Anyone know if Penn State UO had an uptick in applicants this year? I have no dog in the fight, but Southern schools seemed to see a large uptick.
The admissions rep at our Accepted Student meeting said they received 108,000 applications!
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No kidding, it seems every school my daughter applied to from the East coast to the South to Midwest had ārecord breaking number of applicationsā and either posted this on their social media or in the notifications (usually as an explanation for a rejection).
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One theory is that test optional due to Covid really increased the applications.
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Certainly seems reasonable to me. The other explanation I have seen is that some students took a gap year and are applying now. Finally, at least for us, we received some advice (no one official, just friends that had gone through college admissions the year before) to consider applying to more schools (and a broader range) this year than in previous non-COVID years, and it seems like others also applied to multiple schools in order to have a few options. It also didnāt help that D researched schools and seemed to like almost all of them! Hard to narrow down a list if every one gets a thumbs up. We shouldāve spent more time researching merit aid, but now I know for child 2!
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Kid 1 is the test child! The first time around we didnāt really grasp the finances. My S19 applied and was accepted to great schools that were just unaffordable without merit. Thankfully he landed in a great place, but it was a bumpy process.
My S22 only applied to 2 schools, but did so for both very early. He loved both and knew heād have no debt.
Not only did we learn from the first experience, but he did also.
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Purdue Honors Dorm is amazing. That would be a contender but sadly no $$ came along with itā¦
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Anyone a Millennium Scholar?
Does anyone know what the accepted student rate was for the Smeal Business School?
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Poets&Quants has it at 37% which probably makes sense as an average over time. IMHO, this year seems like it might be a bit lower just based on anecdotal observation. Tough to strike a balance between being a big state related school and having a competitive admission process but they seem to do a good job.
Were you selected? If so, congrats!!
How difficult is it to change colleges/majors at Penn state once you get in?
My son was offered to reconsider for a different major, he is not too keen on that, but we are thinking it might still better to accept the offer, take general courses and then apply for major switch.
He wants to enroll into Physics and they offered to re evaluate for Health and human development.
Any thoughts on that?
Yes, thank you!!!
No one is really in a major until sophomore year anyway so itās not that big of a deal. Some programs like Smeal or Engineering require you to be either pre-major or in undecided in order to transfer into the college. Eberly does not have that requirement, so he could easily change majors to Eberly from HHD. The entry to major requirements for Physics are:
Overall GPA of 2.0
Complete the following classes with a C or above.
Chem 110
Math 140 (Calc)
Math 131 (Calc II)
PHYS 211
PHYS 212
After those classes are completed and requirements met, he can apply to change his major from HHD. Some of the HHD majors such as Kinesiology or BioBehavioral Health would probably have room to take those classes. I would just consult an advisor to make sure that the classes he registers for will work towards a physics degree.
80% of students change their major at least once, so I donāt think it will be a huge problem. Some even change at Orientation, which you can certainly try.
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Thank you for the details!!!
Anyone know if there is something other than an accepted student day going on in State College next weekend? We are having trouble finding a hotel or at least a reasonable one ($550 for a Courtyard seems outrageous to me).
I had the same experience trying to find a room for 18th night a couple of weeks back. Ended up booking a place half an hour away.
Can they call admissions and ask for summer if they didnāt check it on app? Is this a simple process?
I would encourage your kid to email admissions (then you have a paper trail) and ask for reconsideration adding summer session.
What major? Can they switch to a less competitive major?
good luck -
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It is the Pennsylvania Middle School Basketball Championship.