My son did not check that he is willing to start in the summer due to his job commitment and other reasons, but now I’m wondering if this could hurt him in Admissions by conveying that he is not interested enough in PSU to start earlier.
All schools care about yield. In reality, PSU will probably be his first choice if he is accepted but maybe they won’t know that. His stats are likely on the UP bubble.
GPA 94.31 UW, 96 W GPA
10 Honors classes, 1 AP
Class rank top 20%
1250 SAT
Do most kids check the summer option?
Choice of major and applying early matter much more than selecting Summer start.
If he cannot start in the Summer, he made the honest selection.
Penn State worries less about yield than other schools. If he is qualified for Fall Admission, they will not look to see if he has checked summer, they will make that decision based upon his stats. If he is qualified, he will be offered admission. If not, they will see if his application is consist with stats for summer kids and they can offer admission there. If both of those are ‘no’, they will look for the branch campus decision.
@STEM2017 is correct. What major (college) did he choose? That makes a huge difference.
@lucyvanpelt , he applied Undecided (not sure if that’s what they mean by DUS).
@OceanIsle yes, undecided = DUS in Penn State parlance.
If his 94 UW converts to a 3.7/4.0, that is good. His rigor isn’t as strong as others, but may be dependent upon his HS.
DUS used to be an easier way to get in, but many have discovered it is an easier path than Engineering or Smeal, so it has become more competitive than in the past. Still a good option.
good luck to him!
If you are denied DUS at UP and didn’t agree to summer, the next offer will be for your commonwealth campus. If you did not check off summer session, they will not offer it to you unless you specifically request to be reconsidered for summer at UP (which you can do, after any rejection for UP). Keep in mind that you will have to attend…every year, we see denies from UP anxiously agree to summer, then they are right back on this forum saying " but do I HAVE to go!!! Can’t I defer to fallllll?!" and the answer is No. (barring truly unusual disaster or illness)
As an aside to all – PSU really dislikes the term “branch campus”. If you want to make nice with Penn State , always say a “commonwealth campus”