Just picked this up at my local Sheetz - how cool is this thing!

I've lived at The Villas at Happy Valley for almost 2 years, and honestly, I would think very carefully before signing a lease here. There are some things I like about the apartment, but the management experience has been frustrating enough that I personally wouldn't recommend it.

Here's my experience, because I wish I'd known some of this beforehand.

The rent situation is ridiculous

When I renewed my lease last year, I was told that $850/month was the lowest rate they could offer me. About TWO MONTHS later, the rate dropped to $750.

Now, existing residents are sometimes being told they can renew at their current rate, while new leases are being advertised for $805. So if you signed early based on what management told you, you can end up paying more than people moving in later.

When I questioned this, I was told it was due to “market fluctuations.” I was also warned that if I didn't renew, I could end up without housing for a month or have to live somewhere worse.

I'm not saying apartment prices can never change, but being told a price is the lowest possible rate and then watching it drop shortly afterward is incredibly frustrating. Get EVERYTHING about pricing and renewal rates in writing. Seriously.

The renovations were a nightmare

The renovations were one of the worst parts of living here.

There were days when workers were in the apartment from around 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. There was dust, paint everywhere, and workers repeatedly entering our living spaces. At one point, I literally had to leave the apartment to change clothes because I couldn't comfortably access my room.

We were also told to empty the fridge for an appliance replacement, only for the appliances not to arrive because of shipping issues. There were similar disruptions involving other appliances.

Paint ended up damaging some of our personal belongings, including kitchen items. Management apologized and said they'd put in a word, but actually getting reimbursed was a whole other ordeal. It took around SIX MONTHS and an absurd amount of effort to get the issue resolved.

I understand that renovations happen, but the way this was handled made our apartment incredibly difficult to live in at times. It shouldn't take months of repeatedly contacting management to resolve damage caused during work at your own apartment.

Getting management to actually help is exhausting

This is probably my biggest overall complaint. Trying to get issues resolved feels like a part-time job.

I've spent an unreasonable amount of time calling and emailing about problems, and getting meaningful help has been difficult. The advice to “just call the office” isn't particularly useful when you've already tried contacting them repeatedly and aren't getting anywhere.

I shouldn't have to spend hours chasing people just to get a reasonable response about issues involving the apartment I'm paying to live in.

The professionalism has also been questionable

This one genuinely made me uncomfortable.

I went to the office to discuss my renewal rate, and a staff member brought up a social media post I'd made about my boyfriend's experience at a completely different apartment complex.

When I asked how she knew about the post, she said people had been sending it to her and asking whether I was the resident they were having problems with.

Why are we discussing my social media activity during a conversation about my lease renewal? I found the whole interaction inappropriate and unprofessional.

I've also heard comments from staff that concerned me regarding LGBTQ+ residents. On another occasion, I heard a staff member compare our apartment's cleanliness favorably to international students' apartments. That comment felt unnecessary and inappropriate, too.

These interactions didn't exactly inspire confidence in the professionalism of the management team.

Are there any positives? Yes.

To be fair, there are things I like about living here:

• The bus access is convenient.
• The kitchen is nice.
• Having my own bathroom plus a half bath is great.
• There's plenty of free parking for residents and visitors.

So it's not like absolutely everything about the property is bad. My issue is that the positives don't make up for the rent frustrations, renovation experience, and difficulty getting management to address problems.

The apartments also feel relatively small for the price, especially considering the distance from campus and N Atherton area. This side of SC is much more country and less Penn State studenty (?). I'd compare the actual space, location, and total cost with other options before committing.

My advice if you're considering moving here

• Compare rates. Don't assume the rate you're quoted is the best available or that it won't change.
• Get important statements in writing. Especially anything about rent, renewal pricing, and promises to resolve an issue.
• Document everything. Take pictures of the apartment and any damage, and keep copies of emails.
• Consider the management experience, not just the apartment itself. A nice kitchen and convenient parking don't mean much when resolving a problem becomes a whole project.

Honestly, if you don't want to spend multiple hours every week trying to get what you're already paying for, I'd seriously consider other housing options. I'd rather pay a little more for a place where I can have some peace of mind than keep dealing with this level of frustration.

TL;DR: Convenient bus access, a nice kitchen, private bathrooms, and lots of free parking. But in my experience, the rent practices have been frustrating, the renovations were extremely disruptive, getting issues resolved was exhausting, and some staff interactions felt unprofessional. Do your research, compare prices, document everything, and get things in writing before signing.

