I have friends who applied November 30th as well and heard back a week before I did. I thought it was because I didnt get in but I did, so it’ll come just be patient 
Good luck!
will penn state be releasing more decisions this week?
@tagreen348 yes. Check up until Christmas Eve. They’re closed from the 24th-2nd
@CathJR No one is saying it’s not annoying. But what we are also saying is this is the way it’s done and this is the way they TOLD you it was done when you applied. What is ‘unfair’ about that? They don’t do first in first out and don’t claim to. They do it in whatever order they do it in - and no one has really cracked that code - but they surely have an algorithm that works in order to fill their programs. There is an entire blog post about what happens with your application when it gets to PSU http://sites.psu.edu/weadmit/2014/12/02/what-happens-to-your-application-once-its-submitted/ You will see there that they talk about the application being “coded”. I am sure that is in relation to major, GPA etc…and it get’s filtered from there. So someone who applies in September but has a different GPA and a different major will go down a different “path” than someone who maybe applied 2 months later that has different GPA and a different major and maybe ends up in a shorter “path”. The outcome is random, but the process isn’t. That’s how they have to do it in a school of this size.
Everyone gets why you are upset. I am sorry that you find our suggestions unhelpful. Those of us here answering questions have been doing so for years, for no reason other than to HELP those people going through the process because we were helped by others when we went through the process. I’m not paid to come here daily and answer questions…often the SAME questions 10 times a week. I do so because I’ve been around the block a number of times with PSU and I am from a family of alumni and students…so I have knowledge that can help and that’s why I’m here. I’m interested in helping out as are others who are here who “aren’t going through it themselves”. We have the luxury of being non emotional about it. At one time, we were in your shoes and others talked us off the ledge (Sometimes unsuccessfully).
It IS frustrating how Penn State does it. But it is, of course, how they do it. It is fine to be upset about it. But don’t say it’s unfair because that implies dishonesty and Penn State tells you when you will hear. It only becomes unfair if you hear after they promised you would.
I am sorry you are upset, and I’m sure my answer was just read as more “blah blah blah”, but hopefully you can see that people here answering are simply trying to help. It is nothing we haven’t heard before and nothing we haven’t said ourselves at one time or another. We are simply sharing how we fared through the process and attempting to help you see the forest through the trees. Best of luck to you - I hope you hear soon.
Jlhpsu, again thanks for the info, perspective and support. Hope to hear before Christmas but I know at worst it’s only another month or so
Does PSU look at weighted or unweighted GPA? If they only look at unweighted and my school only provides weighted GPA, do they do their own calculation then to get to unweighted? Here is what I read on PSU website . ((University Park - High School GPA (4.0 scale) 3.55-3.97 All other Campuses 3.00-3.50)) Is that weighted or unweighted? Confusing… And what do they do if the schools only provide weighted GPA’s?
@kdmt1998 they weight gpas themselves
ACCEPTED TO UNIVERISTY PARK FOR IST!!
Stats:
SAT: 1130(took it 2 times and got the exact same score oh well)
GPA: 3.9/4.0 weighted
Rank: our school doesn’t rank
Other stats: will have taken 9 AP classes by the time I graduate and 10 AP exams (extra one bc of comp gov’s 2 part test) and 4 honors classes
Subjective:
Essays: amazing(I think anyways)-spent a lot of time editing and showed it to multiple teachers
Teacher Recs: n/a
Counselor Rec: n/a
Hook (if any): Hispanics have the lowest graduation rate at my school. Also, my mom was 1st generation college student
Location/Person: NOVA
State or Country: Virginia
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino
Gender: female
Other Factors: heavily involved with extra-curriculars including: basketball(3 yrs), volleyball (1yr), FBLA (3 years and placed 2nd two years in a row at states and competed at nationals in Chicago and Atlanta), member of student council(2 yrs), Spanish Honor Society(2 yrs), National Honor Society(2 yrs), KEY Club (1yr), DECA (senior year only but I placed 1st at districts and am competing at states in Virginia Beach in the spring)
General Comments: this is my first acceptance so far and I’m so happy because I wasn’t sure if I would getc in to UP!! Now I just have to see how much money I can get in financial aid because my family’s financial situation is very tight(single mom, 2 kids). If anyone has info on financial aid or my chances of getting a good package PLEASE let me know!! Also if anyone is also applying to IST for security and risk analysis or has any wisdom to share about their experience!
Anyone admitted who applied to IST?
From what I have heard PSU gives barely any aid. I can’t believe that PSU would take the time to weight the GPA’s their self when they have over 100,000 applicants? That seems crazy time consuming… No? But I agree they can’t use all different weighted GPA from different schools because they can’t compare. But I also can’t see them converting all weighted GPA to unweighted if the school does not supply unweighted? That seems crazy time consuming too…
How long after you guys found out you got accepted did you get the packet in the mail?
@college0827 10 days but I live in Texas
How long does it take to get a reply? I applied in the beginning of November as a pre-med major.
I applied in mid November and got my admission decision early morning on the 18th
I haven’t gotten my packet in the mail yet. My admission decision was posted online 2 days ago so I’m hoping that I’ll get it soon
For those who are interested in changing their major, it’s a really simple process. Just send PSU an email and they’ll change it for you once they receive your email. Changed mine from criminology to DUS today to increase my chances
Accepted into University Park College of Nursing!
SAT: 1330
SAT IIs: n/a
GPA: 3.65/4.0 weighted
Rank: Top 25%
Other stats: ACT: 29
Essays: Wrote about my experience as a camp counselor and why that influenced my decision to major in nursing, had so many teachers proofread.
Teacher Recs: Chem teacher who went to Yale, english teacher who i’ve known since freshman year who went to Boston College. Both really good.
Counselor Rec: Strong rec
Hook (if any): In NHS, a volunteer club, model UN, worked over 600 hours at a summer camp for the past 2 years, volunteer at a school for children with autism, first generation college student.
State or Country: Connecticut
School Type: Small/medium public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Congrats to everyone that’s gotten in and good luck to everyone that hasn’t heard back!
If you are a criminology major and you change to DUS it isn’t going to make a difference. Its only when you want to get into one of the competitive colleges such as Smeal. However, I do not understand why someone would rather apply DUS instead of to Smeal College of Business directly. I say this because even though it will help you to get in to Penn State you will still need to apply at some point to get into Smeal. Since it is highly competitive you may never get in and then you have to pick a different major. College is so expensive these days that if you want to be a business major, you should apply to all the colleges you are applying to as that major and pick the best school you get into (as a business major).
If you’re not in a specific major like Chemicsl Engineering or something along those lines for specificity then it doesn’t matter that much. Do you think a kid with connections who majors in History is worse off than a kid from Smeal in Finance? Nope…
Get in, take the core classes and give yourself the opportunity to earn Smeal
Anyone hear from pre-med yet??