Student season tickets go on sale next week, and if you’re new to Happy Valley you may be asking yourself, “Is buying tickets for seven home games worth $246?”

Don’t be silly. You should be asking, “How many people in the country have an opportunity to watch high-quality college football in one of the nation’s best stadiums and student sections?'”

There are pockets of the incoming freshman class that have gone to dozens of Penn State football games and there are plenty that haven’t been to one. Regardless of which group you fall into, getting season tickets can make a huge positive impact on your first semester of college. Esteemed college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit called Penn State’s student section “unparalleled,” and it’d be a shame to miss out on it.

Ticket sales will launch on the following schedule:

• Graduate students: Monday, June 20 @ 7 a.m.
• Seniors: Tuesday, June 21 @ 7 a.m.
• Juniors: Wednesday, June 22 @ 7 a.m.
• Sophomores: Thursday, June 23 @ 7 a.m.
• Freshmen: Friday, June 24 @ 7 a.m.

Each sale begins at 7 a.m. and ends either at 2 p.m. or when the allotted number of tickets for the class of the day sells out. Sales will definitely end in the latter scenario, as tickets will surely sell out in a few minutes.

You have to have a Ticketmaster account set up before buying tickets. Set it up here beforehand and have a valid U.S. credit card handy.

To buy tickets, log on to Ticketmaster and follow the instructions given by Penn State athletics here.

It’s worth checking out your semester standing here. A friend of a friend of mine missed out on buying tickets a few years ago because he was entering his second year at Penn State but had enough credits to be classified as a junior. He logged on to Ticketmaster on the sophomore class’ day to buy tickets only to find out he was ineligible and was supposed to buy tickets the day before.

Now that we have all the technical info out of the way, here are a few tips from OS alum Drew Balis (circa 2012):

• Give yourself some extra time to prepare in case of computer problems.
• Have a friend or parent on speed dial. If something goes wrong, they can back you up and complete the process for you with your information.
• Log on to Ticketmaster by 6:45 a.m. This is when the waiting room for the queue opens up, and you’ll want to secure your spot as soon as possible. The longer you wait to do this, the more people ahead of you in line to buy tickets.
• As stated above, there are time limits on certain pages. It helps to create a Ticketmaster account in advance and enter all of the billing information. This will save some time and limit stress.
• Along with football tickets, there is the opportunity to purchase the official White Out shirt ($26) and a student Nittany Lion Club Membership ($35). My advice: Don’t buy them here. This is not a knock on the offerings, but there are plenty of other opportunities and events to purchase these things. Get your tickets and get out.
• As ridiculous as those browser requirements sound, follow them. Just do it, and you’ll thank yourself later when you hear of all your friends who missed out on their tickets by using an outdated version of Internet Explorer.
• At one point during the sale (after you press the blue “unlock” button on the right side of the screen), you will be asked to enter a password. Remember that it is your nine-digit PSU ID number at the bottom of your ID. This has tripped some people up in the past. Don’t let it happen to you.
• At one point during the sale, there will likely be a drop-down menu for Ticket Quantity and Seat Location. Click 1 and General Admission, respectively.
• Speaking of General Admission, your confirmation page will likely say GA on it. Don’t be that guy frantically trying to figure out where Section GA is in Beaver Stadium.
• You should have already received an email to your Webmail account saying what class you are with your corresponding day. Semester classification is determined by the number of credits earned. Be mindful and double check this. That biology class you late dropped last semester could change the day you buy tickets.
• Your first attempt may result in some type of error occurring. Try not to panic. It’s likely Ticketmaster just being Ticketmaster. Go through the process again.

So, to review:

1. Set up your Ticketmaster account before the day you’re scheduled to buy tickets.
2. Log on to Ticketmaster by 6:45 a.m on your designated day (freshmen buy tickets on Friday).
3. Keep refreshing the page and click “join waiting room” so you can secure your spot in the queue to shop for tickets.
4. Starting exactly at 7 a.m., wait until it’s your turn in the queue and buy your tickets as fast as your internet connection lets you. 
5. On Saturday, September 10, head over to Beaver Stadium, bust out your mobile ticket, and enjoy being a part of the best student section in college football.

Penn State has seven home games slated for 2022: Ohio University, Central Michigan, Northwestern, Minnesota, Ohio State, Maryland, and Michigan State.