Jwelles08

Not at all, I'm in the biomedical sciences.  AuldReekie's right; programs and fields definitely differ in terms of advisor selection.  In mine, we had to have an advisor locked up by the end of the first year and complete three lab rotations to make connections with faculty.  Definitely do your research and look into your potential advisor's funding and publication record (in particular, look at how much their students publish).  If you have rotations, take advantage of them and learn how your advisor acts as a manager and leader to his/her students, their personality (e.g. micro-manager, laid back) and presence in the lab (e.g. always in the lab/office, very involved in administrative duties, frequent traveler).  The rotations serve a great opportunity to test drive your boss.  You know yourself best, so select the best fit for you. 

There are some great restaurants in downtown Harrisburg. Gingerbread man has killer wings, and they're on special every Monday, El Sol has great Mexican food, Ceolta's is nice, Molly Brannigan's is a favorite...

I've lived in the area entire life (in nearby Steelton). My mom got her Bachelor's in business administration at PSU Harrisburg, too! They've developed campus wonderfully even since then.

The "West Shore" (the west side of the susquehanna) has a lot of great shopping. I'd recommend the capital city mall over the Harrisburg mall, unless you want to go to bass pro shops or Macy's. There's also the colonial Park mall in the Harrisburg suburbs.

If you have any questions about the area, feel free to message me!

Starting a PhD in chemistry this fall and I'm pretty excited! However, I'm not sure how I'd handle the change in environment as I'm used to living in big cities