I’m currently a junior who lives in Pennsylvania who wants to get into Penn state main campus but is worried my grades aren’t good enough. I have pretty much all As and Bs except for two Cs in my sophomore year which was a 76 in Chemistry and a 78 in Algerbra II. My unweighted gpa will be about a 3.4 or a 3.5 and my unweighted will be about a 4.1 or 4.2, that is if everything goes the way I want it. My junior year is also the first time I took an honors courses so I don’t know if that plays a factor. Also I my SAT Score is an 1100 but I’m definitely taking it again to boost it. I’m also in 2 clubs which are cinema club where we watch and discuss movies and environmental club. I also had a job at a retirement home since December of my sophomore year which I plan on keeping until I graduate. I plan on going for film and cinema studies and I always liked Penn State so I always wanted to go there but the people I know who are going there have way better grades than me and are in higher classes. i’ve been trying to pad myself by being in a couple of clubs and having a job but I’m afraid those are only going to work to some extent. If I don’t get in to Penn State I was thinking about Pitt or Temple but I don’t know my chances about those schools either. I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking it but I would just like to hear from someone who knows what they are talking about.
1100 is too low to get in. 1220 makes you competitive. GPA is good, maybe take some APs?
Pitt is a high reach and Temple is a low reach/high target
Is your weighted really that high if you’ve only taken one year of honors courses?
Penn State considers GPA 2/3 of the decision, and test scores are most of the other 1/3. Things like jobs and clubs aren’t considered as much for them.
1100 is NOT too low to get in. I applied LATE, out of state, with an 1160 SAT and 3.57 Weighted GPA and I still got in for the fall 2018 semester for History at University Park. I would think a STEM major is harder than an Arts or Liberal Studies major, so yeah, I say go for it. I didn’t necessarily nail the personal statement section but I was strong in my extracurriculars. I would definitely say Pitt is a bit more competitive than Penn State, so I wouldn’t consider it as a backup if you don’t get in to PSU… If you’re really worried about getting in, there is an option you can choose to start your studies in the summer preceding your freshman year at PSU and continue your studies with the rest of the students in the fall and the rest of your undergrad years. If you weren’t accepted to start in the fall semester, it is likely you could get accepted to early start in the summer; Choose that option if you’re concerned. BUT, I think you have a good shot at getting in, especially considering my unweighted and weighted was lower than yours. Good luck!
Well said! My son got in UP for fall with 1170 sat and 4.0 gpa with 7 AP and honors. Great EC with great work history. Never give up!
Well, considering grades and rigor are 2/3 of the decision, so a 4.0 with 7 AP/honors would help.
A 3.7 with 15+ honors/AP’s does it, too. A 3.5 with 1 honors zero AP won’t.
@TommyDreyer2000 :
What honors class did you take this year? What will you take next year in terms of AP’s and honors?
Are you taking the sat again in May, June and August and have you been prepping for that?
Your profile is more that of a student admitted to a branch campus but you’re borderline so you should try and take more rigorous classes next year (for Penn State, those grades won’t matter, only the rigor, but don’t take in more than you can chew because an F will get you rescinded!) And a 1200+ score would push you closer to UP and further from a branch.
Your best odds are film studied + check summer session + more rigorous schedule next year + excellent sat score.
Well I took honors history and English and planning on taking honors political science and maybe AP English, I don’t know yet. In my school we have 4, 80 minute periods so I’m allowed double up in certain courses. For example I’m taking academic PreCalc and of I double up I can take Calc which is honors only but I also still dint decide on that either, I’m also taking AP Pyschology. I’m also planning to take the SAT again in June and August and will be using Khan Acadmey to help prepare for it.
@MYOS1634 btw that last post was for u, sorry but I’m still new to this site
You could take honors political science, AP English language, regular precalculus, (AP?) art history, something related to film or media/news, APES, foreign language 3 or 4, digital media. Would that be possible?
Well I don’t think we have art history but everything else adds up to 8 credits. And since Psychology has nothing to with film I guess I shouldn’t do that. And this will help me with my chances of getting in?
