<p>I'm currently a junior and I'm enrolled in honors/AP classes and I maintain a GPA around 3.8/3.9. The only problem is- I have essentially no extracurriculars. I participate in the ski club in my school and I have personal hobbies (art and writing), but I'm not really involved in my school or my community all that much. PSU's a huge school, so I figured they probably don't care about ECs as much as smaller schools, but I'm just posting here for some reassurance to spare my anxiety. I'm also planning on applying early in my senior year in hopes that it will help me maybe secure a spot or something. Could I still get into PSU despite my lack of extracurriculars?</p>
<p>What are your SAT/ACT scores? I’ve heard penn state barely considers ECs</p>
<p>I haven’t taken them yet, I just started junior year this year and I plan on taking them in either January or March. My PSAT scores from last year equated to around 1860 and they probably improved from me taking them this year.</p>
<p>PSU admissions is 99% GPA + test scores. If your SATs are in the same ballpark as your GPA then you are in.</p>
<p>As long as your GPA and test scores are good, which yours appear to be (or will be), Penn State will not care about your ECs. Some majors, particularly engineering and business (Smeal), will require a higher GPA and SAT/ACT for admission than most other majors, but ECs will probably make little difference.</p>
<p>Also, remember that PSU does NOT consider 12th grade grades, so GPA is based only on 9, 10, 11. They only consider the rigor of the classes that you take. We were told even if you send in straight As for 12th grade first quarter, they cannot and will not consider them, so concentrate on this year. ECs don’t matter, and a guy on another thread who did admissions said that they don’t even read your essays unless you’re applying for scholarship money.</p>