The following article will grade penn state on a balanced criteria, and a weighted one. For a balanced criteria, each “criterion” has equal weight. In the weighted grade, I list the most important factors (to me) in a college. Each slot will be assigned a grade of 1-5, F,D,C,B,A, respectively.
Let’s start with the balanced grade.
Employment Opportunities | 100% |
Library System | 95% |
Education | 85% |
Clubs | 75% |
Food | 75% |
Crime | 70% |
Free Speech | 70% |
Housing | 53% |
Accommodations | 50% |
Academic Policy | 45% |
Student Voice | 45% |
Student Culture | 40% |
IT System | 35% |
Parking | 35% |
Berks excels in five main areas: Employment Opportunity, Library Systems, Education, Clubs, and Food. This is data taken over the past four years, and not the last year. Here are the top 5:
Employment Opportunity/Career Services (A)
The campus offers a wide array of jobs students can take to earn additional income. A shopping center also exists right off of campus, offering more job opportunities. When I was told “no” by retail America, my current boss gave me a position years ago at the restaurant here on campus. It has helped me to pay my bills and have running around money that I could manage. I could argue for more pay, but it is a JOB, and in Recessionist America, a job is a savior. Also in this category is career services. They will not stop until you have every possible advantage going into the workforce. They are EXCELLENT resources.
Library System (A)
The library system kicks ass. The library, now becoming overcrowded, offers computers, study rooms, database searches, access to journals and periodicals exclusive to the academic scene, and more. Librarians go out of their way to help students. If I need something, I go to the library to find out. Excellent resource.
Education (B)
This is what you are coming to school for. You have your crackpot professors, but overall, at least in the college of engineering, the education is good. It isn’t amazing, but it is good. For a public Ivy, Penn State has expanded my mind, made me smarter, and has helped me to approach problems. I cannot vouch for the electrical department. You will need to go elsewhere for that degree- here the grading system in that department are “you get a 100, or you get a 0”. I can vouch for the mechanical and manufacturing departments. This opinion may be biased because I major in mechanical engineering, but you tell me if “100, or a 0” works out for you. It didn’t for me. On the majority, grading is fair. Professors are forgiving, but not lenient.
Clubs (B)
Berks has a healthy selection of clubs for your needs. THON, Video Games, Cultural Relations Clubs, Sports [on that note sorry, I can’t help people looking here for sports- not involved), Rock Climbing, Campus Events, etc. This foundation is strong, and Campus Life is (mostly) good at helping clubs enrich student life.
Food (B+)
This item may be controversial to a lot of people. A lot of people hate Tullys food, and some like it. I happen to like it. I say this with an unbiased opinion (because I work there): the food is decent to good depending on who makes it. There is a good selection, and for in house items, a student meal plan slashes 65% of the price off. You can’t beat this for soda, grill items, entrees, etc. Third party items (boxed dinners, etc) are regular price to 10% off. Some people dislike the food. This is because idiots did not make it properly. I systematically began selling pizza on weekends when I made it because I improved the quality with ingredients we already had. You can’t beat some of the value at Tullys, even at fast food restaurants. Our meat is grade A, and our chicken comes from Purdue and Tyson, excellent companies who deal with poultry (chicken). It is good stuff. For commuters: look elsewhere. Residents: The meal plan is an excellent deal.
Maintenance and Groundskeeping (B-)
Gotta mention these people. Maintenance, as a whole does an excellent job on campus. Groundskeeping keeps the campus looking beautiful. They truly do an awesome job.
The rest of them:
Crime (C)
Largely, this has not been an issue on campus. Very few fights break out (a few dozen a year) and no one has brought weapons to school shooting up the grounds. There are two very large problems at Berks: 1) theft, and 2) drugs. The most common thefts include backpacks, purses (would you believe women leave their purses, unattended in the open?), bicycles, and computers/computer parts. The drug problem is almost exclusively with marijuana, but the police may tell you different. Police services are not a privately hired group, or mall cops. These police are part of the Berks county system of police. They are REAL COPS. They have semi auto 45 caliber handguns, tazers, everything. Presence of the police on campus is excellent. I am sure rape occurs on this campus, but according to the statistics (which are required to be released), there were about 10-15 cases reported from 2007-2011. Check me on those. I feel safe on this campus. Since Berks began initiatives to grab disadvantaged students from major surrounding cities, it has brought crime to the campus.
