<p>^I have never heard of PSU as a “public ivy.” That title remains with the elite public schools like UNH-CH, W&M, or UVA. PSU is rather enigmatic. While it doesn’t retain the prestige or academic standard of the higher tier public schools, it is a level higher than your average public university. PSU’s average SAT score is a 1700, while the ACT IS 26-27. Also the acceptance rate is over 50%. The school is a safety for top tier students but also a great environment for the average, as well.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>It’s not that those scores are considered average, those scores are the statistical averages. 50% of all test takers score BELOW those scores.</p>
<p>And colleges can raise the bar because of supply and demand. The Boomer generation was very large, but not a large percentage of students went on to college. The Gen Xers were a smaller generation, so although a college education was more pursued, the demand didn’t push the statistics up dramatically. The Millenials are not only a huge generation, but a high percentage are raised with the expectation that they will get a college degree. That’s increased the population of college bound students and with a larger population of students to choose from, there are also more high stat students.</p>
<p>But I’m not sure I’d agree that it’s hard to find a college that accepts average stats, even here in a state like Indiana - I could easily compile a list of 20+ schools that accept students in that range.</p>
<p>Just for kicks, I went to CC’s “College Search” function and put in a GPA of 3.0 and an SAT of 1500/2400. The max viewable list was 250, and all 250 had a 100% chance of admission. Granted, they aren’t top schools, but all the same there are lots of choices. Some were definitely recognizable names, many directional Us.</p>
<p>Also, many students may be well above average on one section of the SAT, and average/below average on another section. For a number of the schools my D applied to she’s >75% CR/Writing, and <25% Math.</p>
<p>I got into UCF! I’m a lazy student but I’m in IB so I have a 2.5 unweighted and 4.2 weighted GPA lol. I recalculated my UCF GPA (core classes with an extra 1 point for AP/IB and .5 for honors/pre-ib) and i got 3.1. My SAT was 1200/1820. I’m going to apply to FSU and hope for a miracle for UF…</p>
<p>@Ram, its a top 15 public school in the country, what more do you want? It now ranks tied at 13 with UT-Austin, one of the original 8 “public ivies”</p>
<p>Really glad to see this thread.</p>
<p>Anyone doing iB here? :D</p>
<p>(Sorry, don’t kill me for spamming the board. I’m one post shy from posting private messages :P)</p>
<p>Great thread!</p>
<p>I’m the mom. My D is homeschooled, ACT 27, SAT 1640.</p>
<p>Acceptances:
Univ. of Denver (I saw at least two others in this thread)
George Mason Univ.</p>
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<p>You can easily google to find that this is true.</p>
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<p>Ah, they’d like you to think that. The truth of the matter is that times are hard, the economy is trashed, and people are finally beginning to acknowledge the dangers of student debt. A degree no longer guarantees a job. Most schools are not raising their standards and many, many schools accept lower scores.</p>
<p>My personal concern for most of these schools is that their freshman retention rate is horrible. While they attract students, the schools aren’t doing what’s necessary to ensure success once they arrive.</p>
<p>3.5 GPA, 1770 SAT, 27 ACT good EC’s and very good upward trend </p>
<p>Accepted so far
Florida State
University of South Carolina
Hofstra
Sienna</p>
<p>S2 won’t be applying until next year, but I thought I would pass along info for S1 who applied last year. I’ve included merit based scholarship amounts for him just to show that not only can normal, everyday students be accepted into many good universities but you can also receive decent scholarships. Best of luck to you all!</p>
<p>S1 stats: 3.2 UW GPA/3.5 W GPA, 1920 SAT (superscored after 3 tries) and decent EC’s (3 yrs varsity crew, one academic honor, along with volunteer hours)</p>
<p>Accepted at:
Roanoke - $76,000 4 yr merit scholarship
Lynchburg College - $52,000
LSU - $20,000
Ole Miss - $24,000
Oklahoma State - $40,000
Montana State - $60,000
Rocky Mountain College - $48,000</p>
<p>He is OOS for all of these colleges so tuition is higher to begin with, but with scholarships factored in, this “normal” student ended up at his perfect fit at a cost less than our in state public universities.</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more with jrcsmom. Indiana (like other midwestern states) has phenomenal college options for average students, wonderful schools that are the educational equivalent of much more competitive colleges on the coasts and border south. This discrepancy is strictly a matter of geographical snobbery. I weary of the students who sit in my private boarding school college counseling office chair and tell me they won’t consider schools in Ohio except for Oberlin maybe, or Michigan except for UMich. Many ‘average’ students who benefit from small classes, welcoming professors and ‘colleges that change lives’ atmospheres should be flocking to Earlham, Hanover, Manchester and other liberal arts colleges in Indiana. And similar places in Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa.</p>
<p>Average! 
87gpa, 27 ACT.</p>
<p>Accepted at Fairleigh Dickinson ($16000 scholarship) and SUNY New Paltz
Deferred from Fordham
Waiting on Ithaca, Iona, CUNY, Vassar (lol), & UConn
Rejected from UChicago, which was expected.</p>
<p>Got into Howard University last night!!! 1800sat superscored and 3.73 weighted gpa!!! Waiting on merit aid letter, but so excited!!!</p>
<p>I want to see transfer students on here :)</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I’m average or not.
ACT: 29
UW GPA: 3.7
W GPA: 4.1
State: CA</p>
<p>Just received an acceptance letter from Fordham University yesterday.
Waiting on NYU-Poly, NYU, USC, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, and UCSC.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten into FIU and FSU honors with a 10k scholarship with a 3.4 UW and 2220 SAT</p>
<p>@lovelovelove123</p>
<p>UOP would send you an email notifying you of your application update status. I was accepted to UOP and I was pretty shocked. lol :-)</p>
<p>I want to say thanks to all the posters who are really defining “average” and explaining the stats of average test scores and such. It really give me hope to believe that I’ll be receiving some good news in a couple of months! :-D</p>
<p>Anybody ever take the online SAT practice test on collegeboard? My son scored higher on that than the regular SAT. It’s too bad that test doesn’t count. Your thoughts?</p>