@sehssj It’s confusing, I know. But here’s how it works. If you get denied fall and accepted into the summer program, you will start at UP in the summer - usually end of June - and take 6 weeks of classes until mid August. Then you move out of your dorm and go home. In 2 weeks, you come BACK to UP and move into your fall dorm. There is no ‘reapplying’ for fall at UP. If you get in for summer - it’s simply your starting semester at UP. Then you continue on at UP in the fall. It’s part of the deal.
However, ONLY apply for summer option if you are absolutely willing to go in the summer. Otherwise, you are taking a spot from someone else. You cannot change to fall start once you are admitted summer. There is no back door entry like that. Many students are THRILLED to get in for summer because UP is their dream. Starting 6 weeks earlier is not a sacrifice for those people.
If you aren’t willing to go in the summer, then just put Altoona as your backup and you will likely be deferred there. Altoona is a beautiful campus and most of the kids spend time up at UP for football games, activities etc…and you still graduate with a PSU UP degree because you will go to UP after 2 years. My son applied this year directly to Altoona and is going there in the fall because UP was too big for him to start. So keep that in mind as well. The branch campuses aren’t “only” for people who were deferred there. Many people choose to start there. In fact 60% of PSU graduates start at a branch.
You say you have better options so that is great - but don’t be short sighted. Are your “better options” an overall better school to graduate from in 4 years? Penn State is highly ranked and a degree from PSU is worth quite a lot.
thank you for the explanation! my number one school is the University of Alabama where I’ve already been expected. That is my my dream school and I’ve loved it for some time now. The reason it is higher than Penn is because I only really started researching Penn a couple months ago due to them having a good program for my major. Not many schools have a program for what I want to go into, and Penn is my second school out of the 5 I applied to. I am really leaning towards Alabama as I’ve already been accepted but wanted to see my chances for Penn. The reason I’m not too big on doing the summer program or the 2+2 is because given the distance, I would only truly want to go to UP.
WGPA: 3.4
GPA: 3.25
SAT: 1430/1600
Theater and lotsa of EC’s
Think the SAT does it? Applied DUS summer
If you get in Summer you’ll be at UP in the fall, yes