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Pennsylvania State University (PSU) -- 2018


th3redrabbit

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Hello,

I would like to kick off the PSU thread for 2018! Threads from previous years seem to be good sources of info for housing and other information about State College.

My fiance and I will be moving to State College from Florida this coming fall, and, personally, I would love to hear some thoughts on moving to a cold climate, living in State College, and just generally meet some other (future) grad students! 

Looking forward to meeting some of you!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey, it's nice you've started this thread! I'm up to the PSU too.

Come on, it's not so cold after all. Though if you lived your whole life in Florida, you'll need some extra money for the new clothes. ;) You'll probably hate it the first winter, but people often get used to it in one-two seasons, the key is just not to bother too much:) Maybe you'd rather like some specifics?

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15 hours ago, Mark_ said:

Hey, it's nice you've started this thread! I'm up to the PSU too.

Come on, it's not so cold after all. Though if you lived your whole life in Florida, you'll need some extra money for the new clothes. ;) You'll probably hate it the first winter, but people often get used to it in one-two seasons, the key is just not to bother too much:) Maybe you'd rather like some specifics?

Hi, Mark! What department are you joining? I'll be joining the BBH department. 

I considered joining a program in Minnesota, so I guess compared to that it's not so cold! We moved to Florida when I was a kid, so it will definitely take some getting used to. I've quickly discovered that a lot of houses don't have central AC, which was a surprise. I am guessing I'm probably just in for a lot of little surprises due to the change in environment! 

Where will you be moving from?

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I'm in physics, and coming from a little colder place -- Saint Petersburg. No, not from Florida :) The one which is in another multinational country :)

I think if you move from a relatively big city, acclimatization will probably be the secondary issue.

So, why Penn State? :)

P.S. What's your name?

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22 hours ago, Mark_ said:

I'm in physics, and coming from a little colder place -- Saint Petersburg. No, not from Florida :) The one which is in another multinational country :)

I think if you move from a relatively big city, acclimatization will probably be the secondary issue.

So, why Penn State? :)

P.S. What's your name?

I am from a city that is bigger than State College, but it is still nothing like NYC or what I consider "real" big cities. I think it will be interesting to figure out where I will grocery shop now, what restaurants I like (I'm a vegetarian), etc. I am in a huge city in terms of land and everything is really spread out and there are a lot of different neighborhoods. Although I don't think we are a top culinary destination, we do have a TON of restaurants all over the place, which I will miss. I will also miss "mexican" food or the Florida equivalent anyway!

Penn State had a ton of excellent researchers in my field of interest (more specific than just biobehavioral health). And when I talked to the students and my future adviser and met them in person it just seemed like a great place to be! Everyone was so nice and helpful. 

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I'm sure there is some mexican food in SC :) What I'm not sure about is whether the money for TA would be enough to go to the local restaurants, as I've heard people saying that living in the town is expensive. It would be nice if somebody here could comment on that.

5 hours ago, th3redrabbit said:

Penn State had a ton of excellent researchers in my field of interest (more specific than just biobehavioral health). And when I talked to the students and my future adviser and met them in person it just seemed like a great place to be! Everyone was so nice and helpful. 

Happy for you! I didn't even dream of encountering a ton of researchers in my field just in one department :) 

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2 hours ago, Mark_ said:

I'm sure there is some mexican food in SC :) What I'm not sure about is whether the money for TA would be enough to go to the local restaurants, as I've heard people saying that living in the town is expensive. It would be nice if somebody here could comment on that.

Happy for you! I didn't even dream of encountering a ton of researchers in my field just in one department :)

I'm not sure the mexican food will be the same (I tried some while I was there), but a girl can dream!

I'm currently having a hard time finding an affordable place to rent that has all of the amenities I'm looking for, so I can imagine that it will be a bit pricey. It is kind of crazy how expensive the rents are for such a small place!

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I'm actually in my housing search process and was wondering if there was any particular neighborhoods or apartments graduate students tend to reside in. Any suggestions to help narrow down my search is greatly appreciated!

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10 hours ago, th3redrabbit said:

It is kind of crazy how expensive the rents are for such a small place!

It's because the density of population is about that of a big city. I would guess that demand is enormous, so if microeconomics works in that place...

Btw, does anybody know how much taxes does TA usually pay in Penn State? about 15%? 

 

7 hours ago, julysnow said:

I'm actually in my housing search process and was wondering if there was any particular neighborhoods or apartments graduate students tend to reside in. Any suggestions to help narrow down my search is greatly appreciated!

From my perspective there isn't such a place off-campus. I would guess that grad students (assuming they are there primarily for research:) ) tend to go farther (2-3km) from the noisy center (especially from its south part). Since the town is pretty small, any concentration from my pov is unlikely. Anyway, I don't live in the area, so please take with a grain of salt. Let's wait for somebody more experienced to comment.

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