If I don’t take any ap classes until senior year and the only school extracurricular that I do is run track, what are my odds of getting into penn state?
Penn State rarely considers ECs, so that’s not much of an issue. Will you have taken honors courses, completed several years of a single foreign language, taken math through at least pre-calculus, and taken biology, chemistry, and physics by the time you graduate? Have you taken the SAT or ACT yet? Hard to estimate chances without SAT/ACT scores and cumulative GPA at the end of junior year. Do you have any idea what you want to study?
Well I’m a sophomore rn so I haven’t taken the sat yet and I’m selecting my classes for junior year right now and I’m just worried that it will look bad if I don’t take any APs. But I will most likely have taken all the classes you listed by the time I graduate. As for what I want to study, probably something computer related.
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hs - yes, you can get in without taking AP classes.
So they don’t really care?
PSU looks at rigor and will recalculate your GPA using their own method to take into account weighted courses. You should still strive to make As in weighted coursework, even if it’s just advanced and/or honors courses. Doesn’t need to be APs or IB, though. However, performance in AP does help communicate to the admissions staff that you are better able to handle college level work. I would not plan a course of all regular classes and expect to get into university park. Even with a 4.0, it potentially sends the wrong that you didn’t commit to challenging yourself.
Well I’m taking plenty of honors, so I should be fine then?
Look at the information below for some guidance. Come back when you have at least 2 full years of a GPA and standardized test scores.
https://admissions.psu.edu/apply/statistics/
https://admissions.psu.edu/apply/requirements/4year/
This depends on how well you do in those courses. And even if you get perfect grades, Penn State is not a safety. Just take a look at this year’s acceptance thread.
Good luck!
And just remember that you can only try your best and let the chips fall where they may. I’m a big believer that you’ll end up where you were meant to end up. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get into your top school, wherever that may be.
Our School sends a lot of kids to PSU. My nephew got into University Park taking no AP classes, but mostly honors and doing well in all of his classes. He’s a math major.
Are you in state?
I only took one AP, and it was photography and I still got into PSU UP. As long as your GPA is good, the rigor is fine (have plenty of honors), and you have good ACT/SAT scores you will most likely be fine.