Hi! I applied into Liberal Arts. I know if something doesn’t go right, I can’t change into another major, but would I be able to move to undecided then? I’m pretty confident I want to stay in liberal arts but was wondering what happens if I want to change after being admitted? Thanks!
So I don’t know about PSU but mine got into UDel. After she was accepted there was a message on her accepted student portal that gave her the option to switch majors and gave her a drop down box of a long list of majors she would qualify for.
As far as Ive been able to observe, Liberal Arts and Human Development/Family Studies aren’t as competitive as other majors as long as you have the expected academic background and a 3.5 uw with honors/AP/IB/dual enrollment classes (if you don’t meet the basic threshold you’ll get 2+2).
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Thank you so much for the insight. My son applied August 13 and still no word. Very frustrating.
My son applied August 13 and is still waiting. He picked undecided as his major because he really is undecided. If he’s not accepted to UP, do you think it would be worthwhile to choose a different major? He was also considering communication studies.
What are his stats?
My son goes to a top high school in NJ where all classes are at the honors level. However, they don’t weight gpa’s so he has a 3.42 UW gpa. He also has 27 dual enrollment classes and 1 AP class. His guidance counselor said Penn State would be slightly a reach for him, and now since most of his friends have already been accepted who applied much later we are second guessing whether he’ll get in. He really wants to pursue a career in sports in some capacity and UP would offer the best outlet to explore. Not sure if he’ll be interested in his second choice, Altoona because it is so much smaller.
If it helps, my son has a 3.9UW and a 32 ACT and still hasn’t heard his decision. He applied to Smeal.
We are also in NJ. My son has high stats and tons of kids apply from my his school. In the 70s. I’ve only heard of 3 who have even heard back so far. My son hasn’t. So don’t fret. From everything I’m reading it’s random.
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i applied middle of october for a liberal arts major and still haven’t heard anything either so
Well that’s just silly lol! Accept your son already, its a given!! Congrats on such excellent stats!
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So many waiting on Smeal.
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Thank you!
Does anyone know when early action decisions are coming out?
Between now and Dec 24th
Penn State will “reweigh” his GPA checking academics (his dual enrollment credits will be in his favor, as long as he got A’s and B’s in those, and no D/F).
For instance, they’ll check whether he took math through precalculus or algebra2+stats, or stopped at algebra2; foreign language through level 3, 4, AP?; bio/chem/physics+1 science?; 4 English classes including honors/AP/Dual Enrollment?; 4 classes in History and Social Science?
How does his academic background match what he applied for?
(ie., lightweight in Math/science who applies for a STEM major, lightweight in Humanities/Social sciences who applies for Bellisario, CLA, etc… = not good, but heavier load senior year in the area they’re interested in can offset an equivalent lighter load in the other areas depending on major. So, where stopping at Foreign language 3 would be offset by calculus and AP physics for a would-be STEM major, it wouldn’t for a CLA applicant, for instance.)
If he’s denied UP, he could indeed reapply for Communication Studies in CLA (and add the minor in Sports Journalism later).
Thank you so much for breaking this down for me. He took math through precalculus, honors biology, honors chemistry and honors physics. 4 english classes, the last one being Dual enrollment with Syracuse University. He’s taken 3 years in history and is taking Global Challenge through Fairleigh Dickinson University currently. He absolutely hates foreign language and only fulfilled the 2 required but they were both dual enrollment with a community college which he earned credit for. He was really impressed with the DUS program to help navigate the right classes to take to set him up for a career in sports. He took two precollege programs last summer: one at American University in International Business and one at Wake Forest for Sports Marketing to see if Business was of interest to him. He loved both classes but chose DUS to see if that’s the right field for him. He was really hoping for U.P. because of the amazing opportunities they have to work with Penn Athletics. I appreciate any advice you can give. I’m not sure if he should wait until his decision comes out before speaking with admissions or if he should preempt the process by maybe choosing a major instead of DUS?
HI. You mention he could “reapply”. What process can be used to re-apply to a different major?
You just ask for reconsideration for a different major. It’s really just a phone call to admissions and they use all of the data they used to make the first decision.
Getting close to 12/24 and seems like they have a long way to go with EA decisions! Does everyone think they will be a huge roll out on one day or continue to trickle out?