Is there any information regarding appeals to UP?
In what regard? Penn State has heard it all so unless there is a material misunderstanding or something with an extreme extenuating circumstance, a successful appeal is unlikely.
I think we need more information as far as what is your GPA, test score, major applied for, and decision you would like to appeal and why. Without that information, no one here will be able to give you an educated opinion.
Ok- I was born with a disability which entailed many medical procedures which caused me to miss a lot of school. I have a letter from the team of doctors who have treated me to verify. My gpa is 3.2 and my SATs is 980. These are not indicative of my ability. I know these absences affected these stats. I have honors classes, extracurriculars and volunteering. I was accepted to a branch campus but my heart is sent on UP. I applied DUS and I’d love to attend summer session.
@dap616 , first I am so sorry that you’ve had to go through something like that. That was no doubt a big challenge for you.
I can’t speak to your GPA since I don’t know whether that’s weighted or unweighted. However, Collegeboard sets a baseline for college readiness at an SAT score of 1010. Students with scores above 530 (math) and 480 (reading/writing) have a 75% chance of earning a C or above in college. Your SAT score alone, according to Collegeboard, would indicate that you may struggle in a university and haven’t yet acquired the skills you need. It seems to me that kids typically start taking SATs in fall of junior year through fall of senior year, so I’m guessing the admissions committee was concerned that you couldn’t find an opportune time to take the test and do well.
It’s not my business what type of disability you have, but why not take a gap year to fully recoup?? You could take SAT later this spring after proper prep time, get a tutor to catch up on reading and math, and maybe even take a few courses at a community college or via Penn States online school after you graduate in spring??
Penn State is difficult enough for high stat kids. I just worry you’d struggle. You should enjoy your college years and be in a place where you can succeed and grow…especially with everything you’ve been through.
I’ve read other posts from students with disabilities, including physical, and some managed to coup with their disability and still get high stats. But every kid and every disability is different. Unfortunately, I’m just not sure you can appeal in this particular case since you have no other evidence of higher academic performance…at least none that you’ve made us aware of. Again, this is just an opinion.
One other point: I think I read some place that 1 in 10 students request some type of disability service or support. It’s likely admissions counselors have read multiple essays about this topic so again I don’t know how far you will get with an appeal of this nature.
Good luck with your decision and keep us posted. Hope you continue to recover well.
Sorry but I don’t think you have grounds for a successful appeal.
I agree with Sophley, and wish you well, but the Appeal process is very narrowly run and you first have to prove you have a case for appeal. That generally is for large omissions in the application, or a traumatic event that has happened in a timeframe that changed your circumstances lately. It really isn’t a "reconsideration " process and very few appeals are heard, and even fewer suceed.
Agree with Sophley and greenbutton. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that and I hope you are doing well now.
For a successful appeal, you’d have to prove that your disability strongly affected your school performance AND that it’s resolved and it WON’T hinder your college performance. With your test scores, that will be hard to prove.
On a personal note, my son had a 2.8 GPA and got into Altoona in 2017 (as he should have). He did really well his first year at Altoona. His major required him to go up to UP a year early and now he’s in his second semester of his sophomore year and he REALLY struggled his first semester at UP. He says now that he wishes he would have chosen a different major and stayed at Altoona another year. There is a rhyme and reason to the commonwealth campus admits. Sometimes you just need a little more time before you are exposed to the rigor of courses at UP. My son would have been much more successful in the smaller classes at Altoona. He’s making his way, but his way was made more difficult by going to UP before he was ready.
This is a common theme we hear about all of the time - kids who were straight A students in high school struggle with the classroom size, rigor and expectations of learning at a University as large and as rigorous as Penn State. I would stick with the commonwealth acceptance and go to UP in 2 years (like 60% of all PSU grads do) when you are more accustomed to the college level classes.
Thank you all for your thoughts. You brought up a lot of points that I didn’t want to think about. It makes a lot of sense.