scholarship dinner and open house.  I'm hoping for better weather and more opinions, etc.  Who knows, maybe it will win me over big time this go around.  I'm post afterwards of course:)  Congrats to all accepted...please do not let me opinion thwart your decision, I just realized on this trip that I am a city girl!

Yeah, Carlisle can be pretty dreary.  The building is actually on time as of the last report.

As far as getting cool federal jobs after you graduate, you are correct in that it will be hard.  First, many people who work for the DOJ come out of the honors program (Difficult to get usually) over their second summer or they come from federal clerkships.  One of last years graduates currently works for the state department having come straight out of law school, but he was also an intern over a summer and he speaks several different languages, which, from my understanding, is almost necessary is the state department. 

There are plenty of graduates who are working for other federal agencies, i.e. Department of Navy, Defense, GAO etc...  Sorry you had to see the transitional space -- it is a bad location.  But, at least if you go, you will have a nice new shiny building for your second and third years.

Good luck to you!

[jsb221]

I am particularly excited about the new building in UP.  Anyone think the new facilities will give PSU a little boost in the rankings (as if it matters at all)?

Latest US News rankings are out and Dickinson is now 77th. Quite a jump from last time.

[SCK2008]

Yep.  Big jump.  I was thinking we'd see something like that.  Wonder if it keeps going up; guess time will tell.  I'm probably sticking closer to home even though I think it would be a really neat place to go to school.