Am I a Sure Thing, even with Little ECs

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
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<p>I'm from Pennsylvania, White Male. I was wondering if It is a sure thing to get accepted at PSU based mainly on my Above Average SAT scores.</p>

<p>I have an 1860 and Hopefully around 1900, if I improve when I take them in October.
Math:630
Verbal:610
Writing:620</p>

<p>Small school 120 kids in my class) I took the Absolute Hardest Classes offered throughout.<br>
ONly AP class offered was English in 11th and 12th grade the rest are 12th grade Honors. should have a 92-94 GPA or 3.7 if you convert it.</p>

<p>Sports
Basketball 9th, 11th and 12th Grade, No letters,except possiably this year.
Baseball 10th</p>

<p>25 hours of volunteer for Church Confirmation </p>

<p>I will hopefully get my first Job in a few weeks. so Relatively a Month of Working when I apply.</p>

<p>Is Penn State almost a sure bet even if those are <strong>gulp</strong> my only Extra Curriculars. </p>

<p>ESSAY: this year the essay is you have to say something about one of your EC's I'm sure I can write a pretty good Essay just about Basketball (even though I don't really like) or something stupid like that.</p>

<p>What do you think about writing that my school was small and I didn't have as many EC's or sports to choose from (like no Tennis, Mens Volleyball or Soccer) No Newspaper, or Debate team. Would saying something like </p>

<p>"even though I enjoyed my school and it was a very good education, I am looking forward to the Many many options that Penn State offers students" That's me being Honest-- would that be Better or should I just write something Interesting ( even though it wasn't interesting) about my 25 hours of volunteer work helping out at church dinners. Right now I'm leaning towards saying my school stunk and ""I think PSU will really help me bloom and succeed by offering me the various inturmural sports and clubs that I am interested in. But was deprived of because my school was not large enough."""</p>

<p>What are your thoughs on that. and Do you think even if I didn't write an essay that they'd accept me into Main Campus just on Grades and SAT scores.</p>

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<p>actually i read on the site that ECs dont mean much to them...atleast i believe they said they go by stats so I think ud be good...your GPA is better than mine and u got me by 70 points lol DAMN U
Im retaking in oct as well</p>

<p>where ya from BTW? maybe we live close?</p>

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<p>I'm from Cranberry High School near
Franklin and Oil City in Venango County.</p>

<p>I also heard that as well, on the Princeton Review,, That might be why the essay's are Optional. </p>

<p>I really want to get into Main-Campus though.</p>

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<p>yeah me too, i put the campus near me as a second option, but I don't want to go there.</p>

<p>Im from York, I dont think we're close but oh well.......if we both go atleast ill know someone who comes to this forum :P</p>

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<p>yep, See you there :) lol. We've got soo much time until then. That's so far away, but yet close. It seems far away since school has just started. Hope you have a good year and I'll be sure to check back to this thread to if I make it in or what not like If i'm going there or not.</p>

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<p>yeah same here</p>

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<p>I'm from Irwin, and I hope my son will be at PSU-Main and meet some of you nice folks!</p>

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<p>haha yeah thx :)</p>

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<p>I'm not exagerating! I know someone who was accepted to University Park even though he never made it past Trigonometry. He only took Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. He scored around a 1050 on the SAT (old) but had a very high GPA (3.7) and they accepted him. If you have a high GPA, you're in at University Park. If you don't, then unless your SAT's are above their average, you're going to have to attend your local branch campus for two years. I honestly don't think they care a whole lot about your extracurriculars or the difficulty of your classes. Frankly, I think that there is more to an applicant than just GPA, but that's just me.</p>