Penn State Schreyers? (will they look past my weak gpa?)

<p>Okay I did not just write this for an ego boost or anything I want everyone's opinion about Schreyers because I have heard that they don't consider sat scores. (Can anyone confirm or deny this?) Since my SATs are my strong point, I am worried that my chances there are even smaller than elsewhere. I recently got deferred from Georgetown and Boston College, but I think that my essays for Schreyers were much better than the ones for G and BC.
Do you think my GPA and activities are strong enough to get me in?
Also, does anyone know if Schreyers admissions usually appreciate commitment to sports teams or not? Because I thought showing that kind of huge commitment and long-term hard work and involvement would really help me, but it hasn't so far. </p>

<p>SAT 2320 (1520)
SAT II math1 680, US Hist 740, Lit 790
AP US Hist Exam 4</p>

<p>Senior year courses:
AP English Lit
AP US Gov
AP Calc AB
Latin 4A (honors)
Environmental Science</p>

<p>3.8 GPA</p>

<p>Page Editor of school newspaper
4 year member of Crew (Nationally competitive, HUGE time commitment)
Very service-oriented: member of community service corps, special mercy volunteer program, went on an urban challenge service trip last summer, led the starting of a new service outreach from my school to help underprivileged kids start a school paper which I was editor-in-chief of.
4 year member of Mock Trial
National Honor Society member
National Merit Scholar</p>

<p>PSU Schreyers is where I really want to go, any input would be so much appreciated!!! Thaaaank Youuuuuuuuuu!</p>

<p>Okay so I noticed some things I left out</p>

<p>I go to a private, all-girls school with a really good reputation and rigorous academics
I am a white female and I live in suburban PA</p>

<p>I've taken four APs out of about 10 that my school offers, but most of those are math/science which is not my thing, I've taken all the English/history ones offered</p>

<p>PLEASE chance me!!!!</p>

<p>how is that a low gpa......</p>

<p>from what I hear most people who get in have like 4.2 or something</p>

<p>I think they will. I'm not saying that you are in for sure, but a 3.8 from one school isn't the same thing as a 3.8 from another. They'll consider your whole application which looks very strong. I think you have a very good chance. </p>

<p>p.s. what school do you go to? AIS? Baldwin? I'm from Strath Haven...</p>

<p>This is ridiculous haha, I'm applied to BC and georgetown too! I got into BC, but deferred from Georgetown. Looks like we have the same taste though..</p>

<p>Oh by the way, they do consider scores.. I've heard that 30 is a minimum ACT so they must look at them at least</p>

<p>thanks so much 13ecky, to answer your question I go to MMA and from what I've heard basically no one is getting in to Georgetown this year, soo many people got deferred!</p>

<p>hey xoxok, you should of posted this on the Penn State forum and I could of seen it and answered it. Anyway, the Schreyer Honors College (SHC) at Penn State is a very competitive program to get into, they claim it is on par with some ivys. The admin staff takes into consideration each applicant as a whole, not banking a majority of the consideration on just GPA or ECs etc. One thing that they DO NOT consider in the applicant is standardized test scores, they claim they are blind to them when making their decisions. It just so happens that most of the students that are admitted have SAT average of 1450/1600 (just comes natural with the types of students they want I guess, i also was not close to this average). </p>

<p>Looking at your stats, your GPA is pretty good (is that weighted or unweighted?) and you have taken some pretty tough classes in HS, thats good as well as it shows your dedication toward your academics. The average GPA for SHC admission was a 4.17, weighted of course. However, I am sure if the rest of your app is very nice it should not be a problem. </p>

<p>Now some questions for you:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Did you submit your app by the 11/30 deadline?</p></li>
<li><p>How were your teacher recs? </p></li>
</ul>

<p>The Schreyer honors college is a really great program to be a part of, however do not quit on PSU if your not accepted to the SHC. Penn State is a great University and if you feel you should be a part of the SHC after your first solid year of college then you can petition to be admitted your sophomore year, or you can wait and apply for junior gate your junior year.</p>

<p>p.s. i forgot to note that I am a current freshmen in the program living on campus at University Park.</p>

<p>Thanks soo much cwryan1! haha i didn't even see that there was a psu forum until after I posted this I am not on cc that much, but your response was so helpful!</p>

<p>To answer your question, I did get my app in by the deadline, and although I haven't read my teacher recs I expect they should be pretty good. One was from my aplit teacher who loves me and the other was from my ap us history teacher from last year I had the highest average in her class and she's also my mock trial moderator so hopefully they both only had good things to say</p>

<p>is your 3.8 GPA unweighted or weighted (did you add extra points for taking honors/ AP classes)?</p>

<p>O and my gpa is weighted, kinda, I'm just finding out that other schools do this differently but we don't have unweighted gpas and my counselor refuses to calculate it but yeah I did get extra points for a and ap classes so I guess its weighted. Thats why I'm nervous I think it would be okay if it were unweighted but weighted it seems pretty low compared to others I am seeing on cc and stuff</p>

<p>they will calculate it for you, they look at unweighted, chances are your unweighted is around 3.5-6. GPA is the most important factor. Still have a good shot though.</p>

<p>I wouldn't say you are a shoe-in to be accepted but you have a shot. SHC won't make their decisions just off of your GPA and the rest of your stats are pretty solid.</p>