<p>Hi!
I am a high school senior from florida, and am very interested in going to Penn State University park campus. What are my chances of getting in and what can i do to improve my chances?</p>
<p>About me
Act : 29 composite
sat : 1790
unweighted gpa : 3.27
weighted gpa : 4.38
Most of my classes that i have taken or will take in senior year will be either AP's or honor classes
Number of AP's: 10
I have 300+ service hours
My school allows me to take community college classes while in high school and i have taken computer programming
I am looking to major in computer science/engineering, and i have job experience in a field that deals with engineering/computer science.
I can speak two languages fluently(English,Telugu) and have 2+ years of Spanish and French
I am a member of national honor society, english honor society, jsa, and Rho kappa( will be the treasurer of the club)</p>
<p>I know my unweighted gpa is low, but is there anything that i can do to help improve my chances? I know the essay will be very important, so do you guys have any tips for it? Also i have read that i should turn in my application asap, is that recommendation true?</p>
<p>PSU likely adjusts GPA’s to their own scale, but unless your school has some massive grade deflation going on, thats whats going to keep you down. The personal statement doesnt really mean much, as PSU says they weigh decsions 2/3 GPA, 1/3 SAT/class rank and some other things. Primarily numbers based. If you’d be willing to start over the summer (and pay for it) i think you’d be let in.</p>
<p>I got into UP for the fall (into the college of engineering) with the same SAT score. However, I had an unweighted GPA of 97/100. Just apply for summer to be safe, but I think you have a good chance of acceptance overall! </p>
<p>I would apply to DUS to be on the safe side. But I do think you should be fine. Penn State takes into account the rigor of the courses when the reweigh your GPA. Other than that your stats are fine. I would not worry to much. I know it seems on here like everyone has these crazy high stats, but in actuality the average SAT score her is between a 1680 and a 1900. The average ACT score is between a a 25-30. Most of the people I know here had stats similar to you. Where those really high stats do come into play is in the engineering school, the nursing school, and Smeal. If you really want to go to Penn State i would apply to DUS because it is a lot less competitive.</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster lexi. I would apply DUS and also check off that you would be willing to attend the summer session prior to the fall start. That is a big help from what the admissions counselor told us. My daughter applied on 9/1, the day the applications came out. But that’s just because her dad and I are BOTH PSU alumni so she’s wanted to go to PSU since she was 5 years old. I would definitely apply before the November 30th priority deadline for your best chance even though they still take applications after that point. For what it’s worth, my daughter has a 3.4UW (unsure what it is weighted) and a 29ACT and they told us that she should have a good chance at UP for at least summer session. We haven’t heard yet, obviously, so we don’t know that for sure. But we are hopeful. She’s also taken college classes and 10 honors classes. Also keep in mind that PSU will change your grades to their scale - so everyone posting their stats means little. In our school, an A is a 94%. In other schools it’s 92% or even 90%. So PSU takes that into account and converts things so that everyone is considered equally. </p>
<p>My son had just scored 100 pts more than your SAT and his GPA was (?) 3.8. He ACT was 30. He got in for Fall in ENG. this year.</p>
<p>But - his friend had identical scores, grades and tons of community service. My son had nothing in that department. His friend and several others were bumped into a branch campus. Quite shocking since they were all about the same par.
We recommended that they have their application reconsidered for summer enrollment at UP. It worked for all.
They are all in and happy. </p>
<p>Now, I have nothing against DUS, but during orientation, the councelors mentioned that it is almost impossible to get into the school of Business and Engineering at a later date. These majors are inventory controlled. So, I would reconsider if you are interested in ENG.</p>
<p>Also, while waiting for admission response this past spring, there were many people with scores, GPAs all over the place. Some really low that got in which shocked quite a few of the folks here. Then there were kids with top notch scores getting denied or bumped to a branch. I feel it’s all a crapshoot. I would recommend that you find the Fall 2015 topic of admissions and start looking at post from about FEB to the end. You’ll get a better example of your chances.</p>
<p>BTW, we were told at our tour that they don’t read the essays. Rarely ever! </p>
<p>Your information on DUS is completely false. You are guaranteed a spot in the major of your choice, controlled or not, so long as you meet the entrance to major requirements that everyone else does. So many students go about it this way its extremely commonplace.</p>
<p>People entering as DUS have the same opportunity to get into inventory controlled majors in Engineering and Business as those who enter in those colleges. </p>
<p>Thank you, as this is what we thought as well. We were shocked and thought it was a bit misleading it was for those thinking that they could get in once they choose their major in the two schools i mentioned. Not saying it doesn’t and can’t happen. It happens all the time. As long as a DUS student meets the requirements they have every oppurtunity to get placement. Just that it can be more difficult if in a certain semester the school had forecasted incorrectly. They say it happens.</p>
<p>They (at new student orientation (NSO)) broke it down how it works by the school and major. the GPA requirements. Ours being Chem ENG. The allotted amount for this major is 120 students (yr. 2016 when the entrance to major would be). They can go over with DUS students. And/or they can fill in with students with a slightly lower GPA until they meet the quota of students, as well.
They would need more faculty, a facility/lecture hall, more labs, more classes added to the curriculum, etc. At some point they can only take so many students. This is what we were told.
So I wouldn’t say it’s a guarantee.</p>
<p>I think there are two different scenarios being discussed here. One is a student who applies DUS and THEN tries to get into an inventory controlled major before the freshman year begins. This is very difficult to do because while one student was applying DUS, others were applying directly into the major and getting accepted thereby eliminating open spots. Also, if you could get in after the fact, you could have gotten in in the first place. </p>
<p>The second scenario is starting freshman year as DUS and then switching into a different major down the road. This is always possible and people do it all of the time. But even so, if you are applying to an inventory controlled major, it very well may add time to your degree. For example, Nursing is a 4 year program at Penn State. If you have the credentials, you can switch your major into Nursing your sophomore year, but you will be a year behind and your major would take 5 years. In those majors, certain classes are only offered at certain times of the year and go in order, so you can’t just start whenever.
Other majors, it is much easier to switch into because there are many classes offered and you do not have to do them all in a specific order. I do not know how engineering or Computer science majors work. Are they inventory controlled? Are the classes done in cohorts? </p>
<p>Talking with an admissions counselor prior to applying may help you understand your options. </p>