@dentalum which branch?
Any comp Sci applicants hear yet? Son applied October 20 or so through common App. We thought PSU was a match for him. He had 800/650 (math/EBRW) as his highest single sitting score and 33 Composite ACT. Competitive PA Public HS, his GPA is 4.15w - Weighting clearly varies across schools though so its hard to compare. School doesnât report rank but hes probably in the top 10 -12%. Lots of honors and 6 or 7 APs, mostly in math and sciences.
Decent Extracurriculars with Job, long term Ice Hockey, exchange student, etc. but didnât try for NHS, Model UN, or other school based acedemic clubs. Heâs been accepted at Pitt and South Carolina for Comp Sci. but is anxious about Penn State
@Kajaet Are you really anxious for your son with those stats? Iâm no admissions expert but I would be extremely shocked if PSU didnât roll out the red carpet for him.
Iâm obsessively checking the portal and I need to stop!!! Does anyone know when updates are done? I remember reading overnight, but thought I also saw more times per day as it gets closer.
@mamawitch same for me! The general consensus seems to be that portal updates once at midnight
And that as a decision deadline approaches in the past portal was updated more frequently
Remains to be seen if that happens with the new EA deadline 12/24
But on the decisions 2023 only thread it does seem that people who post accepted decisions mention it updated âovernightâ
I check frequently anyway because I canât stop either! Lol
its brutal! My daughter is in full panic mode because most of her friends have heard already and she hasnât.
Thanks @ziveli513
Iâm just nervous about the fact that he applied to Smeal. I feel his stats are good enough for PSU, but I guess we didnât do our research on the apply DUS then transfer to Smeal trick. If thereâs no difference once youâre there does anyone know why itâs so much harder if you apply to Smeal?
This is obviously my oldest!!
@mamawitch it is nerve wracking to consider all the options of how to navigate
If I were you, I would call admissions today
Ask to speak to an actual admissions employee, as opposed to a student who may be answering phone and gives general info
Then you can ask and get specific answers about Smeal
And about starting DUS, taking all the courses required as a pre-major and then hopefully qualifying for Smeal junior year
It is a path from what I have read on the psu website
But call and ask an admissions expert!
I have called and they are very helpful
And then you have the facts from the source
Good luck and let us know what you learn!
@Kajaet My son applied for Computer Science on August 5th. 1470 SAT, 4.2 GPA, mostly AP/honors classes. I have not heard of any Comp Sci applicants being accepted yet. Itâs frustrating though to hear of so many that applied in October/November to already be receiving acceptances in other majors.
@mamawitch hope you will call admissions fir expert answer
But meanwhileâ-if your son isnât accepted at smeal (though he does have good stats and you might not need to worry)
Below is from the psu website re:Smeal where it describes DUS path (I like back up plans)
Appears you can take Smeal pre-major requirements as DUS
âRequirements for Conditional Approval into a Smeal major
Students apply for their major of choice upon meeting the following:
Must be enrolled at Penn State as a pre-major student in the Smeal College of Business (BA PMAJ) or in the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS PMAJ).
Complete or be currently enrolled in all Entrance to Major courses, including obtaining grades of âCâ or better in specified courses.
Attain a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.20 or higher for all majors except Finance (FIN) which requires a CGPA of 3.50 and Management Information Systems (MIS) which requires a CGPA of 3.10. This CGPA must also be met at the conclusion of the entrance to major process.
Students may only apply for a Smeal College major upon earning a minimum of 44 cumulative credits but no more than 59 cumulative credits at Penn State and have all entrance to major courses either completed or in progress.â
Iâve been soaking in the most excellent pieces of advice and knowledge from all the âveteranâ posters on the PSU threads. Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom! Iâm just looking for some clarification regarding campus for those that have received admission decisions. Iâve been keeping a close eye on the Decision Thread, and I am aware that many of the early decisions had been made for Commonwealth Campuses or high stats applicants. What Iâm NOT sure of, however, is whether any of those applicants accepted so far at other campuses had actually applied for University Park and, when they received their decision via portal, the alternate campus acceptance was explained somehow OR if they had applied specifically for a non-main campus. Itâs just that I have yet to see anyone express disappointment in their acceptance based on campus assignment. Hope that makes sense! Just processing as weâre waitingâŠ
@shae1611 just a suggestion, but you might want to use this thread and address some of those who posted decisions using the @ and the user name
But donât post on the decision thread, does that make sense?
