I would only suggest going to Penn State if you are going to a branch campus and that is if you or someone must go to Penn State, the main campus is very cut throat and will do everything in thier power to try to make your grades low, which is a show stopper for medical schools. I would suggest that if you are out of state do not go to PSU, go to your own state school the extra cost is not worth the experence. I know exactly who that suggested professor is and it is very true and that is common amoung the professors there. Also, the advisors are not the best there I have had plenty of bad experiences with them. I would suggest going to a branch campus, as it is much more forgiving and you can earn higher grades with the same educational quality. I have gone to both the main campus and a branch campus and I would take the branch campus every time and it is still a Penn State degree. and people from all campuses go to medical school. Also, it is cheaper, and I would suggest to everyone and anyone looking at this post to look into early acceptance and early admissions programs at any school they go to, the branch campuses have some that are worth looking into.
Fair warning: this is a bit of a rant but is something I feel passionate about.
First of all, "cut throat" is never a word I would use to describe Penn State. There are a handful of "cut throat" kids there but you'll get that at ANY location/institution.
Secondly, I've taken classes at several branch campuses and can honestly say I earned the easiest high grades and learned nothing. This includes OChem lab which was a total joke at a branch but at main it's a very difficult course, as it should be. I'm talking open note tests, jokes of lab reports, BONUS for just turning your reports in on time (who on earth does that), experiments that just end because people can't figure them out, and class (learning) time being cut in half. If you want to do well on your MCATs, your best bet is to tough through the difficult classes and you'll learn more there than anywhere else. That "suggested professor" is hard, yes. But he allows students to come in and ask for higher grades. He's very receptive to people who are respectful to him and show their hard work. If your average is a 60% but you went from 45-->50-->70-->75, he WILL NOT fail you. He'll give you that C, maybe even a C+ depending on how active in class you are. This happened to a friend of mine.
Lastly, I've had amazing professors in many of my classes. Maybe one or two that didn't want to speak with students but these were the early huge lecture courses. "Everything in their power to make your grades low" HA. That's a total joke. How does that even make sense to you? Penn State wants to keep their acceptance to medical school rate high so people WANT to come. So logically, why would they try to make student fail. The school itself requires the average to be equal to a C. C's stand for average. So if the class exam score is a 50%, that would be a C. A's are earned, not given. They're supposed to be difficult to attain. It means you performed better than most of your class. Does the AAMC "try" to make students fail? No but if you didn't score at the 100th percentile, you don't get a 525+ because they want to help you get into medical school. You may just not have done enough to make your grades high. Schools that have 80-90% averages on exams are jokes.
However, I'll agree some of the advisers are hard to work with. You have to work to try to find a good one, or in my case forget about the office and find your own mentor.
And on another note, I specifically know of one top tier school whose undergraduate advising office will straight up tell you not to try to apply to medical school because there is no chance you'll get in IF YOU GET ONE B. They do this to keep their admissions rates higher. This is something you'll never come across at PSU.
You don't get to be critical and insulting if you haven't done everything in your own power to succeed. No one is going to be around to hold your hand throughout life. You're responsible for you, no one else is. I'm sorry that the truth is a hard thing to hear. Not trying to be rude but I'm honest and straight up.
