Dilemma between Penn state branch campus and regular 4 year college

<p>So i am planning to attend a branch campus since i got rejected from UP. the program says the 2+2 program is pretty much guaranteed. if i attend a branch campus for 2 years how hard would it be to transfer to UP? like the requirements for credits gpa etc... i am also thinking of attending a regular 4 yr school and than after 2 years transfer to UP without the branch campuses. which choice would make it easier for me to transfer to UP? also i heard going to community college for 2 years than transfering to UP is easy since they have to admit some community college students</p>

<p>Penn State doesn’t classify a move from a branch campus to University Park as a “Transfer”, therefore it would be easier to do that, than transfer in from another 4 year college. This is because the curriculum for the branch campus is designed to accommodate the 2+2 plan. Therefore, as long as you complete the entrance to major requirements, you should be able to transfer to UP easily after 2 years.</p>

<p>Also, you might try calling up admissions and asking them to switch your application to DUS (Division of Undergraduate Studies) which is essentially “undecided”. In many cases, asking them to review you’re application as applying to DUS might help you get in to UP.</p>

<p>As long as you pass the classes with the required grade in your first 2 years at a branch campus, then yes, you are pretty much guaranteed to get into main. I really can’t think of anything else that would prevent the transfer. Same college. Same degree. As long as you are on track in courses with your major, the transfer should be effortless. Your adviser helps a great deal in this and it’s their job to make sure you have everything you need. In fact, it would take much more effort and planning ahead to go to community college for 2 years and then transfer, than just taking the 2+2 program.</p>

<p>Edit: I agree with warrior. Calling it a “campus relocation” would be more accurate than a “transfer.”</p>

<p>ohh thanks for the replies guys, im just deciding now which branch is the best, i looked up the stats for the branches and the student body for each branch is around 4,000 people per school. My highschool has more kids than the branch campuses lol. i just want a big branch campus.</p>

<p>Considering what you just said, I still think you should try switching your application to DUS for University Park…</p>

<p>Which “regular 4 year school” would you be attending?</p>

<p>This makes all the difference.</p>

<p>Hello guys, so I have a similar experience as Edwardnese. I applied to Penn State University Park as an international student. I studied in California for 4 years. I was top 25% in my class, uw 3.8gpa, and 1730 sat score; however, I was rejected. I applied as Psychology major. So you guys think that it would help me to get in, if I change my major to “undecided”? Furthermore, before I applied to Penn State, many websites and people told me that with my academic reports, getting into Penn State would be no problem at all, so I was surprised and sad after hearing my rejection news.</p>

<p>Thank you guys so much.</p>

<p>Alright, I know a couple people who took the 2+2 route even with good scores due to them not getting a good financial package for U Park so they decided to commute the first two years. It is not much of a hassle to change into U Park but the only problem is that you have to get a certain gpa required by each major such as smeal requires finance majors to have a 3.5 gpa thus if you even a 3.4999, you will need to take courses over the summer to bring up the gpa or change your major but from what I know, the finance requirements are the highest.</p>

<p>Which campuses are the better ones to go to for the 2+2 plan?</p>

<p>futuredoctor24 is right…not always a given to get into University Park after 2 years bc it depends on your gpa and major…and applying undeclared does seem to help chances if you have applied undeclared originally…not sure if changing midstream would even help…but could be worth a last ditch effort</p>

<p>It’s definitely hard to transfer in from another school (and I speak from experience). I transferred from a small private catholic college to UP, and it was just a ton of work–at the time psu didn’t have a very good support website for transfers, so you just had to search around yourself and make a lot of phone calls. However, they now have a web page just for transfers from other schools. </p>

<p>Also, I was considering going into the biomedical engineering major, but was told this was under enrollment control and any transfer student from another college PERIOD had no possibility (even if you waited a year and then switched majors once you were at psu) to enter that major. So definitely check first before making your plans set in stone.</p>

<p>Finally, I think they must mostly look at your gpa (and maybe grades on the transcript?) since SAT scores aren’t needed. You’ll need a specific gpa for each major, as well as specific classes.</p>