3 years ago
Take it from someone who actually studied there fo...
Take it from someone who actually studied there for two years. Penn State Mont Alto is a surprisingly great campus. Is it in the middle of nowhere? At first glance, yes. But in fact, civilization is merely a hop, skip and a jump away as Haggerstown Maryland is only a 20 minute drive away. That town has just about everything a college student would need. Restaurants, a fantastic outlet mall, a halfway decent regular mall, Movie theaters. And 2 miles away from campus is a Walmart superstore. If you don't have a car, shopping trips are regularly scheduled by the student government. And if you miss out on that, so long as you have a friend with a car, you can get anywhere between Waynesboro, Chambersburg and Haggerstown, or even State College. And trust me, you will make plenty of friends here, many of whom will be locals, and so they will know their way around the area very well. The bulk of my friends from college that I still keep in touch with are people that I met at Mont Alto. And you may be surprised (I know I was when I first got there) but that campus is very diverse for being out in the middle of nowhere. I've met people at this campus from all over the country and some from other countries, all different races and creeds. The faculty is great, and they are really dedicated to making sure you get a good start. If for some reason you must finish your college career here, admittedly, your choices for a degree are limited as it is a branch campus, but every other branch aside from PSU Altoona is the same way. It's designed for you to spend a year or two here and then move to University Park to finish your degree. Also, the dorms aren't bad at all. Especially Penn Gate 2. Penn Gate 2 offers suite style rooms with their own bathrooms and showers shared by two rooms. The building is less than 15 years old and so it is in very good condition. Mont Alto Hall offers a more traditional dorm experience, and I must say it is an experience that every college student should have at least once. This is an older building, so expect smaller dorm rooms, communal bathrooms, painted cinder block walls, you know, traditional dorm room. Get creative with your room mate and make it work for you guys and you'll be fine. And if the food is still the same as when I was a student there, then the Millstream Cafe is excellent. I cooked there for a semester and so I know the food well. I can tell you that the quality is definitely there. I was addicted to their philly cheese steaks for a while. You can get just about anything there from hamburgers and cheese sticks to a new york strip steak (if it's on the menu that day). Their breakfast food is fantastic as well!
On a final note, just to be clear. Penn State Mont Alto had absolutely less than nothing to do with the Jerry Sandusky scandal. I doubt Sandusky even knows the campus exists. That said, if you are going to judge a branch campus by the actions or inactions of a handful of faculty and staff from another campus, or if you are going to judge the quality of a Penn State education as a whole based on what happened, then you're probably not smart enough to get into college anywhere. So don't bother applying if you are one of those people. Penn State Mont Alto is a fabulous campus. A diamond in the rough if you will. Given the opportunity to go back in time and do it all again, I would without hesitation.