Free Speech (C)
This is also a controversial topic on college campuses across the United States. Where does hate speech begin, and freedom of speech end? You are allowed to speak your mind on campus. Student activists have been allowed to protest versus radical Christians who are preaching on campus. Freedom of speech is important, but you better be prepared to accept the consequences of your actions. Most people (80-90% of people) simply walk by and don’t pay attention, regardless of their beliefs. People should be docked for annoyance, but I am not being harassed. Legally- they can continue what they are doing, it is known as the student freedom of speech clause. As for hate crimes, they don’t go unpunished.
Housing (D)
Housing has been good to me for the most part, but I had conniptions with them. Firstly, students abused the system just to harass me (forcing me to become a roommate or suitemate to my dismay). Housing did little to stop this. Housing did little to intervene, and on the whole, Residence Life does suck. Sorry guys, but NO RA in the past four years has helped me, standing there not knowing what to do. RAs are split into three types: the ones who don’t care, the ones who care, but stay on the sideline, and the tiny minority who lay down the boot. Housing needs to improve.
Accomodations (F, nearly Abysmal)
We are now getting into the “F” range of grades. The university has done little to accommodate comfort to students. Accessibility is largely not an issue, as it is required by law. The desks are tiny, and I cannot fit into them. A lot of students complain about them, and for FOUR YEARS the university did nothing. Air Conditioning either did not work on this campus, or it was turned off, until one week until finals week, both in the residence halls and other buildings. We complain, but the university does nothing. The campus is overcrowded with 3,200 students, and all labs, classrooms and facilities are becoming overcrowded (this impacts class size little in my case). The university does nothing to alleviate the traffic as it works on a new building. Tuition hikes are bogus and nonsense, despite admitting more people.
Academic Policy (F)
Academic Policy is bogus. I am talking about the entire system here. There is a restriction to drop credits, and you have to go through hoops to get paperwork done for anything. Disputes exist with paying bills, and the allowance of some radical professor policies is ludicrous. For example, one professor says “NO test make-ups under any circumstance”. They got grilled on the SRTE, and I am grilling the University here for it. If you withdraw from a class, they indicate it on your transcript if you were failing that class or not. Bogus.
Student Voice (F)
A student government exists on campus, but they have many promises they do not fulfill. Students have a voice, but the government is fractured into two camps who rarely get anything done. SGA policies for clubs are also bogus, and this extends into campus life. I am discussing loopholes in the rules regarding events and community service that make it a real boner for clubs. Funding is almost non-existent.
Student Culture (F)
This is highly controversial and is my own opinion: Student rationale, logic, respect, and attitudes have all degraded each and every year. This is a cultural problem rather than a Penn State problem: people are disrespectful to professors, themselves and visitors. Students have no regard for the rights of others, and end up getting reprimanded or arrested for it. This doesn’t reflect all student culture, but it reflects a significant portion of it. The culture has lead to higher crime, increases in failing grades, more disrespect, and a degradation of language. Sometimes, someone is speaking English, not broken English, so fast and with so much cultural jargon that I need to ask them to slow down and speak plain English.
IT System (Abysmal)
The next two topics don’t deserve an F. They are blatantly bad. IT here is abysmal. Computers are broken, outdated, slow, don’t work, and the IT department has few answers to students. In the dorms, I get 0.15mb/s average. This is abysmal. IT claims the new lines have not been laid yet. SGA promised this 2 years ago, but has failed to mobilize on it. Bureaucracy, eh? The integrity of the IT system has gone from bad to worse ever since the campus became overcrowded. The campus has no answer for the students other than “we are working on it”. I was told this years ago.
Parking (Abysmal)
Parking is abysmal. I have to park a half to ¾ a mile away because parking is limited and inconvenient for residents on campus. Freshman should not be allowed to have vehicles on campus to cut down on traffic.
Overall balanced grade: 64% (D) Berks has its nice features, and perhaps it is for you if you can deal with the negatives. I recommend a visit, and ask many questions, even taking this guide with you. It’s a nice campus, and it has good plusses, but many minuses it needs to work on. Let’s just get to the weighted grade since I described everything: weighted: 61% (D). I don’t want to harp on this campus for being a bad campus: The value for your dollar is low but the education is excellent. I recommend going elsewhere, but if you need the weight behind the degree, want somewhat good food, good club selection and excellent resource staff, Berks is a good choice. Don’t think colleges out there exist with B’s and A’s- they are VERY few far and between. Berks was a positive experience overall for me, for my education and my future. Make your choice carefully.
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