Indiana University of Pennsylvania

When I tell people I’ll be going to Indiana University of Pennsylvania they either say “that’s the biggest party school in Pennsylvania!” or “So is that in Indiana or Pennsylvania?”

Turns out it’s both.

IUP is located in the town of Indiana, Pennsylvania. It’s about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh. Here are a few fun facts that I took from Wikipedia on Indiana and IUP.

Indiana

- Small town of about 15,000

-Calls itself the Christmas Tree Capitol of the World

- Birthplace of actor Jimmy Stewart and of pro football player/TV announcer Jim Nance

IUP

- About 15,000 enrolled students

- Mascot is the Crimson Hawks

- Competes in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Division II

- Notable alumni include Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney, Co-Founder and CEO of Youtube Chad Hurley, and George Hood Jr., the Guinness World Record holder for spinning. I join an elite group of individuals.

- It is one of the few universities that offer the Doctorate of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree, which is what I will be earning. It’s a degree that focuses on training clinical psychologists as opposed to researchers/professors.

I’m very excited about starting the PsyD program at IUP. It’s a good fit for me and I got along really well with the faculty. There’s even a fellow BYU Cougar that’s a faculty member. I wanted to go to a program that focused on clinical work but didn’t skip out on the research and IUP offers exactly that. The program also has a good reputation with employers/internships and most of the students end up with their top choice after graduation. The only downside is the location. My family is in CA, my friends in UT, and there won’t be a ton of theater opportunities for Rosa in Indiana. Luckily though, Pittsburgh is an hour away which will have a lot for her to do. We’ll also be a lot closer to her hometown of Cleveland, OH (about 3 hours) which will be great. I’ll finally get to see where she grew up and we’ll have family close by. The move and program will mean big changes and new challenges but we are excited to start our new life out in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Who would have thought?