Hi, I was wondering if there were any ways to find someone to switch roommates with, all of my friends and everyone I’ve spoken to has a roommate they like, I went random and I’m starting to really regret it in a freshman and probably gonna try rushing in the spring

Hey there, im a current hs senior thinking of applying to Penn state for EBF. Ive heard there isn't many people who do it, and im wondering if its because its competitive or just really niche. I think I have a pretty good chance of getting in, but could anyone tell me a little more abt EBF and if its really worth it at penn state?

I’ve applied for about 40 or so now, all from research assistants to part time graders, and from exam proctors to admin assistant, and haven’t gotten a single one. Out of the 40, I’ve had 1 interview, which I got extremely kind complements from the interviewer, but someone else had a slightly better schedule for what they needed, so they went with them. I’ve tweaked my resume twice, and still can’t get anything. I live off campus, and I really don’t want to do food service again (did it for 4 years, and I was at a super toxic place that made me super depressed, and got a few nasty injuries/forced to do some super sketchy shit, and I refuse to do it again), so it doesn’t allow for the dining halls super easily. I’m starting to run out of my money I saved, but can’t get any student aid because I saved almost all my money in HS, and wound up getting screwed for aid because my parents both have middle class jobs. Every person I’ve had look at my resume has said it’s great and doesn’t need changed, but I can’t tell if algorithms just don’t like it or if I’m just screwed.

wondering since I'm not leaning too much towards tech as I've done a lot of research and it seems like a chore to even work in a field like that, let alone the hoops they have us jumping through to make this our whole personality just to MAYBE secure a job in the future, overall the experience has made me burned out just in my first semester, and fearful of what it'll be like if i continue.

the only other option for me is Accounting under the business degree's sub plan for accounting. Most of the topics about finance and business related things I remember vaguely from high school classes I took, and even if my memory isn't 1 to 1, the topics come intuitively to me for the most part. is there much of a learning curve to entering?

Finally I wanted to ask some basic questions about it

- how much do you need to study? is there a learning curve to starting and learning the topics?

- is the work life balance good in terms of assignments and free time?

- is the math difficult? or is it simple arithmetic that's easier to grasp than a standard math class?

All help will be appreciated, Thank you!

D1 friend snuck me into Greenberg recently just felt like yall should know this what the d1 people get to eat for free while us normies eat slop from God knows where

TO BE CLEAR, ALL OF WHAT I DESCRIBE IN THIS POST IS BASED SOLEY ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE. Many of the things I discuss are not publicly documented. I also do not know the full picture myself - maybe Penn State is far more aware of some of these issues than I think, and they may be working on improving them. Take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Until recently, I had worked as a student AO. To give some context as to how the AO department operates, we were a somewhat independent branch of Penn State's PD. Other branches of the university would pay to contract us to do jobs such as patrol campus from 8PM-4AM daily, provide 'security' at events like THON and concerts, and direct traffic during events. Because of the AO department's pseudo-independence from the majority of Penn State PD, we had our own chain of command with leadership positions in the AO department.

Below our uniformed supervisors (the two full time Penn State PD officers helping to run us) but at the top of the AO department, was an international student named Eric/Zuoyu Wu (now in jail awaiting trial). I absolutely do not want to sound hateful in any way, but when I joined the department it did seem a little strange that he was in charge of the AO department, despite being an international student. But, I quickly learned he was one of the most dedicated employees there, with his entire life seemingly revolving around the department. He did far more work than anyone could expect of a student, everything from providing technical support on radios for the full police department, monitoring campus security cameras, and was even the third highest traffic director on football gamedays (given the callsign of 'Traffic 3'). This might seem minor, but when dealing with the safety of over 100,000 people, this is an absurd amount of responsibility to give a student making $22 an hour.

Earlier this year, Eric was arrested by the FBI. To quote StateCollege.com's coverage of the situation:

"According to the complaint filed by a university police detective, Wu worked as a student auxiliary officer for the department beginning in 2021 and was identified as the subject of multiple instances of suspicious activity involving public safety dispatch and radio programming outside the scope of his job duties. Auxiliary officers are part-time, unsworn and non-certified positions that assist with event traffic and security and the locking and unlocking of buildings.

Wu accessed programs such as CLEAN and JNET, which contain protected personal identifying information, vehicle registration data and criminal histories, using controlled computers in the Penn State police dispatch office reserved for staff in authorized roles, according to the complaint.

A witness reported that Wu also logged in under another user name to manipulate the settings in a password-protected program used for administrative support functions of the dispatch communication system, according to the complaint. The program is reserved for those in administrative roles and access is not granted to students, the detective wrote.

The same witness observed Wu accessing restricted server areas of the dispatch center, which is controlled by a locked door and limited to authorized personnel, according to the complaint."

