How long does it take for decisions to come out after submitting
Is Penn State in-state for you? If so, I would go for Penn State UP. Penn State will give your son a great education and will be more cost-effective.
UC Berkeley was ranked #7 by one of the ranking agencies and Penn State was ranked #27. The ranking methodology is dubious because the criteria they use may not be important to us! Nevertheless, both are Top 30 - which means both are good!
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45 days after application
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We are Oos from Nevada. But his weighted GPA is 5.03. We are waiting for more schools.
I see. If both are out of state, then they should be the same, financially
Some plus points for UC Berkeley -
UCB has a higher rank
UCB is closer to home
CA bay area has lots of companies with potential jobs
Good Luck with all the other schools!
Thanks
So my daughter was originally offered Berks 2+2, she asked for reconsideration on Jan. 26. She got notified today that they can not offer her a spot at University Park due to the overwhelming amount of applicants. This is the 4th time she has been told that in the last 3 days by different schools. This is has been an awful experience for her. Most of her schools were safety or match schools. She reached out to admissions through email expressing that if accepted she would commit as Penn State UP is her top school. They suggested she also call, they want kids to keep pushing. It seems odd that she did both of those things yesterday, only to get a no today. She was told yesterday to keep asking to be reconsidered. This seems crazy. 1,000s of kids will get offered and wonât attend. Here is a kid that had the stats to match what they want, says I will go and they still say no?
This seems so unfair. I am sorry. I can understand your daughterâs frustration.
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What is your daughterâs major? My daughter was also accepted to PSBerks for Communications, Film Production.
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Anyone doing the admitted students day on the 26th? Looks like a busy day.
My son is.
Would anyone be willing to shareâdo kids get rejected if they put summer as their second choice as opposed to a branch campus? My son really wants main campus, but would be fine with a summer start. Im just wondering if the likelihood is lower of acceptance. Interested in engineering. TY!
I honestly donât recall that being an option. If I remember correctly, Dâs application had Choice 1: Main campus, Choice 2: Branch campus (and you had to pick one), and then a separate check box if you be open to a summer start. If anything, selecting âyesâ on the summer start would increase the chance for acceptance into UP. One of the experts on here will give you a certain answer. Good luck to you son.
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Thank you!
Has anyone heard of other students being waitlisted for Smeal? Iâm wondering when (and if!) anyone gets off the list!
generally, the process goes like this:
- choice #1: fall - UP. Can we admit? if yes, yay! if no, thenâŠ
- did they check summer box? - can we admit for summer at UP? if yes, yay! if no, thenâŠ
- which alternative campus did they select? can we admit? if yes, yay!
so they will look if you have checked the âsummer at UPâ box BEFORE they look at the alternative campus choice. Checking that box gives a student the most opportunity to get into UP.
However, it is amazing every year. A kid doesnât want to do summer start, gets offered an alternative campus, and asks for reconsideration WITH summer start. Save the drama. check if from the beginning.
Also, nothing wrong with applying DUS (undecided). This is typically a less-competitive major than Business (Smeal) or Engineering. No one is âinâ their major until certain criteria are met (except for a few direct-entry majors like nursing, for example). Those criteria can be met from DUS as well as the direct college.
good luck.
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I have not heard about rejections from PSU, only the 2+2, are there ppl who have not been offered the 2+2 and flat out rejected? My son was offered the 2+2 and then offered merit money. It was very confusing because PSU is notorious for not offering merit money.
Some of the commonwealth campuses offer merit money, such as the Discover Penn State award for students from neighboring states. Penn Stateâs main campus awards merit ($5000/year) to those selected for Schreyer Honors College. There are a few other merit awards given to selected students, but the vast majority of students admitted to UP receive no merit aid, regardless of stats. I think only those students with very low stats are denied rather than being offered a commonwealth campus.
While almost all students can eventually be accommodated in a 2+2, not all will get the commonwealth campus they apply to. For example, Erie, Altoona and Harrisburg campuses are 4 year colleges in their own right and attract a lot of students that want to go to those campuses either for the 2+2 or for a 4 year program. This is especially true because some of those campuses have majors that UP does not have. So some students who put one of those campuses as their alternate campus choice may not get them if they have low stats. They will be deferred to a different commonwealth campus with more room - and for OOS students, many of those campuses would not be what they are looking for.
So, to answer your question - few are denied outright from PSU if they are willing to attend any commonwealth campus - but certain campuses are harder to get into than others, with UP being the most difficult.
Also, youâve mentioned on other threads that your child had you put the 2+2 acceptance in the shredder. So Iâm curious if you are actually considering the 2+2 or are you just wanting to vent about the admissions process? Either way is fine, but if just venting, let us know. The answers will be different than if you were actually looking for constructive information on the 2+2 program. If truly interested in the 2+2, there are lots of people here who can answer questions for you. As Iâve said before, more than 50% of all PSU grads started at a commonwealth so there are vast amounts of experience out there.
I COMPLETELY understand your frustration with college admissions. Itâs tough and it seems as though your family had had unexpected outcomes which can be even more frustrating when all the waiting doesnât seem worth it. At Penn State, a 3.7 GPA wonât get you into the colleges like Smeal or Engineering, regardless of test scores. There are always exceptions but they are just that. And if you didnât select summer, then the only option left to give was a 2+2. I know itâs frustrating, but it might be helpful to understand the WHY the 2+2 decision.
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Has anyone heard back on the Eberly College of Science Scholarship?
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