Thanks. Yes. Common app was submitted but sat scores and srar was done one week later.
Thank you, he submitted on Oct 30 but on Nov 18 got notification that there was a mistake in the SRAR and needed to be corrected and re-submit. He got the decision on Dec 16. His major is Finance.
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Most colleges like international students.
But I also want to add, your stats are within the range for Penn State.
Thank you for the advice I spoke to my son and we emailed admissions for a reconsideration to UP as an undecided major we unfortunately cannot do a summer start as we will be in Europe visiting my family for the majority of the summer. Curious to see what the response will be ….
@lucy_van_pelt they responded and placed my son into reconsideration for UP Undecided no alternative campus they said it could take up to 6 weeks before he hears back on a decision Thank you for your help
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My son has a 98.6 with a ton of college and AP and Extras. Literally got a 100 last quarter in college Calc and pretty much all his business classes. Seal of BI literacy, started a club, captain of his varsity teams, honor society in all subjects except English, FBLA treasurer , internship, pT job, plus a ton more Got only a 1330 (awesome score on math weak in English) so didn’t submit it. Applied on Oct 31st. Did not get into Smeal UP just the other campuses. He is devastated. Worked so hard and that was his first choice. I just don’t see a rhyme or reason here. I’m seeing kids with lower stats getting in. Happy for them but so frustrating. Obviously not going to look anymore but we just found out today so still pretty raw and pissed off. We are very perplexed.
Sorry to hear that, I feel like it’s a flip of coin too
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Smeal is one of the hardest colleges at Penn State to get into, my son wanted that college too. Instead he applied to College of Earth and Mineral Science for the Business, Energy & Finance course and was accepted mid Nov ( he applied mid Oct). Call admissions and change his major, it sounds like he has great stats to get into the UP campus. He can always declare his major at the end of the first semester of sophomore year with a view to getting into Smeal if he has a good GPA (3.0 and 3.5 for Finance - I think, but worth checking). It’s just a fact that Smeal is very hard to get into as an incoming student.
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Good suggestion, but the only pathways to Smeal are from (pre)Smeal or DUS (undecided). I think a student would have to change from the College of Earth and Mineral Science to DUS, then apply to Smeal after Entrance to Major requirements are met. Another suggestion would be to ask to change to DUS and add summer if that wasn’t originally chosen. Another possibility is to request Agribusiness Management in the School of Agriculture.
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Yes just reading up on that for reconsideration on my sons application and you have to be pre major in the Smeal school or in the DUS major in order to even apply into the Smeal business school.
Son got accepted to the CS program at University Park for Fall 2023!
International Student with A stars in 95% subjects in O and AS Levels as well as school transcript.
1420 SAT
Decent number of ECs.
So happy as this is his first acceptance.
Waiting for other EA decisions on Jan 28.
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There’s no rhyme or reason. Same happened to my daughter. Friends with much lower GPA’s , less EC’s, no leadership or volunteer hours were admitted into UP. She applied as Psychology major and got Altoona. None submitted scores (including my daughter)
Perhaps their essays and responses to supplemental questions may have made the friends stand out?
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Did the friends also apply as psychology majors? That is a popular major and may have already been full at main campus. Or maybe the pool of applicants requesting psychology as a major has higher average stats. Some other majors are much less popular and may accept students with lower stats.
Different majors. Education, Hospitality, and Food Science.
It’s possible. My daughter wrote the supplemental essay. The others did not because they were told no one reads them.
Those are all easier majors to get into.
Generally the toughest are Smeal (business), engineering, then DUS (undecided). Then liberal arts (which is psych). In the past, LA was tougher than DUS, but we are hearing DUS is more competitive than it has been.
If this is first choice, I have some recommendations. Send me a DM.
Add nursing to the list of toughest majors. Not sure about architecture, but maybe that too.
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Thank you. We have moved on. Been accepted to 5 others and will narrow it down to 2 in the next few weeks. Thanks again. 
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yes, good point. Nursing is incredibly competitive with many well-qualified kids surprised by an admission to a commonwealth campus.
I think those are both direct entry majors? Also incredibly difficult are Musical Theatre, Acting, Professional Golf Management (handicap requirement), as well as others.