From what I've seen, all of this is true, however it does also leave out quite a lot of details. All of these now 'suspicious' behaviors were fully welcomed by our bosses and many of the proper Penn State Police officers, as Eric's going above and beyond saved them from a great deal of extra work that they would have had to do without him.

Furthermore, I know of OTHER past student auxiliary officers from 2023/2024, who have lost their current jobs working in the police simply because they previously worked with Wu (I don't want to go into detail on this as I do not want to put them in danger).

Another worrying incident I saw while working there, was with another leader in the Auxiliary Officer department, Muhammad Waqas Mandrey. Over a period of 6-12 months he stole roughly $10,000 from the department by falsly logging hours that he claimed were being spent working from home on a website for the AO department. When he was finally caught, he was fired from the job but no legal action was taken against him and the incident was kept extremely quiet by our uniformed supervisors. I have no evidence of this, but I suspect it was not reported to their own higher ups as it could cost them their jobs. I'd also like to add that he worked as a Penn State RA at the same time, and continued to do so after being fired from the AO department.

Sorry for the long post, I wanted to share some of the terrible things I’ve seen while working there. Let me know your thoughts/experiences.

Hiiii!!! I'm an international student planning to apply to the BMMB (Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology) PhD, hoping to get into the dual title program with Astrobiology.

I'm really really nervous but I'm fairly confident I'm gonna get it. I've read about the admission process but can someone share their experience with me? How is it for international students? Any tips?

Penn State looks so cool! I can't wait to be part of it!!

This goes out to the business folks ig, but the style of SNAP pizza’s CYO and Subway is pretty much the same.
Why does that make SNAP pizza more expensive than subway?

I'm probably gonna try to move into North next year 'cause I am not enjoying the East Halls and my pals are ALL in North so I might as well move into their vicinity.

I've heard many good things about North though I have heard of the unfortunate 6-8 person room situation in some areas which is...yeesh.

On the other note, would anyone have recs on where I can actually arrange to meet roommates online? I tried a little during summer but I didn't try that hard so I ended up with random choice, but people are apparently finding guys they'd want to room with, so I might give it a shot for this occasion.

Hi! I already made another post about this, but I wanted to make a more generalized one. My top two options for schools are Penn State and the University of Kentucky. Both are basically the same price and the same distance, so cost isn't a deciding factor between the two. Overall, what are your opinions on these schools and what information do you guys have to help me make my decision? Pros and cons? Thanks so much!

Hey guys! I’m a first year at university park and I was wondering how feasible a double major with ChemE and MechE would be. For context, I have a decent amount of AP credits (41 that apply to ChemE and 36 that apply to MechE). I’m starting as a ChemE major, but the issue is I literally do not have enough credits to fill 7 more semesters of college and, as I receive Fafsa and Pell grant, I don’t want to waste the funding and MechE was my next choice of major anyway. Has anyone done this? If so, is this a bad idea or could I pull this off?? How useful is it to have both of these degrees anyway??

Hi everyone!
Has anyone at Penn State College of Engineering been approved to take a course for the third time?
I previously late-dropped the course once and failed it on my second attempt. I know I need special permission to take it again.
Has anyone been in a similar situation and gotten approved? How difficult is it to get permission, and what was the process like?
Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated!

Hi Hi Everyone! I just starting getting into the gym and i just want some tips on how to tone and maybe have some new friends come with me! I would wanna do a 3-4 day split and do Monday Wednesday Thursday morning and maybe Fridays! If anyone has some tips on how to get in shape or just wanna chat and hit the gym together hmu. I’m a girl and i’m 22!

About to graduate this coming Spring - scheduled classes on Sunday and had a schedule with everything I needed at non-conflicting times. Then, they (college of IST) moved a class I need (with only 1 section for the semester) to the same time as another class I need to take. There's no other open section for the class I had originally scheduled at this time. What the hell do I do? I need to graduate next semester.

Hey guys, I'm a freshman student at a rural satellite campus. I started in a program in Agricultural Science and after a few weeks it is not for me. The faculty really pressured me to stay in it with no other alternatives but I just don't fit in with the others.
I have always wanted to be an artist and looking into PennStates College of Art I'm asking if it's decent, being part of a large university? I'm looking into Digital Arts and Media because I want to do animation and know how to do media arts as well. I also want a strong foundation in traditional drawing and painting. Is this program good for this?

Now that I know how to look at what programs offer, I really want to stay with Penn if I can, otherwise I know other colleges in this state have renowned programs in this.
I already set up an appointment with one of the college's advisors this week and I really appreciate any feedback you guys' give me. WE ARE.

