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Staff Picks: The Worst Places To Have Class

With the wide variety of places to have class at Penn State, it’s inevitable that you’re going to be stuck some places that aren’t the best. Some are too far away, some are just awkward, some are smelly, and so on.

We polled our staffers on the worst places to trek to class:

Janelle Rothacker: Basement of Rec Hall

While many of you have visited Rec Hall for sporting events or the gym, few have experienced the worst part of Rec. There’s an odd door on the side of the building that you would never notice if you weren’t looking sniffing for it. Down in the basement of the building, there are some classrooms that closely resemble jail cells. They are not only windowless, but also stark white. This is also where cadaver dissection takes place (read: the dissection of human bodies). The lack of ventilation infects the entire floor with the faintest smell of human remains. Yum.

Derek Bannister: 119 Osmond

The very worst classroom I’ve had has been in Osmond Lab. I can’t speak to all of Osmond, but I can certainly speak to 119 Osmond. The room itself is weirdly steep and incredibly long to the point where I feel like I should bring binoculars to class. The seats are unforgiving wooden contraptions that are extremely narrow. Even the rows are close together so you really don’t have any leg room at all — the man-spreading is very problematic. Osmond doesn’t even have a nice waiting area for the class as 300+ students is far too many for the lobby. This makes 100 Thomas feel like a luxury.

Gabriela Stevenson: Oak Building

I had a “lab” in Oak Building my freshman year (I put lab in quotes because it was just ten people sitting in a cramped conference room), back when I was still using a map to get around campus. I remember using my fingers to locate the building in northwest campus and thinking, “This can’t be too bad.” Oh, how wrong I was! Locating Oak in the parking lot of the Nittany Lion Inn wasn’t fun in the first place, but trudging there from work or class every week was even worse. There’s nothing worse than passing the beautiful Nittany Lion Inn and going to class in the shed next door instead.

Tim Reams: Ford Building

The worst place to have class on campus is the Ford Building. You’re probably asking yourself, where that is even at? Don’t worry — I am still asking myself that question after four years of class in the isolated tower known as Ford.

Tucked between the Chambers Building and Park Ave. stands an eight-story obscurity known as the Ford Building. Home to a number of academic departments and advisors, this building also houses an audiology and speech/hearing clinic to the public. While the building is home to great services and professionals of Penn State, it is not home to a stellar classroom experience.

There are only a few cramped classrooms in Ford, which will make you feel like you’re being thrown back into the ’90s. These classes are often senior level classes at maximum occupancy, making the already-awkward layouts of the room super cramped. The winters leave the rooms cold, the bathrooms are NOT optimal, and the Ford Building is basically as far away from downtown as any building on campus. Ford has great intentions, but the old building simply just doesn’t deliver on a great student experience.

Callaway Turner: Earth and Engineering Sciences Building

One of the worst places on campus to have class is without question the Earth and Engineering Sciences Building. Nothing stands out as particularly bad about the building itself, but the location is a serious struggle. For those who don’t know, the EES building is further west than the IST building on White Course Drive. Making it to early morning classes is a hustle, especially if you live on the east side of campus or downtown.


So while there are many good classrooms around campus, there are also some you never want to see on your schedule. We hope you never have to trek to the Oak Building or fall on top of the person in front of you in 119 Osmond, but if you do, take solace in the fact that you’re not alone.

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Staff

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