I’m getting really worried looking at other people’s stats! if someone could reasonably chance me for university park given my weird situation i’d appreciate it. Harrisburg is my alternate starting campus
Applied EA on 9/27
ACT: 32
GPA: 2.6 UW, 2.8 W
I missed nearly 3 months of my sophomore year because I was on medical leave so I had a really low GPA both semesters but I’ve been on the honor roll every other semester in HS. There wasn’t anywhere to put that on the application though, I hope they see the trend on my SRAR instead of judging on the GPA itself 
Rank: bottom 50%
6 APs
Extracurriculars: 2 political internships (2016 and 2018), started an annual voter registration drive at my school (topic of my essay), Model UN, part time job, marching band
Major: Political Science
State Residency: California
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
You may want to ask your GC how to handle. Wasn’t there an optional essay of sorts? Maybe your guidance counselor could write a letter? Good luck with admissions. University Park is tough to get into. Unfortunately Penn state receives so many applications that it really becomes a numbers game. Decision is 2/3rd GPA and 1/3 test score.
Without an explanation of your extenuating circumstances, a GPA of 2.8 is nearly always a commonwealth campus admit. The rest are recruited athletes. Penn State in general does not consider grade trends. I agree with Sophley…get your guidance counselor on it. Without knowledge of your situation, Penn State will really just see the overall GPA, which will not be enough to get you into UP - even with a 32 on your ACT. But with the explanation, they may.
You should have included that element at the top of your essays. Did you complete that part?
I agree, have your GC reach out and explain.