<p>Heyy, i was just wondering...is there an essay for PSU? (im trying to figure out how many i will need to write this fall)
thanks</p>
<p>Just a short "personal statement" - I don't have the exact wording, but I believe you pick one activity/experience and write how it has influenced you, caused you to grow, molded the person you have become today, etc. I have a copy of my D's; that she wrote last fall--it's 294 words long. (BTW she was accepted to UP.)</p>
<p>Don't worry about PSU's--form my personal observation, it is the last deciding factor taken into account. Put it this way, the importance of gpa and SAT towards your acceptance is about 80% and that of the essay is roughly about 5%.</p>
<p>You can jot down a paragraph 30 minutes before submitting the application and you will be fine.</p>
<p>-- I actually wish PSU gave more weight towards the essay to attract more diligent students and limit the the influx of average(and often unprepared) students from PA, who start taking acceptance for granted after maintaining a +3.0 GPA in HS. </p>
<ul>
<li>I also applied to OSU, UF, FSU, and UT and they all required two page long essays, for instance.</li>
</ul>
<p>I don't hear of too many students getting into UP with a 3.0, or am I mistaken?</p>
<p>wait i dont havve a 3.0...... i never said i did... i have a 4.1 weighted</p>
<p>Not you hope2budel, but that was in response to frasifrasi who said
[quote]
and limit the the influx of average(and often unprepared) students from PA, who start taking acceptance for granted after maintaining a +3.0 GPA in HS.
[/quote]
I don't know many students who get into UP with a 3.0, unless they are recruited athletes. Am I mistaken about that?</p>
<p>im pretty sure you are correct lkf725 ;). The only exception may be some ppl from State College (Has to do w/ housing and closeness with the high school)</p>
<p>Ok, maybe that wasn't accurate. Make it a 3.4 gpa or something. For example, a roomate I had was from PA had a 3.5 gpa in hs; He only took basic classes(no ap/honors), had a few activities, and admitted to never preparing for the SAT (for which he got a 1050 or something). But because he was a legacy student and from instate, he got in. As a result, he now has a very low gpa(2.x) and can't handle the science intro courses, not to mention his lack of study habits and drunken episodes.</p>
<p>Commom data set: facts <a href="http://www.budget.psu.edu/CDS/FreshmanAdm.asp?Location=UP&AY=20062007%5B/url%5D">http://www.budget.psu.edu/CDS/FreshmanAdm.asp?Location=UP&AY=20062007</a></p>
<p>remember these stats are for enrolled freshman students, not accepted</p>
<p>from this data set, the number of applicants who had impressive HS scores seems shockingly low. </p>
<ul>
<li>percentage of applicants who scored between 700-800 on the verbal section = 5.74% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! while 500-599 = 47.63% and 400-499 = 13.33% !!!! This seems rather ironic seeing the student body is mostly white students from PA. I went to a public HS in ny with a large international student body and most serious students would frown at those percentages. Applicants scoring less than 500 on sat section tend to go to city schools, not state schools.</li>
</ul>
<p>This data seems to support my point that unprepared average students from PA take admission for granted if they have a solid GPA. I hope this doesn't include the profile of the class entering in 2007, as they were supposed to get more selective this year.</p>
<ul>
<li>But I wonder what percentage of the students came in with AP credits.</li>
</ul>
<p>Avg. HS GPA is 3.53 for enrolled students. PSU states clearly HS GPA is their number one admittance criteria.
<a href="http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/majors/requirements/%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/majors/requirements/</a></p>
<p>Remember all studies show best indication of college success is HS GPA.
If you have any concerns about PSU's educational quality then read the superlatives for PSU and your department
<a href="http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/superlatives/%5B/url%5D">http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/superlatives/</a></p>
<p>and I repeat. These common data scores are for enrolled students; not accepted. So when you compare to other schools make sure you compare correctly.</p>
<p>If you want to be surrounded by 40,000 people with high SAT's don't come to PSU. If you want to have all the advantages of a large, well funded research university come to PSU, kick a$$, and go conquer the world. It's all up to you...not the kid sitting next to you.</p>
<p>sax, are you a student at psu?</p>
<p>No, I am a parent. </p>
<p>I am here to offer facts.</p>
<p>hey not everyone who gets into college is going to do good and graduate....thats life (especially at a school w/ 40k students). However, if you work, and take advantage of some of the MANY (and I do mean that) opportunities at PSU youll be just fine ;).</p>
<p>" The only exception may be some ppl from State College (Has to do w/ housing and closeness with the high school)"</p>
<p>Actually, I believe it is because UP is the local students' "branch campus". The requirements to get into the branch campuses are not as stringent.</p>
<p>
[quote]
This seems rather ironic seeing the student body is mostly white students from PA.
[/quote]
Not so much. State schools are the places middle class white kids without hooks or financial aid very often end up.</p>
<p>psu does not consider state residency when looking at an application...it says so in their common data set.... the reason whjy so many white pa kids go there is bc they live in pa so more apply</p>
<p>Lfk, I guess that what state schools are for after all, so to expect a motivated student body is unrealistic. But, I think PSU would have a lot more potential and prominence if it became more selective as other flagship universities like UT, OSU, UM, UI, etc.</p>
<p>Sax, which year is your kid in and how is he/she doing?</p>
<p>also, Sax, is there anyway to find out how many admitted students come in with AP credits? From experience, basic classes offered in HS are a breeze and, alone, very ineffective in preparing for an intro college course and in exposing the students to college rigor. If the data shows that very few accepted applicants are coming in with AP credits, that would explain why the middle percentile for the SAT is so low as getting an A in a basic HS chem course, for instance, isnlt much of a challenge for a mildly focused student.</p>