I’m currently a junior in highschool and Penn State is my dream school so I was wondering my chances of getting in. My UW gpa is a 3.71 (not sure what my weighted is). I’ve taken Ap chem Ap lang and US History honors, and I plan on taking Ap calc and Ap bio next year ( i also plan on taking college classes this summer). My SAT is a 1410. My EC’s are dance, green team, nhs, volleyball, and set design, and my schools event planing club/committee. I want to major in bio and go to med school afterwards. I’m also african american and from out of state.
also i’m applying to UP.
and i’m a TA for my math teacher and scored a 750 on the math for SAT
You don’t need to major in biology to go to med school - you could major in math or biostatistics (among the best odds of success for med school admissions actually).
https://science.psu.edu/stat/undergraduate-programs
You could also look into the Infectious disease major.
https://agsci.psu.edu/academics/undergraduate/majors/immunology-and-infectious-disease
Your odds are very good for UP. You should also apply to Schreyer.
Only downside: run the NPC. Penn State doesn’t give merit aid (except Schreyer) so costs are often disappointing, even for in-state students!
@MYOS1634 thank you so much! and yeah the cost is the only problem i have with the school. i was already planning on applying to their honors college because of the scholarships they have. do you have any tips on getting into schreyer??
Write good essays. Have them reviewed by a History and an English teacher. They’ll be reviewed by professors wondering “do I want this student in my seminar?”
Topics will be posted in Earl ju’y- start working on them immediately so that teachers can review them when school starts in August or September.
Make sure you take 4 years of a Foreign Language.
Ask now for your recommendations.
AP Calculus, AP biology, AP chemistry, AP English will all factor positively.
The # of honors + AP courses, total over 4 years, should be as close to 20 as possible.
If you took HS biology or level 1 of a foreign language in middle School, count them when they have you mark how many years you have for the SRAR. 4 years/units (or 5) in each of the 5, core courses (English, math, science, social science, Foreign Language).
@MYOS1634 for recommendations can i use the same ones that i’m using in my regular application, or do they have to be different?
They can be the same as for Commonapp.
(Penn State itself doesn’t take recommendations. They’re basically GPA*SAT)
@MYOS1634 also my school offers a max of 5 APs and 1 honors class and by the time i graduate I would’ve taken 4/5 of those APs and the 1 honors class they offer. Do they take into account the amount of AP and honors classes that schools offer?
Make SURE your guidance counselor provides a school profile that shows your school only offers 5 APs. There’s really just one honors class!!! Wow. Is your school low performing (ie., most students don’t go to college) or is it an international school (students prepare A-Levels, IBD…)?
Also, what’s the 5th AP, any chance you could take it?
@MYOS1634 The school isn’t low performing. Everyone from each grade ends up going to college. It just doesn’t have enough money and the school is small, which sucks, but it’s one of the top high schools in nyc and really hard to get into, and they have a lot of connections to different colleges and they’re known for being a very rigorous high school. The other AP class I could take is AP Lit and I already applied to take it, but I won’t hear back for a little while. I’ll definitely make sure my college counselor does that because I don’t want anything ruining my chances of getting in. Again, thank you for all your help!
Ok, then that profile would be really important. If it’s a selective high school in NYC, then the reason there aren’t honors classes is likely that all classes are honors unless specified… But it needs to be made clear.
Have you run the NPC on Penn State as well as on other colleges you’re targeting (whether SUNYs or private colleges?)
Good picks could be Skidmore, St Lawrence, Connecticut College, St Olaf - run the NPC to see how affordable they’d be. They’re very different from Penn State though! More academic, smaller, less sporty - but beautiful campuses and good locations. But depending on your EFC, they may be much less expensive than Penn State while providing you with a superb science program.
UMaine Orono or USouthern Maine would be safeties and very inexpensive.
University of Iowa, Indiana University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities may also have good merit scholarships and big football.
@MYOS1634 I’ve been looking into other schools that are less expensive, but for some reason I really can only see myself truly being happy at Penn State because it has everything I want in a school and more. Hopefully I get a scholarship and decent financial aid, but if it comes down to it I’ll go to a less expensive school like Rutgers or a school that meets 100% need like BU. I know a lot of students say that applying early, submitting fafsa early, and staying in contact with the school helps a lot with getting money. I’ve also been looking into the Braddock scholarship at Penn State. I haven’t run the NPC on Penn State yet because my mom is struggling with calculating the EFC, but I know that people with siblings that go to college also tend to get more, and my brother is currently in college.
@MYOS1634 I’ve also been looking into the Bunton Walker Scholarship
^i meant Bunton Waller @MYOS1634
Penn State doesn’t meet need. It means it doesn’t care about your EFC, or if your brother is in college. Since you’re from NY State, they don’t feel any obligation toward providing you with enough money to attend even if they admit you. It’s tough, but it’s true. Now, you may well qualify for scholarships, especially if you apply for Millenium Scholars and the Infectious Disease Major – in which case 100% congratulations! With Millenium (full tuition) and Schreyer (covering about half of room/board), you’d have a great education for a great value!
But if it’s not, you need to identify what you like about Penn State because you’ll have to walk away if you don’t get Millenium or a similarly high scholarship.
And odds are, you won’t be able to go because of finances, so if you identify the criteria that matter to you, people here will be able to list colleges that offer financial aid and/or merit aid. No harm no foul: at worst, you end up with an embarassment of riches with several affordable colleges you like. 
If you like a great honors college and good football, look at USC Columbia Honors (very extensive honors application, due very early).
If you like college towns, Indiana and Iowa both have good college towns.
If you want a combo of both and your family’s income is under 95K, apply to U Michigan: they’ll meet your financial need if they choose to admit you (you’ll need to increase your SAT score a bit - it’s excellent but UMichigan is an elite university and they like HIGH high scores). A reach but if you’re within budget it’s worth applying.
If you want top-notch STEM with research opportunities, look at St Olaf, St Lawrence, Denison…
Is Rutgers in-state for you or are you a NYS resident?
Avoid BU if you’re premed, their science majors suffer from grade deflation.
Look into Northeastern if you’re interested in Boston.