I am currently a high school sophomore in SoCal. My current unweighted GPA is 3.4 and I know I can change that because I will be taking 6 AP courses (3 per semester) my junior year to increase my weighted GPA. So far, my first semester of my sophomore year has been the most difficult. It looks like I will be receiving a C in math. This is the first C I have ever gotten and hope it will be the last. Next year as a junior, my plan is to take AP Biology, AP History, and AP English which will increase my overall weighted GPA. I plan to have around a 3.4 unweighted GPA and a 3.6 weighted GPA by the end of my junior year.
These past few months, I have thought about where I want to go for college. I know I would like to go into Business Administration/Management which is why the Smeal school of business stood out. I have a few schools in mind but I would like to know more on how to get accepted into Penn State, how to get into the Smeal college of business, and how expensive is for an OOS applicant.
My extracurriculars include: 8 years of piano at local music school, over 3 years of club swim team, and varsity swim team throughout my entire high school career.
I have many questions regarding on getting accepted into Penn State:
1. Does Penn State look at weighted or unweighted GPA?
2. Will one C ruin my chances of getting in?
3. What does this University look for most in their applicants?
I know I am just a sophomore and haven’t taken the SAT or ACT, but as of right now, am I doing every thing right and do I have a good chance of getting accepted into Penn State as well as their business program?
Good for you for planning ahead. A few things you should know about Smeal. At Penn State it is one of the, if not the, hardest school to get into as a freshman admit. Only 11% of direct admits were admitted last year to Smeal. And therefore, a 3.6 Weighted will NOT get you into Smeal. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news. That’s ok. You can still go to Penn State and start as an undecided student (DUS). At Penn State, no one is really IN their major until they are a junior and they have completed the entry to major requirements. So even those who are accepted freshman year are really just “pre majors” and they will have to complete the same entry to major requirements. Therefore, if you get in for DUS, you can take all of the same prerequisites and move into the Smeal school junior year. You lose nothing. You will have a DUS rather than a Smeal advisor and you won’t get invited to some Smeal only activities the first 2 years, but that’s about it.
Now, I will also advise that with a 3.6 GPA, you will probably want to also say that you’d be willing to start in the summer. 3.6 is the bottom of the middle 50% for admission into PSU. So saying you’d accept summer will help. You will ONLY be offered summer if you were denied fall. So that also doesn’t hurt.
Specific questions:
Does PSU look at weighted or unweighted? Both. They will look at how your school weights their grades and will see how you performed against your school’s grading system. Usually, people are admitted based on weighted GPA.
Will one C ruin your chances? Absolutely not
What does PSU look for? PSU’s decision is 2/3 GPA and 1/3 test scores and other factors. That’s it. With 60,000 + applicants, they don’t use LOR or big essays and they don’t care a whole lot about EC’s. They will take your GPA for Freshman, Sophomore and Jr. years. They will not look at senior year at all. They also do not superscore the SAT.
OOS tuition is high. And PSU is notorious for giving very very little aid. Run the net price calculator on the website. Generally, PSU gives very little merit or need based aid. So be prepared for that. Current OOS tuition is 44k-47k including room and board.
if you can get your GPA up to around a 3.7W but the end of junior year, along with some solid test scores and excellent business EC’s, I think you have a shot. Speaking from experience as I just got in to Smeal with:
3.79W GPA
31 ACT
1360 SAT
Started my own stock market club sophomore year that is now the largest club in the school
My achievements inDECA (a business club with chapters across the country) I have qualified for national competition twice in business-related events.
I had 2 C’s in high school and I still got in. Worst case scenario you apply DUS and summer. DUS isn’t really a disadvantage at all. the only difference is you don’t get smeal advisors your first two years.
I just took the SAT for the first time without essay,and if I wait until August to retake it with the essay,would I be able to send today’s results and then send the one with the essay when those become available. Or should I just send the one with the essay as it is required for admission.
Penn State doesn’t superscore your SAT. So they will take one complete score. So if you didn’t do the essay today but need the essay to gain admission, I believe that means you must submit the second SAT. SInce it’s not one of the regular scored sections on the SAT, you can call admissions and ask if they will take the essay from one test and the score from another. My guess is no.