Re-posting this to see if there is any news on this front - has anyone received the Provost Award for this cycle yet? The website says these will be awarded on rolling basis starting in December, but I’m yet to see that anyone has heard.
Wondering the same. Nothing here
Is the provost award something that can still be given even after committing or would they only offer before you commit?
Each student should set their own deadline. According to College Board, it may take up to 2 weeks for the school to receive their report. Many high schools require 1 to 3 weeks to send their school information. Same goes for others requirements (reference letter, ACT, portfolio, etc. I know Penn does not require a reference letter with the main application)
If your HS requires 3 weeks, then “your” admission deadline should be (College Deadline date - 3 weeks [higher of College Board and your HS]) - x days of contingency (based on your risk appetite)
I am not finding fault with you, things happen in life. But sharing this so that parents and their students can plan accordingly.
Best of luck!
Our older daughter only applied to small schools, so the SRAR was new to us, and it was only because I heard the tip about SRAR timing that we got anywhere close. South Carolina, for example, has an application date and a materials date, which would help clarify the process. I mean, the application itself IS actually due a few days before 11/1, or you can’t get everything in on time. Clemson had EA for the first time this year, and there was an uproar when people were bumped to RD because of the delay linking the SRAR. In fact, they ended up announcing that, as long as the application was in on the 10/15 deadline, applicants could have a couple of days to link the SRAR and still be considered for EA.
Even a note on the PSU dates and deadlines page would help. “Remember that the required SRAR can take up to a week to be linked to your application, and this needs to be completed by November 1 for you to be considered for early action.” That sort of thing. Maybe @fc_pulpfiction had a similar idea? I don’t think PSU is intentionally trying to confuse anyone, and no sour grapes here – they notified our D by 12/24 even though SRAR wasn’t linked until 11/2. It’s just that, for students at at high schools like ours that don’t have a lot of kids applying to SRAR schools, a heads up on the application process page would be so helpful.
This is what UMD does - sends reminders that all materials (app, transcript, test scores, etc) have to be received by 11/1, and make sure application says complete by then. Else you are bumped to RD
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@kbm770 It makes sense for Admissions to add essentially a disclaimer about timing - good idea!
I know they add many disclaimers that your application is not complete until the SRAR is filled out - at the very end before you hit submit it says that. The reason I am so confident is that a friend’s kid missed the SRAR assuming his HS guidance was doing it. So when my kid applied, I watched through the process to see if it was obvious. and I thought it was.
I do think we - all of us - get so used to accepting terms and conditions that we may not read all the pop ups and instructions and disclosures. I get it. But when applying for school - something you don’t want to screw up - I encouraged them to read everything. everything.
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It seems they were inconsistent with who they bumped to RD if the SRAR wasn’t submitted by the 11/1 EA deadline. My son submitted his app 3 days before it, but he didn’t get the email/instructions back on how to submit the SRAR until a day after the deadline. He called admissions (didn’t give his name) and was told that there was a delay with that process so they were giving a grace period until Friday (11/4) to get SRARs in. He submitted his immediately and then received his decision mid December. But we have a neighbor whose daughter submitted her app on 10/31 and her SRAR after 11/1 and she was bumped to RD. 
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@Va2Mom ugh. That is the stuff that drives people CRAZY!
I wonder if they allowed until 11/4 but not after?!?
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Either they allowed everyone until 11/4, or they gave a grace period to those who contacted them to let them know they submitted but the SRAR was also submitted on time but still hadn’t arrive. As previously stated, I submitted the app and the SRAR on time but the SRAR did get to them until after the deadline. I contacted admissions to let them know and they marked application for ED. This was the case with a few other schools as well. Texas A&M was the only school who did not mark me timely even though the delay there was on their end. They took 4 days to send an email to create a portal account to link the SRAR and that email came after their EA deadline.
keeping track of deadlines is always difficult, so I have nothing but sympathy for everyone frustrated by the process.
I wanted to point out, however,that this is a bumpy-yet-useful introduction to Penn State (and any large university). They have tens of thousands of students and hundreds of processes across dozens of colleges and campuses. There will not be reminders, friendly emails, instructional pointers, or basic accomodation for oopsy moments. Students (and families) will be expected to make noise if they think something is wrong, find the information on the web AND check with a human being if it seems wrong. There is no hand -holding of any kind or degree; it can be pretty cold as an institution.
It’s a great school, with fabulous resources for those who are proactive (and often, pushy as well). If you or your student tend to sit quietly and wait for news or help, you will often be sorely disappointed.
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Just curious if anyone who asked to be reconsidered for a different major or summer start from an initial satellite campus acceptance has heard back? Switched from smeal to dus a month ago and the AO just said can’t guarantee a result by 12/24 but I know others heard 4-6 weeks.
We emailed them to be reconsidered for UP undecided admissions vs an acceptance to Smeal at Harrisburg they wrote us back moved my DS to undecided for UP no alternate campus…said that it could take up to 6 weeks to hear back for a decision
Thanks! Hopefully we will hear soon.
Just a huge thank you to everyone on this thread for all of the information along the way! Excited to say that my son committed to Penn State last night. WE ARE!
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This is the same situation with many colleges. When someone contacts the admissions, based on the person answering the call/email, different people get different outcomes (some admission officers know how to override or correct minor errors and omissions, but there are others who go strictly by the rule or do not know how to correct minor errors and omissions).
Parents and students: if you are pushed to RA, don’t worry, you still have a good chance of getting admission. It is not like they filled out all the seats by Dec 24. Just apply to another college as backup. If you are a PA resident, PASSHE universities are a good backup option. I know many successful people who graduate from these universities.
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Congrats! As a big fan of PENN, I know you will still hand on this board/thread and help others…
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I applied to Penn State for Civil Engineering, and I decided to apply to the University Park as my main campus. I sent in my SAT Score (1370, 680 RW and 690M) and my high school transcript all by November 1st. I did finish the SRARs later unfortunately (Late November/Early December) as I didn’t realize how important it was for my application. Was I pushed into the regular decision pool because of this? I thought I’d get my decision by Christmas Eve, but did submitting the SRARs late make my decision move from EA to RD? Should I be worried?
Here are some of my Stats:
-Class Rank is 26/255
-NY resident, Black Male
-GPA isn’t on 4.0 scale, but my weighted average is a 99.7965 while my unweighted is a 96.7250
-I’ve taken 3 honors, 3 APs, and 7 IB Classes
Do you think these stats could get me into engineering at the University Park?
It looks like I was bumped to RD looking at the previous messages. Thanks for the thread everyone, hoping I have a chance at the University Park.
Although you may be accepted to PSU UP, you have indicated in your other threads that you need a lot of financial aid. Be aware that Penn State gives very little institutional financial aid (merit or need-based) to most students, whether instate or out of state. You will almost certainly get better aid from your instate public universities and some private universities.
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