@nerual19 don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I got in a few days ago with lower stats so I’m sure you’ll be accepted. The only thing that hurts you is that you applied kind of late in comparison to other people. I bet you’ll hear by Christmas.
My daughter is visiting the campus again with her Grandmother. She wants to get excited…But, its killing her not knowing a decision. lol
I just got accepted. My scores were nothing special. 2010 SAT score, 3.7 GPA. Not much extracurriculars but I had two that I stuck with for several years.
@swampertness Your SAT is very good. Just curious when exactly did you hear and what school/major? Congrats!
@zipbags I applied at the end of October and I just received my decision last week. They accepted me in University Park as a astro major.
@nerual19 no worries. PSU does their acceptances completely randomly. As long as you had your app in and complete by Nov 30, you are in the exact same pool as those who applied Sept 1st. You will hear by Jan 31st. There were tons of ppl with high stats last year that didn’t hear until last week of January so it is not a bad sign whatsoever that you haven’t heard.
@zipbags my guess would be that’s University wide as it was end of priority time line. But that is a lot for one day!
If I submitted my app on November 27th but they didn’t get the transcript until early December and it still says “your application materials are being verified” does that mean I didn’t make it in time for priority filing?
Also I heard higher stats had quicker turnarounds. My friend who just applied not even two weeks ago got accepted last week. So in the end does priority even mean much especially if it’s rolling admission?
@kcarpenterfan priority means a lot. Penn state isn’t traditional rolling as in first in, first out. They take a group of applications and decide them randomly with the goal to be to get through all of them by January 31st. People who’s applications aren’t complete by Nov 30 face tougher entrance requirements and you aren’t guaranteed to find out until the end of February. The first pool of applicants (prior to Nov 30) are considered against the same criteria. I’ve seen people with higher stats but a later application date get denied over a lower Stat in priority application.
@jlhpsu oh. That’s helpful to know. Then reading what I said about them not getting my transcript till after that 30th November date - do you know if I made priority? Most schools I know accept the parts out of our hands such as recs (n/a here I know) and school transcripts since we don’t sent them directly.
When the screen says that they’re viewing my materials and adding anything else they might need to the checklist does that mean they’re in the stage where they’re looking over my stuff or still trying to gather everything?
Also I see people finding out they get in through the portal. Is there no email, meaning you have to keep checking yourself?
So if I understand this correctly. Any application (even a high scoring one)received after Nov.30th doesn’t get decided upon until all the applications sent before the deadline are decided upon?
I submitted my application on the 25th of November, but my transcript did not show up on the portal until after the 30th. I called, and they said that they had had it for a month but had failed to put it in the portal, therefore I still met the priority. I hope this helps. Also advice? Penn state is my number one backup school, i’ve got a 4.1 GPA, perfect ACT composite and all subsections, president of three clubs, played the cello for 8 years, interned at the Naval Research Lab, and go to the number one high school in the US (TJHSST). When do you think I’ll hear back?? I want to be in at least one school by Christmas 
@McKilla99
I am
From Taiwan
Time’s killing me
jlhpsu, I would have to disagree. They are not random according to most of those accepted so far. I know many students from our area with lower scores than my S, he was already accepted. Two years ago, my other son was accepted on Nov. 5th, long before relatives and other that applied much earlier. There may be a handful that get in early with lower scores, but we don’t know anything about their situation. That’s not completely random in my situation.
@amomoffour Your anecdotal experience not withstanding, their PROCESS is very random (not who they chose, but WHEN they chose them). They will tell you this at information sessions, online chats, etc… While those who hear earlier ARE higher stat applicants, there are plenty of high stat applicants that don’t hear until the end of January. Typical rolling admission is first in, first out. Penn State is NOT first in first out. They are random. kEven among the higher stat kids that have already posted here, their application dates vary considerably. There is literally no way of knowing when you will find out based on stats or date applied, thus…random, in my opinion.
@zipbags That is correct. That’s the benefit of getting the application in before priority. It gets more competitive after because so many have already been accepted. They told us last year in the online chat (which if you can do those they help tremendously) that no application complete after November 30 will be considered until all of the applications in prior to November 30th have a decision. They did say it’s possible towards the end of January to see some after priority acceptances posted at the same time as pre-priority, but those in priority were decided first, if that makes sense. I have the chat transcript from November 4th from last year. It can be a little confusing to read, but if you’d like me to send it to you, PM me your email and I can send it to you.
@kcarpenterfan They will post the decision via the portal and also send you an acceptance in the mail. No e mail. If your transcripts etc…were received PRIOR to November 30 then you will be in priority even if they haven’t updated the portal yet. You can call to double check this. If your materials got there after November 30, you are in the next wave.
jlhpsu I’ve only been through this in 2013 and now in 2015, but I will tell you the higher stats get accepted earlier than the masses.
I wonder if this is what it looks like when you get over 50k applications. 
http://f3y.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Paperwork-550x550.gif
Yep - and ours are in that mess somewhere.
@amomoffour Yes, if you are a lower stat you will NOT be in the first notifications, but if you are a higher stat, you could hear anytime, including January. Your children heard earlier - but many, many, many high stat kids don’t hear until Dec/January. I think that’s important to say because some higher stat kids may think it’s “bad news” that they didn’t hear yet, when in fact, it doesn’t matter one iota to their overall chances that they haven’t heard yet. I know a few kids with 4.0’s that didn’t hear until January last year.
Hopefully, no news is good news!
@burbs20 That is what I said to my daughter. I figured if she was a straight out no…She would have heard already.