Lately, a school that has been on the rise in popularity has been Penn State University. This year’s graduating class has 11 students who will be attending this fall.
This number has multiplied a lot since the class of 2021, where there were only two students who were going.
But what is the reason the number has went up so high? We interviewed seniors Samantha Storzillo and Kailin Leszkowicz, who are attending, so we could get that answer.
Starting with Kailin Leszkowicz, who will be majoring in Kinesiology at Penn State. Her other top schools were Virginia Tech and Indiana University, two schools with similar atmospheres to Penn State.
She said that the things she liked about the other schools were the academics at Virginia Tech and the campus and food at Indiana.
One thing that Leszkowicz liked about PSU was the Big 10 football. One of her other top schools, Indiana University, is also part of the Big 10 conference and is actually the defending Big 10 champion after finishing last season 16-0.
But clearly, football wasn’t the deciding factor. Kailin said that the thing that really set Penn State apart from the other schools was its large alumni network. Currently, Penn State has one of the largest and most active alumni networks, with over 800,000 living alumni, according to the Penn State website.
If you don’t understand what this means, a large alumni network could potentially make it easier to get a career or internship in the future. A lot of PSU alumni have become successful, and if you’re looking for a job with them, being a Nittany Lion could be the deciding factor in securing an interview with a PSU alum.
Leszkowicz said that it was a hard decision picking between PSU and other schools because she got summer admission and not fall, meaning that she would have to miss out on the summer after high school and get straight to work. She said that being away from her friends made her not 100% confident in PSU in the beginning, but she realized that the outcome she would get from Penn State would make it worth missing out on one summer.
Our next Penn State attendee is Samantha Storzillo, who will be majoring in marketing with a minor in photography. Her story is different from Kailin’s, seeing how Penn State has always been her dream school.
Her other top picks were Marist and Seton Hall. She liked the campus and environment of Marist, and she liked the business school and campus at Seton Hall.
The reason why she loved Penn State so much was because of its nationally recognized business program, which has around a 10% acceptance rate for freshmen at the University Park Campus.
Storzillo also mentioned the alumni network, which is something that most Penn State commits mention.
Storzillo said that it wasn’t a hard decision picking between Penn State and her other options, because she had always dreamt of going to Penn State, and they offer many different opportunities that can help her with her plans.
In the end, Penn State’s growing popularity among students at Hills is no coincidence. From its nationally recognized academics to its vast alumni network, the university attracts more and more students every year. Whether it’s a lifelong dream school like it was for Samantha Storzillo, or a carefully considered decision like Kailin Leszkowicz’s, it’s clear that more students are seeing the value in becoming a part of the Nittany Lion community.