When I made this account, Reddit automatically generated this username for me. I chose to keep it because it reflects my feelings and plight.

Please, for the love of god, I am begging you all... shower. SHOWER. I have never in my LIFE been on a college campus that smells this bad. BO EVERYWHERE. In the lobbies of buildings, in the classrooms, on the buses, when I pass people on the sidewalk. Is there some sort of soap shortage in this town? Is an offensive odor a prerequisite for admission to this school? My sample is skewed to STEM buildings because of my degree, so others can weigh in if other disciplines are having this issue. But when I walk into a classroom at 9 IN THE MORNING and a cloud of BO from the class before assaults my senses... well, it's not exactly conducive to learning. And not to be sexist, while women can be offenders, it is mostly men who are contributing to the putrid environment. And not to be racist, but... Caucasian.

A sunny day is not an excuse. My olfactory system has been decimated on days that didn't even hit 70F. Further, I come from a hot climate, where the summers are essentially most of the year, and it hits 80F in WINTER. Yet, that campus did not have this issue. In fact, on multiple occasions, I considered stopping students on the street (male and female) to ask what fragrance they were wearing, as their scents were so pleasant, I was moved by their presences. Yet, at Penn State, my only conclusion is that the majority of students here are part of an initiative to develop a bio-weapon for the US military so pungent that it annihilates enemies by depleting their will to live.

The only silver lining I can conceive is that perhaps this issue will motivate me to finish my degree sooner than I otherwise would have. But there's only so much my fragrance can do when no one here SHOWERS. I am practically huffing it at this point to keep myself sane. I cannot be the only one who is struggling with this.

I'm an engineering grad student, and I genuinely enjoy building things, solving technical problems, and turning ideas into something real. I've been wanting to build a startup with someone who complements my engineering skills, ideally someone with a strong business background who can evaluate markets, think about distribution, and help figure out whether an idea can become a genuinely large business.

I knew finding the right cofounder wouldn't be easy, but honestly, I didn't expect it to be this hard.

I'm already connected with university entrepreneurship resources, including the HVLB, Nittany Entrepreneur Society, and other programs. I've spent about a month trying to meet people, and so far, I haven't found anyone who seems genuinely interested in exploring the possibility of building something together.

What frustrates me most isn't that people reject an idea. That's completely fair. It's that I often don't even get the sense that people are curious enough to ask what I'm thinking about building, let alone explore the potential market, scale, or business model.

I understand that everyone has different priorities. A stable job, financial security, and a predictable career path are perfectly reasonable goals. But sometimes I wonder: if you're studying business or entrepreneurship, where are the people who are genuinely excited about taking a risk, building something from scratch, and spending years trying to make it work?

I've met a few people working on business ideas, which is great, but most of what I've come across hasn't really been the kind of venture-scale startup I'm interested in pursuing. I'm not saying those businesses are less valuable; they're just different from what I'm looking for.

And to be clear, I'm not sitting around waiting for a business student to hand me an idea. I'm happy to handle the engineering and product development. I want a partner who can challenge my assumptions, identify opportunities I might miss, and take equal ownership of building the business.

I also realize this isn't necessarily a Penn State problem. Finding a compatible cofounder is difficult everywhere. But I can't help wondering whether being an international student adds another layer of difficulty when it comes to networking, trust, or finding people willing to commit to something uncertain.

So I'm curious:

- Have other people at Penn State struggled to find genuinely startup-minded cofounders?

- Where do people who actually want to build venture-scale companies find each other?

- Am I looking in the wrong places, or is there a real gap between entrepreneurship programs and people willing to take the leap?

Mostly venting, but I'd genuinely appreciate hearing other people's experiences.

A couple surprised me… IST and HPA specifically.

Wtf does it take the dinning hall months to do anything. I got hired before school started and I have been in person multiple times and emailed multiple times and they are just now telling me times after me bugging them. At one point they told me they didn't think I was a good match because I was in a wheelchair....like wtf

Bringing my wife to State College for the first time this Friday, and I’m excited to show her around Happy Valley!

We’re planning to stop by Cafe 210 and are deciding between Champs and The Basement to end the night.

It’s been over 10 years since I’ve been back to State College, so I’d love some recommendations for a good cocktail bar with great drinks and a fun atmosphere.

Are there any other bars you’d recommend checking out while we’re in town?

WE ARE!!!

End the tyranny! Woe to the day that the dining hall managers decided to regulate our beloved rockbot playlists. I miss spamming Funky Town and Non-Coherent electronic sounds from opening hours to closing. They have banned countless songs without remorse or negotiation. Gone are the days you could simply pay to play your beloved act of mischief, and ease in its purity.