You need to have as any honors and AP classes as possible. With only one so far you’re behind. In addition you didn’t get As in all of them.
You need :
Math through precalculus
Foreign language (the higher the level reached, the better, but level 3 would be a minimum expectation for your college, level 4 better)
4 years of social science/history, preferably honors/AP
Biology and chemistry plus two other sciences (considering your struggles with math inwoud not recommend physics)
4 years of English, preferably honors/AP
Art, art history, digital design, film studies, media studies, would all be good electives to add bro the above. If some are offered honors, take them honors.
You’ll be asked how many honors and AP classes you took and that counts in the decision.
Curriculum rigor is part of the 2/3 in the decision and senior year rigor is taken into account not grades (as long as you don’t have any F – D’s aren’t recommended 
for your high school graduation’s sake!)
So I stand by my recommendation
AP or honors English
Honors political science
APES
Foreign language 3 or 4
Precalculus regular
Plus as many art history/media etc., Electives, as possible.
European history or world history or art history would be good too.
@futureabogada I would argue that Pitt is not necessarily more competitive than Penn State. They just look at different things. Penn State is 2/3 GPA and 1/3 test score. Pitt is the opposite. So in general, kids who get denied from Penn State for a lower GPA but higher test scores can often get into Pitt. And vice versa. Penn State barely looks at EC’s or anything else frankly.
It is really difficult to compare GPA’s and admissions because as has been pointed out on this thread, not all 3.5 GPA’s are equal. If you have a 3.5 and tons of honors and AP classes, that is one thing…a 3.5 without any of those things, is a very different admission chance. Also, it is difficult to determine whether an SAT score is “good enough” without also attaching it to the GPA and rigor that is associated with that test score.
@jlhpsu Oh, I didn’t even know that… I was just going off of last year’s freshman profile for both colleges, in which Pitt’s Test scores and gpa were notably higher than Penn State’s. I did have a lot of AP classes too so yeah maybe what I said was just overgeneralizing.
I hope you don’t mind me jumping in with a question. My son is finishing up his junuor year and expects to finish with a 3.92 or somewhere near there (prob closer to 3.95 depending on finals). He will have 22 honors/AP by the time he graduates. He has only A’s and B’s on his transcript.
His senior year schedule will be:
Honors physics 2
Honors chem 2
AP calc
Ap psych
Ap English 12
Honors Intro to Engineering
Gym (only cause he has to)
His best SAT so far is 1310. He’ll prob take it again in June but not sure. He does not want a branch campus. He’ll sooner go to temple before going to a branch but he’s willing to do summer if he has to. Can anyone help with his chances of getting into UP for fall vs. summer??
One more thing. He only has Spanish for 2 years (freshman and sophomore) but he plans to major in neuroscience or mathematics so not sure if it matters. He hated it and was his worse class.
^ if he does a BS he’ll be okay wrt foreign language since he has the minimum. While reaching level 3 would generally be preferable, the rest (22 honors/AP, calculus, all three sciences) offfsets that.)
Ok I see. Thanks for the info. One more question - looks like PSU doesn’t have a neuroscience major. Any idea what he would major in that’s closely related to this? I have to say I’m pretty surprised they don’t have neuroscience as most large major universities all have this.
@allieandjoe PSU has a neuroscience major. It’s in the Eberly College of Science under the biology major with a concentration in neuroscience.
@SAD1010 Ok thanks I’ll check it out. Any insight into whether he can get into UP for fall or summer based on his current stats?
He as a good shot. He can check summer as an alternative. And there’s a ready 'easer majors to request in order to get UP if he’s offered a branch campus, the psychology BS with neuroscience concentration.
@allieandjoe Yes. He definitely has a chance. D17 was admitted last year to Eberly with a 3.88 UW and 3.95W and a 1380 SAT. Good Luck!
@MYOS1634 This is an excellent option for pre-med students. My D17 is considering switching to that exact major.