Hey y’all. Rising senior here. I’m aware that Penn State is a stats-oriented school so I’ll just keep this short and sweet by giving you my GPA and SAT score.
GPA: 3.5 UW, 3.7 W
SAT: 1220, but I will be retaking this August. I ended up getting sick the morning of my first SAT and didn’t get to finish the critical reading or math w/ calculator section, which explains the mediocre score. I took the PSAT and got a 1300, so I expect a score around that area.
I’ll have 5 APs and 5 honors classes by graduation, so I did take challenging courses.
So, based on just my GPA and SAT alone, what are my chances at UP? I’d be an out-of-state student from CT, if that makes a difference.
Your stats are right in line with typical acceptances for Penn State. Engineering and Business majors have much higher entry requirements. Political Science is in the Liberal Arts college so I think you will be fine. If you are at all worried, apply DUS. It doesn’t hurt you at all. For reference, although anecdotal, my daughter got accepted in 2015 with a 3.5 and 29 ACT for summer, DUS.
Hey guys, sorry to revive my month-old thread, but I just got back from my visit to Penn State and have a couple of questions about admission that I wasn’t able to ask while there.
Firstly, does Penn State recalculate your GPA or just evaluate it as it is on your application? I’ve gotten mixed answers to this question and would appreciate some clarification.
Also, to what extent does your intended major affect admissions? I’ve always been very strong at English (scoring at least a 93 in all my English classes [honors and AP] throughout high school), so a couple of my friends and teachers have told me that I should apply as an English major to increase my chances and then change to Poli Sci sophomore year (should I get in). I have no idea if there’s any truth to this suggestion and am honestly confused.
Thanks in advance, guys. The responses I’ve gotten so far have been super helpful!
English and political science are equally competitive so there’d be no advantage to switching.
Have you looked into SODA? It’s a new major with lots of opportunities (kind of like business Analytics for polisci… Think 538).
Yes, I just looked a bit more into SODA! Definitely an option for me to think about. It’s obviously much more math-intensive than a plain PoliSci major, but a SODA degree (from what I can tell) would hold more value in the job market. Thanks for the response – it was very helpful!
Penn State calculates your GPA against your school’s weighting scale. Which is why it’s nearly impossible to compare GPA’s among acceptances (or denials). I’ve seen people with 4.0’s get denied because their school weights grades ridiculously easy. And others with ‘lower’ GPA’s get in because their school’s weighting scale is very difficult.
They don’t really re-calculate your GPA. But they do look at your performance against others at your school and against the actual grading scale. (This, according to a PSU admissions rep). I don’t know if anyone knows the answers to your questions definitively as we’ve all been told different things. But basically, the weighting scale matters a lot.
I agree with MYOS - Poly Sci and English are equivalent in degree of admission difficulty. In that case, apply for what you want.
@jlhpsu if I have a lower gpa (but have taken lots of rigorous courses) and my school doesn’t provide weighted gpa nor classrank, but it is considered a good and rigorous school, how will PSU then look at my transcript?
ok - well with a 3.2-3.4 range, you will want to apply DUS (undecided) and select the optional summer admission if you are willing to do this. That means that they will evaluate you for fall first (you select fall as your starting semester), but if you don’t get in for fall, they evaluate you for summer admission (there is a check box to add this option). That is probably your best bet. What are your test scores?