I agree PSU is well respected by all of the ROTC branches. Again, if you are somebody that like city life, PSU is not going to be your cup of tea compared to Drexel/UPenn.
This is why it is important to physically visit the schools, colleges are like people, they have their own personality.
I have said this many times, our DS goes to a college that is in a college town, but 20 mins by car to a major metropolitan city. He loves it. DD would have rather not gone to any college if that was her only choice. She goes to VT (great ROTC school), but there is nothing there except the college. DS feels the same way about her school, as she did about his. Different strokes for different folks.
Don't just look at the ROTC program, except for schools like TAMU, VT, VMI, Citadel, etc., the reality is your college experience will be a blend of ROTC AND school. You will have friends that are not ROTC, and friends that are in ROTC. Look at the program, but also the school, and their programs. You can love ROTC, but if you hate the school, it will show through your grades, and in the end that will hurt your AD career.
AD career selection for ROTC is based on lots of things, but gpa is one of them. The lower your gpa, the higher you must do on something to offset it for your OML, and even than there is no guarantee you will be able to offset it enough for your 1st pick.
Parents, my advice is to take them to the campus, let them meet the cadre. Even if this is not your interview school, they love to meet candidates...time to sell the school. Call them 1st, to say we are taking a tour on this date, would it be possible to pop by the unit and see it or talk to some cadets? Be prepared if they say yes, for you to excuse yourself shortly after entering. Meet them somewhere on campus later on.
We did this for our DS. Not one said NO. Talking to actual cadets really was a decision making factor for DS. Kids talk differently with no adults around, and he was able to see if he jived with them personally. They talked openly about the program and what was hard, what was fun, etc., from a cadet's pov.