Penn State Berks had an open house today and I figured "why not, I will write a campus life post" to help answer any questions a person may have. Through dilligent Google searching, I have had people find my posts before. After all, blogger is a google brand. Herein, "UP" (you will hear this term a lot) is university park, or the main penn state campus (hence "penn state main").
1) How many students are on campus?
A: As of Fall 2009, 2600.
2) What is the male to female ratio?
A: 2.6 to 1. Last year it was the other way around, so this constantly fluctuates.
3) Why did you choose Berks?
A: a couple of reasons. It was smaller than UP and offered the same accredited programs UP could have offered. Although UP has more programs, I found the one I wanted at Berks, and it was a 4 year. Throughout housing at Penn State, Berks, in my opinion is the nicest for what you pay. Gramps Spanier (the grand chancellor) has commented that Berks is his favorite sattelite campus. Second, its proximity to home. It is an hour away from home, so if I need to go home I can. Third, Reading, PA is a pretty cool city- you can find almost anything you need here. None of those were in any order of importance, but those were the main reasons. I preferred a smaller campus.
4) How do most students graduate?
A: A majority of students are here for two years, then transfer up to UP. Some, like myself elected to choose 4 year degrees and we will graduate here at Berks.
5) How many residents are there?
A: approximately 800. Competition for rooms on this campus is mind blowing, you MUST get things in the day, preferably the hour, they open. I submitted a housing contract 2 hours after the deadline opened, and I was guranteed the second spot from last before the waiting list began.
6) How is parking at Berks?
A: any student level can park here, but parking is atrocious. Often you have to park way in the back, and there are never enough close parking spots. Traffic OUT of the Reading area begins usually at 4:00pm, but has been known to start at 2:00pm. Traffic during rush hour around here is atrocious; there is only one artery out of Reading to Allentown, and that is the main one, 222, which can become busy in spots, mainly because of traffic lights and bad engineering.
7) Back to question #5, what is a sattelite campus?
A: Penn State has a vast network of campuses. A sattelite campus is any Penn State campus that is not the main one; University Park. Berks is known as a sattelite campus; it was formerly called the "Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute".
8) What are the rooms like?
A: For what you pay, not too shabby. Carpeting, HVAC, Fridge, not bad. The student to bathroom ratio is 4 students to one bathroom. At UP, it is usually 10+ to one bathroom. The national average is 20 to one bathroom. In the rooms, two rooms are connected side by side to one bathroom, which has a toilet, shower, and two sinks. The rooms are approximately 270 square feet if I measured correctly; 15 feet by 5.5 feet. Use the space properly, and it is a lot of space. You get a armoire, dresser, and a desk too; all natural wood. For the money, Berks has the best housing. Bathrooms are cleaned once a week (day 1 you should be given a schedule) but it is up to you to clean your room. Entrance to the room is by key. There is a second bolt for protection (in the door, not a chain). The door has a metal interior, but don't be fooled, this will NOT stop police battering rams =p. Email me or comment if you want more information about rooms. Singles are available, but not to underclassman (because of a high suicide rate among all national colleges).
9) Any jobs on campus?
A: yes, they don't pay like a king, but they are something. I work at the cafeteria and the team there is awesome. I work 8 hours a week and I cannot work morer than 20 hours; housing/food services (herein HFS) is strict about that. I work on the hotline and serve warm breakfast. I also help prepare lunch. There are also jobs off campus, but they are hard to find due to the 2008-2009 Financual Economic Crisis.
10) Ok... how is the food on campus?
A: Decent, over three years it has gotten much better. People complain that Tulleys (the cafeteria) has bad food. This isn't entirely true, a gentleman I know makes amazing pizza and has taught people how to do it like he does; some of the hot line items are great, but the bad food occurs when people who were not educated on how to make it, make it. The food tastes decent on campus. As a resident you have a 65% a la carte discount on in house items (not third party, for example, Doritos). It is a good deal I would take advantage of. Payment is by cash or card. You can also put money on your card at the register, even put money on Lioncash (needed to do laundry, no coins for laundry). Food prices have gone up, so shop wisely.
11) Any clubs?
A: I think over 40 clubs. There is everything from anime club to college democrats to THON (they do dance charity stuff) to Robotics. I am the president of the gaming club, and it is a lot of fun. Get involved with something you like, either way, it is something to put on your resume that you were invovled on campus. We do a lot of fun things in my club related to all types of games, including campus tournaments.
12) What is the police presence on campus?
A: It isn't a law enforcement lockdown, but the police are there, all the time. You will see them come into Perkins and eat sometimes, but usually they are in their vehicles. YES, I have seen them do illegal maneuvers (such as driving off the road behind campus, over the grass and into the parking lot, talk about IMPATIENCE). They are usually lax about some things, but blatant violations will get you a ticket. They have 1 or 2 all terrain Segways that WILL get up to 15-17mph on grass, but they rarely pull them out. These guys (and gals) can run. They are equipped with cuffs, a gun, baton, the works. These are REAL COPS, not mall cops or hired security.
13) Crime on campus?
A: Surprisingly low. The worst offense in 2007 was a bicycle theft. The worst offense in 2008 was a drug raid bust. There is a low incidence of rape here on campus, but it does happen. Riots never happen; I have never seen a physical fight on campus. There have been small incidents of graffiti, but that issue has gone away entirely in 2009. The worst altercations? They happen in student government if there is drama =p. I feel safe on this campus. Still lock your stuff up, though.
14) How is the network?
A: Crap. Half the time it takes 10 minutes to log into university computers, if you are lucky. My dorm internet usually works just fine. In 2008 the network failed a lot, but its stability has been improved for 2009 beyond.
-Robert Dean
-3rd year student, 3yrs resident
Any questions? make a comment or email me.
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