Anybody here attend PSU?

uhohitzme · #1 Posted **Jul 25, 2008, 7:31 PM**

Hi all.

I hope to attend (well maybe) PSU and was wondering if anyone could provide some feedback on the school. I hope to major in Community Development with a minor or two. Just thought I'd ask around and see what people on here had to say. You know the website is biased towards the positives.

Thanks.

Snowden352 · #2 Posted **Jul 25, 2008, 9:16 PM**

Considering how most posters here are boosters of PSU I thought I'd step in and give my honest opinion of Portland State.

Well, strictly speaking, PSU is a nice school if you have neither the time nor the money to attend the two other (and in my honest opinion) better state schools (U of O & OSU). It's a huge step up from the for profit schools, like ITT or University of Phoenix, which cater to people who cannot attend a university under the typical circumstances (re: have children or family to take care of, or simply cannot go full time).
The best description is from an article in The Portland Mercury, as Portland's only 4-year Community College.

In other words, if you already live in Portland or are moving to Portland for reasons other than PSU--go for it. If not, I strongly recommend you consider somewhere else.

BrG · #3 Posted **Jul 26, 2008, 12:03 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowden352

Considering how most posters here are boosters of PSU I thought I'd step in and give my honest opinion of Portland State.

Well, strictly speaking, PSU is a nice school if you have neither the time nor the money to attend the two other (and in my honest opinion) better state schools (U of O & OSU). It's a huge step up from the for profit schools, like ITT or University of Phoenix, which cater to people who cannot attend a university under the typical circumstances (re: have children or family to take care of, or simply cannot go full time).
The best description is from an article in The Portland Mercury, as Portland's only 4-year Community College.

In other words, if you already live in Portland or are moving to Portland for reasons other than PSU--go for it. If not, I strongly recommend you consider somewhere else.

How recently did you attend there?

urbanlife · #4 Posted **Jul 26, 2008, 12:10 AM**

it use to be more of a 4 year community college, but over the past few years alot of that has changed for it. While I would say there are much better schools in the US compared to PSU, if you want to be in Portland, it is a pretty good college depending on what field you want to go into.

zilfondel · #5 Posted **Jul 26, 2008, 12:22 AM**

PSU is known for their urban planning school. Goes in step with Portland's reputation in the urban planning world...

I know a lot of people over the years who sought out PSU for their master's program, especially in community development. They all seemed to do ok in landing jobs, too.

RED_PDXer · #6 Posted **Jul 26, 2008, 1:15 AM**

I received my masters degree at PSU in urban planning a year ago, which is in the same school as the Community Development major. I can't speak to other degrees or programs though. I was accepted into several other competitive schools, but I liked the professors, the program, research opportunities, and lastly I wanted to live in Portland. I focused on transportation planning and it was a very good experience. The classes were informative, the professors were knowledgeable, passionate about their respective areas, and interesting. The transportation-focused professors have a good reputation and know the industry well. I took the opportunity to present research, attend conferences, and listen to/meet some of the top speakers/researchers in the industry. Having worked with many other professionals from far more prestigious schools, I'm confident I had just as good an education. I nor any of my classmates had any difficulty finding a job.

uhohitzme · #7 Posted **Jul 26, 2008, 1:41 AM**

Thanks everyone for the help. Before even picking a college, I wanted to live in Portland. PSU you say is a good urban planning school; that is what I what to do. I would think about UofO or OSU, but I'd like to live and be in PDX. I'd think about UofP, but they don't have an urban planning program do they?

urbanlife · #8 Posted **Jul 26, 2008, 1:47 AM**

nope, not at UofP.

Okstate · #9 Posted **Jul 26, 2008, 4:37 AM**

I was debating U of O and PSU for urban planning (masters) and ultimately chose U of O for the universities' better reputation. Having said that, PSU really has an outstanding program (dare I say even better than U of O) however, if you were to ever go outside of the northwest, potential employers may have more awareness of the two larger universities in the state. It's really a toss up as either direction will ultimately lead you in the right direction. Who could deny the appeal of studying urban planning in an actual urban locale though?

uhohitzme · #10 Posted **Aug 1, 2008, 4:20 PM**

Would anybody by chance of any pictures of the campus? I just wanted to see what it looked like since I can't make the trip now.

zilfondel · #11 Posted **Aug 1, 2008, 10:55 PM**

Apparently I'm too lazy to post even my own pics!

http://flickr.com/search/?q=portland+state+university

I found these all on flickr.

uhohitzme · #12 Posted **Aug 12, 2008, 2:46 PM**

^^^Thanks for the pics.

Anybody here do the Community Development program? I'm trying to figure out what classes I need to be taking.