Next year I will be a senior taking Honors Probability/Statistics and Honors Calculus, as well as 3 AP classes.
Major: Nursing
GPA: 3.8
Honors: 7 classes
Class Rank: 35/354
AP: 1 class
SAT: 1190
ACT:25
Activities: Cross Country, Track and Field, Marching Band, Swimming, National Honors Society, Mini THON.
Current job: Lifeguard
Gender: Male
I have a sibling that is currently at University Park as well.
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Is your GPA weighted or not? Nursing is pretty difficult to get into at PSU UP campus. Your GPA is good, but if I were you I’d take your ACT again and try to get it higher. Your SAT is on the low end of the middle 50%…that is the only thing so far that I can see that might hurt you.
I agree, retake either/both ACT and SAT after prepping, focusing on your mistakes. Do lots of exercises on the points you don’t know, till you have the process down and make no mistake again and again and again.
@MYOS1634 What test scores would make me competitive for the nursing program?
27-28/ ~1250
I think it’s doable - retake each test (SAT August in particular, you should be well-rested and have time to prepare plus 1190->1250 is very doable).
@MYOS1634 Thank you for the information! I took the SAT last week and I’m hoping I got in that range. Do you believe I would still have a chance at acceptance with my current scores?
You’d have 12 honors/AP, and your course choices for senior year show you are growing in academic strength and ambition.
Have you taken biology, chemistry, and physics (at any level)? Is one of your senior AP’s a science AP?
Course rigor will help you and increases your odds, but if you could reach 1250 or close to that, you’d be safer.
Applying in Sept/Oct should mean success, but of course apply to several other nursing schools. Run the NPC on:
Chatham, Duquesne, PASSHE, LaSalle, York, UScranton, Pitt, Widener, Moravian, Gannon.
@MYOS1634 I have taken Accelerated Biology, Accelerated Chemistry, Honors Human Physiology and next year I will be taking AP Physics I. I plan on applying very early and I will take advantage of early decision/early action if available.
Unfortunately there’s no ED/EA for Penn State, however if you apply before Nov 30 you’re guaranteed a decision by January 30, and if you’re not borderline you hear faster. So, applying in September, if you have good results from the June or August SAT, would be a smart move since that’s the only point that’s iffy in your application right now.
Your science preparation is perfect for nursing BTW.
DO run the NPC on all the colleges I listed, plus Pitt and Temple, because there’s getting in, then there’s deciding based on best value (cost/roi/fit).
@MYOS1634 You have been extremely helpful with all of this information and I really appreciate it! What is NPC?
Net price calculator : each college decides how much of the 'sticker price’s you must pay, based on very different criteria weighted differently -
foe instance, based on your grades and course rigor, test results, parents’income and assets, state of residency, major…
Therefore, you can know before you apply whether the college will be affordable for your family (as what a college thinks you should rarely is what parents think they can pay…) If the npc indicates the college is unaffordable no need to waste time on an application (or perhaps only after you’re done with a few affordable ones.)
For each college, type its name and 'net price calculator ’ in your search engine, perhaps do the first couple with parents (I suggest Penn State, Temple, LaSalle, UScranton for instance, and count 1250 sat) . Be ready for your parents to be in shock. Back when we went to college, Harvard was 15k and Penn State about 2k…
@jlhpsu Hey, sorry it took so long to get back to you. I wasn’t able to access my transcript until today, but my unweighted gpa is a 95.4/100 and my weighted gpa is a 97/100. I’m not sure what those are equivalent to on the 4.0 scale.
4.0
Have you run the NPC? And shown it’s results to your parents?
@MYOS1634 Yes, I’ve run the NPC for every college on my list.
I think if you can get your test scores up a bit, you will be in pretty good shape. Again, PSU nursing is very competitive at UP. But you are a pretty competitive applicant, especially if you can get your test scores up a notch.
@jlhpsu I took both the SAT and ACT three times and my scores haven’t gone up much despite studying hard. Would I still have a shot with my current stats?
Yes, you have a shot. I’d also check the summer box which means that you are willing to go in the summer in the event that they can’t offer you admission in the fall. Some nursing students do that to gain admission. They will evaluate you first for fall and then only for summer if you weren’t accepted for fall.
The other option is to put an alternate campus that has the nursing program. The closest to UP is the Altoona campus. The only downside to that, is that you do not go to the UP campus after 2 years. Penn State requires that you stay at the campus at which you begin for nursing. The exception to that is that UP Nursing students go to Penn State Hershey for a year. So keep that in mind also - if you go to UP campus, you will have to go to Hershey for a year. At any other PSU campus, you stay there all 4 years.
I have a son in nursing at Altoona.
As a bit of an update:
My guidance counselor stated that my weighted GPA converts to a 3.89 since its a 97/100, my class rank has changed to 31/362, and with my senior- year coursework I have a total of 9 honors classes and 3 AP classes. My SAT improved to a 1240. I’m thrilled that everything seemed to have improved. I sent in my app early September, but my scores were delivered early October and I need to send the newest score still. I also put my heart into the short-answer question, as well as the activities question and checked the summer session.
Do you think I have a better chance now?
Yes, definitely. A 3.89 GPA is good and is at the upper end of the middle 50%. Your 1240 is higher than your last score and is in the middle 50%. You improved your odds, but of course - no one can tell you for sure. Good luck!!