I’m a prospective student about to enter Senior year. I did terrible throughout high school, but did amazing on my SAT. Any advice on the best chance at being accepted into UP? Stats:
GPA: 2.8
SAT: 1570
AP/Honors: 9 Total
EC: 1
Race: Black
Major: I’ll prob do DUS or something in Liberal Arts.
I’d say 80% chance of getting in. Apply early with summer and into DUS and then I’d say a 100% chance. A kid at my school had a 3.0 GPA and an 1100 SAT and got into DUS for summer, so I mean if your SAT is 400+ points higher you’re guaranteed in.
@Tylerhex is very incorrect. First of all, no one is guaranteed in at Penn State. Even people who have stats that scream acceptance, get rejected due to other factors. GPA is 2/3 of the decision at Penn State. SAT is only 1/3. What a low GPA and a high SAT score indicates is that someone tests well but does not put in the work in daily school life. This is why Penn State looks at GPA as 2/3 of the score. Schools like Pitt do the opposite where test scores are the most important thing - But at Penn State, GPA matters…a lot.
DUS is also not necessarily the least competitive major to get into. At least not this year. There are always anomalies and IF that stat is true above, then there were extenuating circumstances or it was an anomaly. That is absolutely not the norm for an acceptance at Penn State. It may be that was his uw GPA and his weighted GPA was much higher, but weighted? Probably not.
A 2.8 GPA will almost certainly get you to a commonwealth campus. Especially if that is your weighted GPA after taking 9 honors classes.
Apply with summer option if you are willing to go (and pay for) summer session. But expect to be deferred to a commonwealth campus. Anomalies happen and you can hope to be one of them. But the most likely outcome is a commonwealth campus acceptance.
Is the 1570 on the old SAT??
Most likely you will be accepted into a satellite campus for the first two years since GPA is so important to Penn State. However, like everyone else said, if you apply into summer session your chances will improve for UP. Good luck!
Just be aware that summer session may cost several thousand dollars, so please clear it with your parents first. If you are accepted into summer and can’t afford it, PSU will not just let you change to start in fall.
Do you have a LD? Did something happen? Or was it a matter of not doing the HW ?
Such a mismatch between GPA and score would indicate either a LD or a catastrophic event - or extreme laziness.
Is 2.8 your w or uw GPA?
You should apply to Pitt, they factor test scores way more.
For Penn State, apply to liberal arts, summer session, as soon as the app opens.
I have Aspergers and ADHD. I also had surgery in the summer of my sophomore year, so it was a bit difficult to study during the fall (that fall semester I had to take PE and they gave me an A+ even though I did nothing, so maybe I could explain that?). My IEP should explain it all, but I don’t think colleges check that? After that, I just studied throughout the year to get the 1570 SAT score. Someone earlier told me to apply to DUS? Also, wouldn’t having a LD hinder my chances?
I forgot to mention that my 2.8 is uw. My weighted is around a 6 I believe (out of an 8 scale).
@allieandjoe It’s on the new scale.
If you mention in your personal statement your aspergers and ADHD and specifically tell an admission counselor (email or phone) to look over it (people claim they skip over the essays) you might have a decent chance. That SAT is incredible and I’m surprised to see someone with that high of a score wanting to attend to PSU. Make it clear to them you wanna make a change and will attempt to strive as much as possible. I guess Idk much if people are saying I don’t, but I think you have a solid chance. That SAT is considered perfect (consensus is that anything 1550+ is perfect basically). If your weighted is a 6/8 that’s decent too. I’d say 75% chance in all honesty.
Have your guidance counselor contact your region’s rep and discuss your situation. Asperger’s + hospitalization would mitigate things somewhat.
Write at the beginning of your essay that you have Asperger’s. (They’ll be more unlikely to miss it if it’s the very first sentence). Do NOT mention that gym thing.
Apply directly to Liberal Arts (would you be interested in SODA?)
What classes will you be taking senior year?
Apply to other universities - start with two affordable safeties.
Some test original universities, such as Muhlenberg, may be interested in your profile. You would not apply test original and you’d thus be interesting compared to their other candidates.
@tylehex @MYOS1634 Thank you both for the feedback! If I don’t mention the gym thing should I mention how I had surgery on a major part of my body? Also, what is SODA and wouldn’t DUS be better than Liberal Arts?
http://soda.la.psu.edu/
Due to your success on the SAT I think you’d do well with this major.
If you truly don’t know what to apply for, apply DUS.
If you know you want a Liberal Arts major/minor, explain why in your personal statement and be persuasive.
Basically, either they consider that Asperger’s + LD + having surgery means your GPA is not representative, or they consider it is. Applying Liberal Arts v. DUS will not change that. If they consider your GPA is truly representative then you’re out of luck, whether with Liberal Arts or DUS.
Your best bet is to apply to either one, checking summer session rather than Fall. Saying right off the bat that you’re willing to commit to Summer Session will do much more for you than deciding between DUS or Liberal Arts. Summer session costs more though so you need to talk with your parents to make sure they can afford it.