<p>When you first started at Penn was there many activities that tried to engage quite students? Some kids are just shy but don’t know how to get involved, they need a little push. I would think most engineer’s are not as outgoing and very concerned of their grades. not to stereotype them.</p>
<p>Thanks! So what do you think of my chances:</p>
<p>15 honors/AP classes in High School
1 dual enrollment class (earned 3 college credits)
National Honor Society
National Spanish Honor Society
Community Service/Volunteer</p>
<p>SAT: 1810
WEIGHTED GPA: 4.1 out of 5</p>
<p>College - Fall welcome week is full of activities designed to help you meet new people/bond with your floor. There’s also a huge involvement fair during the start of the semester where flyers and pamphlets literally just get shoved in your face because there’s so many people recruiting for their clubs and organizations. You have to take the initiative to go to welcome week events and involvement fairs and stuff though, nothing is ‘required’ anymore, it’s college. </p>
<p>Anna - I’d say you’re competitive, however you are probably on the middle-to-lower end for smeal students. Although what I said earlier about enter entrance requirements for smeal is true, applying directly as a smeal major is slightly more difficult to get into due to smeals enrollment controls. PSU only takes so many business majors because it’s so popular, so the competition for the smeal (and engineering) spots is tougher than, say, English majors.</p>
<p>Hi I am international student. I have applied to the University Park for spring 2014 for undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering. Last night I got an email from the University saying, “congratualtions! An offer of admission to University Park for Spring 2014 is being prepared. You should be able to view the offer in your MyPennState profile within the next 5 days”. Does this mean I got accepted to the university also I only applied for a major in aerospace engineering so will the university offer me this major or they might offer me some other majors?</p>
<p>Since I am an international student my tuition is very high. If I get good GPA in my freshman year will I be able to get some financial aids? </p>
<p>I also want to know whether international students can do internship during summer. Also could you please tell me more about the various clubs in the university. I am actually interested in engineering, computer, debate, robotics, martial arts, adventurous clubs.</p>
<p>Sami - Since the spring application process is a bit different than fall, I’m not as familiar. But, assuming that’s what the letter says, then you should be god to go. Assuming you’re a freshman applicant, they’ll likely have you as the major you applied for, but I believe engineering is similar to business in that you don’t declare your major until your junior year and you’ve met the university entrance to major requirements. </p>
<p>Financial aid short answer is no. Aid is paltry for American students and virtually non existent for international students. Although i’m not 100% knowledgeable on international financial aid since i’m not an international, I would go under the assumption you won’t be given much. Most aid is not merit based, and is need based as well, which international students already don’t qualify for.</p>
<p>And again, I am not knowledgeable in the legality of internationals working internships over the summer, sorry. I’m sure you >can< but you probably need some sort of working visa or something like that, but I don’t really know. As a freshman, internships are few and far between anyway. </p>
<p>For clubs, if you go to [Penn</a> State Student Orgs](<a href=“http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/studentorgs/orgdirectory/]Penn”>http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/studentorgs/orgdirectory/) you can search through the over 900 clubs and organizations at Penn State, I know theres clubs for all of those categories in there somewhere</p>
<p>I have an 87% unweighted GPA (3.4?) and our school doesn’t do weighted.</p>
<p>ACT
27 composite
30 math
30 English
28 science
19 reading</p>
<p>Decent amount of work experience and EC’s but I know penn state doesn’t really care about that</p>
<p>I have also taken all honors sciences and Maths and even skipped a year in math as I took AP Calculus my junior year and taking Calc 2/3 my senior year. So I think this would make my weighted GPA look a lot better. I already applied and put summer session and undecided major. Chances?</p>
<p>Zem - I’d rather this not be a chance me thread, but rather ask questions about the school, as I am not a representative of admissions in any way. Your reading score however is worrisome and is very low. Although your composite is slightly above average, your GPA is also relatively low, and that’s what is the most important part of admissions at penn state. I’d say you’re probably in for summer but I’m not so sure about fall.</p>
<p>Hi, ive been accepted to university park for the spring 2014 semester and im maybe about 95% sure that im going to accept the offer.my major is Bsc Mathematics. Is there anything you can tell me about the math department? Or about the math students that you know? Also… generally, how are penn state students toward international students… is there any weird treatment there or are they generally friendly despite nationality?</p>
<p>Hi talz - our math department is very rigorous. I have a few gripes about collegiate math in general, but it’s pretty difficult. Calculators aren’t allowed on pretty much any math exam below calculus 2 (math 141) so you’ve got to know how to do everything by hand. My big gripe about collegiate math (which involves our school as well as many others) is the transition to a lot of online textbooks and online homework assignments that aren’t graded by professors, but rather the computer. As with other large universities, you’ve sometimes got TA’s and professors that are foreign and don’t speak very great English, which in math is something that can be a deal breaker. I’m only a first semester freshman so I can’t speak to a lot of the upper level math. </p>
<p>International students are treated fine. I’ve found the most personable international folks are the ones who can make jokes about themselves and not care. As you know Penn States about 3/4 white, and while ‘fitting in’ is stereotypically frowned upon, doing what you can to fit into the American population will ease your transition.</p>
<p>etuck I’ll chalk this up to inexperience or immaturity, but your comments in your last post could be taken by others as not being so tolerant of foreign students or instructors. especially that last paragraph. Perhaps you should clarify</p>
<p>Learning math taught by a professor who doesn’t speak English very well is very challenging, and understanding your professor you pay tens of thousands of dollars a year for shouldn’t be an issue. but that wasn’t what was really being asked. </p>