Or you could repost your general question as a new thread altogether and see if you get answers
It would be more visible as a separate thread I think
But to get actual specific answers u might want to ask a few people directly who received decisions
I think that the college you apply to determines how quickly you hear. From looking at the Decision thread I have noticed many acceptances for Liberal Arts colleges/Smeal/ and now DUS acceptances are starting to roll out. Since they sort out applications into different lines based on GPA/Major/etc for all we know any of our applications could be next in line to be reviewed.
@STEM2017, @amach4, This is the source of anxiety. We know his stats are good but we also know that Comp Sci can be very competitive. Penn State and Pitt are the only in-State schools he applied to so cost could be an issue. He also has a bit of a disparity from the math to the EBRW side and this is also borne out in his classes and writing. So while I expect him to get in, the fact that we hadnât heard yet has induced a little angst.
@kajaet if itâs at all helpful, my d applied mid August to eberly
We havenât heard yet, it makes me anxious also, even though her stats are clearly acceptable to up
Respectfully you havenât been waiting very long, you should have hope at this point for sure :). You will get an answer by 12/24
Meanwhile I would suggest to you also if for any reason he doesnât get in as comp sci major, you can immediately call admissions and ask to be reconsidered as DUS
And as a DUS, one can take pre-major classes for any major at university park
Then if one meets the eligibility requirements for the major when itâs time to declare, it should all work out in the end
That is a different path to same goal it seems
@shae1611 The commonwealth acceptances to date are folks who applied directly to the commonwealth campuses. The decision to defer to commonwealth campuses after applying to UP have historically come out towards the end of the decision timeline.
@shae1611 @biscuit308 I read the question as wanting to know if the people currently accepted at commonwealth campuses had applied directly to the commonwealth or had applied to UP and had been deferred to the commonwealth. The answer to that question is the the former. At this point, commonwealth accepted applicants almost surely applied directly to the commonwealth. Those who will be deferred because they applied to UP and didnât get in, usually hear later because they were bubble applicants.
To answer your question @biscuit308, that answer is that if you are denied at UP, you will get your commonwealth campus decision at the same time. Sometimes people get messages saying they were denied but can be accepted in either a different major or a different commonwealth. But they get that answer all at the same time.
Hope that helped.
@biscuit308 I am a Penn State grad, so is my husband. I have two kids at Penn State now. One who applied to UP directly and one who applied to Altoona directly. Both are at UP now (one is a senior, one is a sophomore). I was a parent ambassador for Penn State and I have volunteered here on this board for 4 + years. I am the current âforum championâ for the PSU forum. In order to get this designation, the folks at CC had to comb through all of my posts and determine the accuracy and tone of the information I have presented here over the years. I have personally researched many admission issues over the year relating to Penn State admissions and Penn State in general as State College PA is my home away from home and I am a lover of all things Penn State. That does not mean I donât also see their faults. I do, and I post those here too. I belong to and am active in many different Penn State groups - parents groups, admission groups, etcâŠ
There are some college coaches that post here and other very knowledgeable parents who have been here for a long time as well and are similarly involved like I am (@Sophley @lucyvanpelt @MYOS1634 among others) In general, you wonât find people more well versed on Penn State than you will hereâŠWe have been doing this for a long time and we pass our knowledge on to those who are willing to hear them!
Thatâs who I am 
News of the dayâŠonly one person announced acceptance to a branch only on Decision ThreadâŠhmmmm On an up note, my sons Schreyer recommendations are finally in!
@jlhpsu Exactly my question! Thank you for the explanation!