<p>Will be a senior in september</p>
<p>Gpa-3.5 [mostly B/B+]
Low rank -top 50 [will try to raise it up next year to top 25]
Sat-700,720,710
Swimming -one year because it just started this year
Soccer-2 years
Newspaper editor
2 ap/ 2 honor
Out state</p>
<p>Job- Ice rink/Lifeguard (Winter/Summer)
Fall program at a local state college</p>
<p>NO AWARDS I think that will hurt me alot
If you need more just ask</p>
<p>Yes, you could get in so don't freak out!</p>
<p>Awards don't matter. I don't think your top 25 next year will count either, because they will look at up to junior year. Your SAT's are strong and gpa is slightly below average. However, I do estimate a good chance. Apply early, and don't worry. By the way, what school are you applying to (business, engineering, arts and sciences, etc)?</p>
<p>I might apply to English or philosophy.</p>
<p>Applying to the english department, would it help my chances?</p>
<p>It would be an easier admit than Smeal or the College of Engineering.</p>
<p>Are you in state or out of state ?</p>
<p>It doesn't make any difference.</p>
<p>1moremom, I was curious to know this as I have a group of friends from NJ and NY whose kids are very interested in applying to PSU as the competition is even greater OOS. According to The Princeton Review's The Best 366 Colleges, only 23 % are admitted from OOS. So, Girl_ski if you are interested whether in state or out, you should get your app completed soon. Good luck !</p>
<p>It's possible the the OOS kids with higher stats are applying elsewhere, which would bring the acceptance rate down, while the high stat in-state kids use PSU as their safety. My older son applied to PSU (went elsewhere); if we lived in Ohio he would have applied to OSU and if we lived in Virginia he would have applied to UVA. Just a guess. PSU is happy to have the OOS tuition $$.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to compare the GPAs and scores of accepted students from in-state and OOS. Does the Princeton Review have that? I would expect the numbers to be the same, which would mean that it's not more competitive if you're OOS, but that the applicants are less well qualified (by PSU's yardstick).</p>
<p>Based on my stats and what I've read, Penn State doesn't seem to have higher or lower admissions requirements for OOS students. I'm 99% sure that that 23% figure is from less-qualified OOSers wanting to go to a well-known athletic school.</p>
<p>yeah. being OOS won't hurt your chances. for admissions it's basically GPA + SAT/ACT anyway because PSU gets sooo many applications.</p>
<p>"I'm 99% sure that that 23% figure is from less-qualified OOSers wanting to go to a well-known athletic school."</p>
<p>Wow, I would love to see your sources to back up that opinion. As an OOS student, I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about.</p>
<p>I think that you are talking about the percent of OOS students attending rather than the percent admitted. Keep in mind that PSU is expensive for OOS students so the percentage attending will not be too high even if they are accepted.
I have never heard that there is a difference in requirements for OOS admission, but there may be.
Your SAT's are good and GPA is pretty good, too. ( BTW- is that weighted or unweighted? ) There is a chart somewhere that shows the likelihood of admisiion based on SAT and GPA, perhaps you can do a search here on CC and find it.
And as everyone else has said - Apply Early!!</p>
<p>I got in with a 3.5 unweighted GPA and a 29 ACT, you should be fine.</p>
<p>^ when did you apply? and did your transcript say 3.5 or your W GPA?</p>
<p>I applied right before the deadline, November 1st, or around there. My transcript only had my 3.5 but I had some difficult classes which must've helped.</p>
<p>"Wow, I would love to see your sources to back up that opinion. As an OOS student, I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about."</p>
<p>I didn't mean that was the only reason. Obviously I do not have sources for my opinion. They do not, to my understanding, give preference to in-state students so IF -- and we don't know that it is -- the acceptance rate is half the rate for out-of-state students in general, it is because the out-of-state acceptance pool in general is of a lower quality. This could be due to a number of reasons, whether it's people applying because it's so ridiculously well-known, or because of Smeal's prestige, or because of Schreyer's prestige, or because of its athletic prestige.</p>
<p>OOS attending, as PA Mom says, makes more sense.</p>
<p>PSU MAN12, did you take the SAT's? if so, what was your score?</p>