Thanks. Is there a reason for that? Also, I am presuming LLCs are preferred over entering the random housing pool and basically if you don’t go into an LLC you will be randomly assigned a dorm. Any insight on that?
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I might recommend the Penn state parents Facebook page to ask
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Neither West dorms or Pollock dorms are that far from the engineering buildings. One of the things to consider is what type of students your student wants to live with as a freshman. West will be almost all upper classmen, with lots of engineering students. There will not be the “new student” vibe there. Most everyone will have made friends already. Pollock is the second largest population of freshmen in a dorm area, second only to East dorms which is ONLY freshmen housing.
LLC’s are nice, but they aren’t necessary. You can request dorm areas (not specific dorms) and if you put East or Pollock, it’s likely you will get them. Some freshmen get put in other areas but that’s usually because they did not select a preference on their housing contract. You can select roommates, dorm areas etc and then you will rank them in order of preference. So if you request Pollock and put dorm location as your #1 priority - it’s very likely you will get that.
If it were my child, I’d first find out if they want to live with other students from the same major. Some do, some like to meet people with differing interests. That being said, you will find PLENTY of freshman engineering students in East, not living in an LLC.
If your child wants to be with upperclassmen, then West is a good option. If they want a mix, Pollock is good. East has mostly renovated dorms. Pollock does not. East is the furthest from everything, Pollock is more centralized.
My kids were nervous enough about going to college…they did not want to be with all upperclassmen. One chose East and loved it. It’s an experience for sure. The other chose South by default (roommate wanted to live in South) and she hung out in Pollock a lot with other freshmen.
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Good article from a Penn State Assistant Professor about the TO policy.
That article is pre-pandemic. Many colleges went test optional as all students were having difficulty taking SAT/ACT during the pandemic. It will be interesting to see, as colleges get more data, which colleges stay TO and which ones go back to required test scores (or moving to test blind like the UCs)
DD reconsideration just came through - Accepted UP Fall! Thank you @jlhpsu for all of your help! Thrilled!
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Have Faith. My Daughter got in to Civil Engineering at PSU UP - Fall admission, with
- Class Rank - Top 12%
- OOS (TX Resident), Asian Female
- UW GPA 3.97
- Test Optional on advice of Area counselor.
- In all Honors Classes, 5 APs, 2 DC
One thing to consider: We knew the Texas recruiters very well and they knew her (by taking a campus tour last summer and seeing them at college fairs), and had an on-going email discussion with them. She changed her option to summer start so they knew that she wanted to go to PSU civil engineering. I don’t really know if it helped but it certainly didnt hurt. You may want to find out who the NYS recruiter in your area and reach out to them to express interest and ask them if your application was turned to RD based on a late SRAR.
Personally I think you have a great chance given your stats as compared to my daughters.
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@MDMomma2 what were stats and what were original/reconsideration majors?
I hope this gives everyone hope.
OOS
3.65 UWGPA 4.1 WGPA
11 Honors classes, no APs
Private Prep School
TO
Lots of ECs, Community Service, Great Essay
Applied initially to Smeal - Mgmt Info Systems and got Harrisburg. Requested reconsideration 12/10 to DUS with Summer Start.
Admitted tonight to PSU UP Fall Start for DUS!!
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Did you happen to notice how long after your TO button disappeared that the decision letter came out
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TO button never returned after initial decision. I randomly checked lionspath tonight and letter was in Communications. Portal has t been updated yet.
Interesting. We are in same boat with reconsideration and TO button just disappeared. I wish I knew how to get into LionPath! This waiting is killing us.
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Just got our reconsideration to DUS (originally Smeal), got UP Fall Start. Submitted 12/12. Letter on Lionspath
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You need your Psu email from the portal then go here - https://lionpathsupport.psu.edu/
Look under Communications
Thank you! My son’s reconsideration was accepted also. He’s pumped!
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Omg. I found it on Lionspath! He is in! Wow wow wow. energy, business and finance major at UP. Unreal. I’m literally sitting here crying reading this. DS has come such a long way and this is such a testament to his strength and fortitude. He has struggled with anxiety issues but over the last 18-24 months he has transformed into this amazing, effervescent kid who is totally on point and not even remotely like the kid he used to be. His stats don’t matter bc clearly PSU was able to see the greatness in this kid and didn’t let his grades stand in the way of a kid who is bound to make a dent in the universe! Thank you, PSU.
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TO button disappears around 7pm and decision posted at midnight…very soon!
@twindaddy your new name is prouddaddy!! 
Congratulations.
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Terrific!! Congratulations!!
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We got our consideration for DUS for fall at UP - we are beyond excited! Good luck to all still waiting
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