Hello I’m from maryland and by the end of the school year will have a weighted gpa of 4.0-3.9 (for my school) and I’m planning on doing volunteer work. I just took the SAT. I was wondering if penn state look at upward trend starting junior year? What SAT score should I get?
Penn State does not look at upward trend. They just care about the overall GPA at the end of Junior Year. You’d want to be in the mid to upper end of the SAT middle 50% range.
@jlhpsu is that a 1800 and above? I looked at the average score and it was a 1760
The middle 50% starts at about 1700 and goes to about 2000. That means 25% had lower stats, and 25% had higher. The closer you are to the higher, the better. Your weighted GPA is good, but your UW is low for UP, so it really will depend on HOW your school weights classes. If they weight too easy, then that may not be beneficial for you. Unfortunately, with PSU there is no hard and fast rules. There isn’t much you can do about your GPA at this point - so your best bet is to really focus on the SAT or ACT and have that score be as high as possible. PSU also does not and will not consider senior grades - so focus on your standardized test scores to boost your application.
@jlhpsu what’s good weighing scales for classes out of 5.0? Or 6.0?
@jlhpsu what’s considered a good weighing scale? Out of 5.0 or 6.0
I’m not exactly sure. I don’t think that matters. I think what matters is HOW MUCH they weight your classes. For example, my daughter’s high school only weighted honors classes 0.1. So even though she took LOTS of honors classes, her weighted GPA was only .05 higher than her unweighted GPA (ie…she had a 3.4 unweighted and a 3.45 weighted). Some schools give double weight etc…and that adds up fast. Most people with your weighted GPA will get in. But again, it depends. My daughter got in for summer, DUS (undecided) at UP with a 3.45 weighted GPA and a 28 ACT (equal to about a 2000 SAT). She’s just finishing her freshman year. Summer option backup, plus DUS is the best way to apply for admission if you are at all concerned.
@jlhpsu my gpa will be a 3.18 unweighted and a 4.0-3.8 weighted is this good? Also are you a Penn state resident?
@jlhpsu so i have a chance?
strangers on the internet are no substitute for actually applying and see how it goes. As has been said already, your gpa is fairly low for Penn State Main. Your test scores will need to be excellent in order to be a sure thing; right now you look like a branch campus admit to me. There’s just not a “yes” or "no " answer for you
But I’ve been told that a 3.8-4.0 weighed gpa is good for Penn state? Is this not true? I mean my GPA will be a 3.18 but I have a 4.0 weighted. I’ll still get rejected even tho I have around the weighted GPA but my GPA is low?
I believe PSU uses unweighted gpa’s not weighted. The weighted gpa’s vary greatly from school to school. Our local school district weighs on a 6.0 scale. My son’s private school weighs on a 4.2 gpa. That is a huge difference in gpa.
What @japsmom says is the exact reason that I said it depends on HOW your school weights classes. If your school weights heavily, a 4.0 might not be ‘as good’ as someone else’s 3.5 from a different school. They will look at how you performed against your schools weight. My kid’s school weights honors classes only 0.1 and AP classes 0.2. An A is a 94%. The neighboring school weights heavier and their A is a 90%. So someone’s 4.0 at the neighboring school is no where near the actual grades one has to get to get a 4.0 at my kid’s school. It is much lower in fact. If your unweighted is a 3.1, my guess is your school weights pretty heavily.
So basically, you saying you will have a 3.8 weighted tells us nothing. The 3.18 unweighted tells us more. Again, the only thing you can do is apply and see. The best chance is to apply DUS, accept a summer admit and get very high SAT scores. You may get in easily, but if your school’s scale or weighting is too ‘easy’ then you may not.
No one can tell you, this or that will “ABSOLUTELY” happen. No one. Not even admissions reps. Until they have your application and see the whole picture, you will not know. So do your best on your SAT’s, your GPA is what it is going to be at this point (can’t change that), apply by November 30 and see what happens. That’s the best anyone will be able to tell you.
@jlhpsu what is an easing weighing scale? Out of 6.0? That’s what I don’t get.
At some schools receiving an “A” in an AP course equates to a 4.0. Some schools it equates to a 4.5. Some equate to 6.0. And everything in between. So if at your school it equates to a 6.0; your 3.8 grade is not going to look as impressive as someone else with a 3.8 that only received a 4.5 for the same AP “A”.
It is nearly impossible to have an unweighted 3.1 and weighted 3.8-4.0 without some very generous weighting on grades.
@dodgerman711 This article might help explain the difference between weighted and unweighted gpa.
http://blog.prepscholar.com/weighted-vs-unweighted-gpa-whats-the-difference
@japsmom thnx
@PennsyDad thanks