<p>I say what I said in the second paragraph because of a few things I’ve overheard others saying. Like I have a friend who has a roommate from China. Not a big deal, except he sits in his room all day playing Chinese music and skyping friends frequently telling them he doesn’t like Americans. He doesn’t go to sporting events or events on campus and is uninterested in everyone on my friends floor, all he does is study for tests. I’ve heard of some other similar examples, but just things like that. Honestly if you come to penn state and love it just as everyone else does, you’ll be absolutely fine. Something a lot of International kids seem to miss, in my opinion, is the traditions and pride that we have here. So many kids here come here because their mom or dad came here, they grew up here, been coming to football games since they were 3, etc. A lot of international students don’t have that kind of emotional connection to the school (some probably do) but from the few I’ve spoken to for an extended period of time, they give off the impression this was just simply the best school they got into for X program and it’s just a vessel for a degree. And I’ll be honest if you view penn state as solely a vessel to a degree you’ll probably not like it here, because the schools so much more than a degree at the end and making good grades. And again there’s lots of international kids who do care about the school deeply and see it more than just a degree at the end of 4 years. There’s a kid from Turkey in a club I’m in and he’s one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. So again in essence what in trying to say is international students who try to trade in the term ‘international student’ for ‘Penn State student’ will do just fine here and enjoy it.</p>
<p>I have a question…
I’ve been worried about the acceptance process, and I’m wondering if your desired major increases your chances of getting deferred if it is more competitive. </p>
<p>For example, I applied with my desired major as Chemical Engineering. Is it possible to get into UP, but not into the school of engineering and be placed into DUS? Or are you deferred from both? In addition, I also selected to be considered for the summer session.</p>
<p>My SAT is 1780 (1200 M/R), WGPA 4.04 (Reg. 3.9) , and ranked 2/60 (although I was 1/60 at the beginning of my Sr Year when my transcripts were sent, I applied September 1st). I am a Dual Enrollment student at a branch campus taking Calculus 1.</p>
<p>Like you said, I don’t mean to make this a “Chance me” thread, but I’m wondering if your major “makes it or breaks it” for you</p>
<p>xKanga - Choice of major and admissions is kind of a hotly debated topic - in my opinion, it does slightly matter at Penn State when you’re talking about Business and Engineering. Because of the sheer volume of applicants to the business and engineering programs, and limited enrollment space in each of those majors, a lot of lower end students who apply to say Chemical Engineering, might get sent to a commonwealth campus for 2 years - even though they could probably get into University park as, say, an English major. </p>
<p>I want to do business, and I took this into account when I was applying so I applied through the Division of Undergraduate Studies, or the undecided program. Theres usually a ‘better’ chance to get accepted because then its really just about your stats and not your stats vs other applicants for that major vs available space for that major. The cool thing about DUS here is that if you’re a DUS student, as long as you meet the same class and GPA entrance to major requirements as the declared business kids do, you’re guaranteed to be accepted to the major after your sophomore year, regardless of room. </p>
<p>I expanded on DUS because if for some reason you get deferred to a branch campus, last year there were a few kids who were able to call admissions and ask to be reconsidered for DUS and it worked.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input! So, it’s safe to say my chances are slim? I briefly talked to my guidance counselor about this and she has the mindset that I will be offered admission into UP. I really hope my GPA and class rank will sway some of the decision 
What about the summer session? I’m keeping up with the rigor of Calc 1 at a branch campus, which I know can be considered a “weed picking” course. </p>
<p>If I do happen to “call and negotiate”, or call and change my major before acceptance letters (if possible), is it difficult to take the classes you need in the DUS?</p>
<p>Oh no I didn’t mean to come off as saying you have slim chances. I’d say you probably would be fine based on your GPA.</p>
<p>No, you didn’t come off that way! I wish Penn State didn’t take so long to get back to its applicants. It makes me re-think my stats a bit too much.</p>
<p>Hi can you tell me about the residence halls. Are all the halls designed the same; with each floor sharing one bathroom complex? And if so, how are the bathrooms; are they private stalls or is it an open bathroom area like at gym class for instance…lol. Are there any halls where the two people in a room have one bathroom to share between themselves only and not with the rest of the floor? Ive been trying to get a picture of how he bathrooms are but i cant get one anywhere… if it possible can you add one in your reply??.</p>
<p>Talz - CC doesn’t let me add pictures I reply to my knowledge and blocks links to external blog sources so no I can’t add a picture. In east halls where the vast majority of freshman live, the usual is a single gender floor sharing one bathroom with 3 shower stalls and 3 toilets. My building is a coned building by floor meaning there’s boys and girls on the same floor, so the girls have a 2 shower 2 toilet bathroom and the guys have a 2 shower 2 toilet bathroom. They are all closed stalls though no need to worry about that. In terms of how nice they are, they get the job done and that’s about it. Most east halls buildings are pretty old (residence halls at any campus are usually pretty old) and the bathrooms are far from luxury. </p>
<p>Some suite style loving options in North halls have 4 people share 1 bathroom, but if you want 2 people for one private bath you’d need to be in an on campus apartment or off campus, something you can’t do as a freshman</p>
<p>Oh ok… do you happen to know if the dorms are full or do you know of unoccupied rooms because im coming in in january next year for spring… and i really really reallyyy dont want to get supplemental housing…</p>
<p>Fitness and athletics are very important to me, so I would like to surround myself with people who feel the same. Which dorm(s) do most of the athletes live in? Or which dorms are closest to workout facilities?</p>