<p>-88 uw gpa/ 89.4w(with 5 APs and 5 honors classes by graduation)
-2160(1430) SATs/superscored
-Great recommendations
-unique ECs
-worked hard on my essays
-Very competetive public high school(Top 5 in Jersey)</p>
<p>I thought I had a relatively good chance at getting accepted to UMD. However, on Thursday I was pretty surprised to find out I got deferred from Penn State University Park to a satellite campus and that dealt a major blow to my confidence, considering both UMD and PSU are on par in terms of selectivity. These schools are getting super ultra competetive and i'm getting so worried. I just love UMD so much and I'd be devastated if I didn't get in.</p>
<p>Match to Slight Reach (OOS)</p>
<p>UMD is a bit more selective, but your rejection from PSU puzzles me.</p>
<p>How the heck did you get deferred at Penn State? Sounds like they made a mistake. I'd probably appeal if you really want to go there. I think you have a good shot at Maryland.</p>
<p>Personally, I think Maryland is a better school than Penn State.</p>
<p>The Penn State rejection is not totally unexpected.</p>
<p>Penn State is really strict on people having at least a 3.5 UW GPA--and the OP doesn't have this. In addition, they have taken basically zero honors during the first three years of high school. Note that the honors are all in the senior year. Also, the applicant is from New Jersey (OOS).</p>
<p>So, why are you surprised?</p>
<p>My guess is you are going to have a tough time at UMD also. Maryland is looking for 3.6 UW and 3.8 to 3.9 W. Since you took no honors, you have to hope that they count the test scores a ton. They are known for putting more emphasis on these than Penn State does, but still I rate your chances at about 40% to 45% at UMD.</p>
<p>This is why we encourage everyone to have a safety.</p>
<p>P.S. Keep in mind that after one year at the satellite campus you can apply to the University Park campus again. (This is if you decide to go to that route, of course).</p>
<p>Calcruzer, what I meant to say is I'll have accumulated a total of 5 AP courses along with an additional 5 honors courses by graduation. So a total of 10 weighted courses.</p>
<p>Freshman year - 2 honors
Sophomore year - 2 honors and 1 AP
Junior Year - 1 AP
Senior Year - 3 APs and 1 honors</p>
<p>The reason there is such a small difference between my unweighted and weighted gpa is simnply because my school is EXTREMELY stingy with weighting gpas. My brother attended a different high school and with a lower unweighted gpa than mine and fewer weighted courses he came out with about a 3.7 weighted gpa. Needless to say, I think its unfair that some of the colleges I'm looking at don't take this into account.</p>
<p>Also I was surprised because I've been hearing of so many people from my school and in general getting in with similar GPAs and lower SATs.</p>
<p>ahhhhhhhh i'm bored and anxiously waiting for Saturday to come by!</p>
<p>final bump and possibly post in the "What are my chances" forum</p>