What’s the easiest college to apply to and be accepted into other than DUS?
Behrend College, Erie
Not engineering and not business, but not sure about any distinctions between the others.
You don’t want to pick a major you’re not interested in pursuing just to get into the school, though – just in case that was a consideration.
@TomSrOfBoston I meant at University Park
@bodangles No, I was just curious overall for the easiest to get into at UP. I always hear people say either DUS or Liberal arts and was just curious.
Agriculture, Education, DUS would be the easiest.
Then Liberal Arts, IST, Communication, Earth&Mineral Sciences.
Engineering and Business would be the hardest to get into.
Art, Architecture are special cases since you need a portfolio and/or auditions and/or a resume, and those are weighted very heavily.
PR and Advertising (in Comm) are controlled majors. Film is by portfolio. DUS is nowhere near as “easy” as it once was, and this idea you’ve discussed in the other thread is still not really workable. They will compare your past application major to whatever you try to transfer as. Smeal does not accept transfers, and I believe engineering only does in exceptional circumstances.
@greenbutton I don’t care about transferring anymore, I already committed somewhere. I was just curious overall, as one of my siblings will be applying next year and just wanted to know which colleges are the easiest.
@MYOS1634 I’m surprised to see Liberal Arts somewhat competitive. Most people have told me it’s the second easiest next to DUS.
Afaik agriculture and education are easier than liberal arts.
@MYOS1634 what’s afaik? Also, does the major matter at all? Or just what college and they don’t care about the major?
As far as I know = AFAIK
The major may matter a little but it’s anyone’s guess.
@MYOS1634 why are those two the easiest? Liberal arts has odd majors like African studies and women’s studies which I’d expect it to be an easier college to get into because of that?
I’m not sure but the students who get in tend to have lower rigor, GPA, and test scores based on what I know. However there’s no official listing and these majors are very specific. So applying there just to try and get into UP is pretty desperate and pointless.
Women’s studies and African American studies majors are SUPER important for someone who wants to work in HR, marketing, advertising, product design… They’re easy to pair with other majors for students who want to double major or goninto research.
Liberal arts suppose a pretty rigorous high school curriculum to prepare for different college graduation requirements - compare graduation requirements in all three colleges.
@MYOS1634 what would you say are the easiest majors within agri to get into? Obv most of the education majors are pretty similar so I wouldn’t expect one to be harder than the other. Also, what is HR again and is there data to see student’s stats for each school? I know you’re able to view student’s stats for PSU as a whole.
Human resources
Your sibling should research the various majors on his/her own and not rely on what is the easiest to get into. If he/she doesn’t have a real interest in the major, he/she is more likely to fail out of PSU. I can’t envision someone studying 40+ hrs each week for something they don’t like/want to do. Ag and Education are about as opposite as oil and water. More importantly, your sibling could take the spot from someone who genuinely wants to be a second grade teacher or biofuels researcher. Ask your sibling what their interests are…and then research the colleges that offer that major AND whose common data set is consistent with your sibling’s high school academic performance.
She has relatively good stats, but we were just curious which college is the easiest to gain acceptance into for UP. She will of course apply to the main college that interest her, as her stats should be in range. Where can I find the common data set for EACH individual college at PSU, not PSU as a whole?
@ryanbreaker3, go to Penn State’s University Budget office website, click on to Common Data Set, and it will provide the list of the branch campuses.
DUS was pretty darn competitive this year, so I wouldn’t count on it being the 'easiest". I prefer to say “least competitive” because some people equate easy to mean much lower than average stats. Penn State is a hard school to get into, regardless of major, but some are less competitive than others. I am not sure after this year I would rank DUS in the very least competitive. Liberal arts has some majors like labor relations and economics that are sought after so again, I think it would depend on the major selected within liberal arts. And other liberal arts majors can be really useful depending on the plan of the student. Not everyone wants or needs an engineering degree or other clear path major. Agriculture has some majors that seem to accept somewhat lower stats…Communications is not a slam dunk either. They have several portfolio or controlled majors…
Your best bet is to go back through the acceptance threads and see who got accepted where and with what stats. That will give you a general idea. I think it’s difficult to determine the least competitive…the most competitive however, such as Engineering, business, nursing, etc…can be pretty easily identified. Anything else is a toss up depending on the applicants for that particular year.