Still no word… submitted my application with all supporting documents on November 30
@EngineerWannaB7 I emailed them to reevaluate me for DUS last Thursday and they just replied to me yesterday and updated my application info. I feel like calling would be easier but you could always try to call again tm. No clue how long it will take to actually receive a decision though.
Heard back and they put me in behrend. I have a 3.6 gpa with a 1260 sat with 15+ honors and AP credits. I applied for DUS and consideration of summer. Not quite sure how this is possible… everyone should contact admissions and make sure they were considered for summer. Very poor experience overall
I have a question. If you get deffered to an alternate campus, let’s say altoona, would you be able to write to penn state about a medical disability that was just discovered and ask to be reconsidered for summer?
they said about a week…I requested a review from Smeal to DUS last Monday, no change in Portal yet. Did not check summer at first, but requested that as well. With so many applicants, they simply scanning GPA and test scores, no time to review letters of rec, etc…shame! cookie cutter approach, disappointing to hear how they assemble a class…
I just called the Office of Admissions and they had me grouped with the first batch of rolling kids even though I had a a complete application by November 30th (Applied in October actually). They apologized, and updated my portal. It will be available Friday morning. I am excited, but also very nervous.
^ they’re pretty clear - they don’t use rec letters or Sat subjects. Essays are factored in. But most important is GPA x test scores, with GPA 2/3 of the decision, including course rigor (math through pre-calculus or calculus, foreign language through level 3,4,5, all three from bio/chem/physics, as close to 20 honors+ AP classes.) The evaluation of these criteria vary per college, with Smeal and Engineering the mist selective, and the stem preparation and math scores more important for Engineering. So, for engineering, someone with 1280 700 math/ 580 EBR is not in the same boat as someone with 1300, 590 math/710 EBR.)
Behrend is the top engineering college after UP and rather hard to get into actually.
It’s a large university, most state universities function like this or their own version. At some, it’s even just GPA x scores, strictly - CSU’s, Iowa.
Smaller private colleges offer a more holistic review. Some have 2/1 deadlines and are in common app, with no supplemental essay, so if push wish there’s still time there.
@psulions17 I’m so sorry to hear that. It is truly baffling how they come to some decisions, but it is nearly impossible to compare GPA’s across school districts. I’ve seen kids with 4.0 GPA’s denied because their school weights in a way that is not beneficial to them. I am sorry you are disappointed. Will you do the 2+2?
@jackoneill Glad you got some answers! Good luck!
@Fredsanford There is no way, with a school that gets 60k applicants at least yearly, to do it any other way than GPA and test scores. Even with that, they still have to sift through the GPA’s because a 4.0 at one school is not equivalent to a 4.0 at another school. There is a ton of work that goes into the admissions process. It’s not just plug and play - which you can tell because the admit stats are all over the place. Smaller schools can do a holistic approach. All schools of the size of Penn State cannot. Penn State tells you right from the start that decisions are 2/3 GPA and 1/3 test scores and other factors and that letters of rec are not read.
@nhenry123 Unless that disability has something that makes the campus you were admitted to unaccommodating, then no. And since all campuses are ADA compliant, my guess would be that one campus would be considered over another. Believe me when I say, PSU has heard every reason in the book to explain why someone ‘needs’ UP campus. Unless your reason is very compelling, I don’t think it will work.
There is a bit of plug and play with regard to this jihpsu. They might look how schools weight their GPA’s but they surely don’t look at the caliber of high school one is going to and earning that GPA. Academic rigor in high schools varies greatly in high schools throughout PA and the country. Students are being evaluated against their peers in the classrooms in which they sit. For instance, Arkeel’s rushing statistics would look a bit different if he was running in the MAC conference in lieu of the BIG10. This large school approach to scanning numbers is what it is and I get it, but please don’t insinuate that a lot goes into it. For every “qualified” acceptance there are many others equally or better qualified that get passed over because of their inability to go through the applicants application in a more in depth manner.
So after being accepted to 2+2 smeal at Altoona we called to get reevaluated for DUS for UP. They said it would take about a week and when I just checked the portal it said something about checking the lionpath account for accepted students. Then when I scrolled down it said starting semester summer. Does that mean he got in for summer?
Also is there anyway to still call up and get in to fall? Like a waiting list etc? He works all summer and if he can’t work this summer he will lose this job for other summers going forward.
Plus I know it’s a numbers game but it is frustrating to see some who have gotten in to fall with a lower gpa. I know u said u can’t put much weight on gpa but he has all honors and AP and is in a highly rated high school so the gpas have a lot of weight to them
My son got into Behrend instead of University Park with a 3.8 weighted and 1400 sat: math (760) so there is not rhyme or reason. I’ve seen lower scores accepted so they must look at something else.
BTW my son received a congratulations on your acceptance from Penn State Engineering, University Park email today. It gave him a link to the engineering scholarship (for main campus) page to apply. So frustrating.
@nyann1127. It probably means that he got in for the summer session at UP. If he got in for the summer and DUS, he can not be reevaluated for the fall semester. He needs to make his choice between the 2+2 Smeal or summer at UP and DUS. There is no waiting list.
My son also had to give up a very well paying job to attend the summer session at UP. It was very well worth it.
I just didn’t know if u could call them after all decisions are out and try to get it switched once they had all there acceptances in.
Had I known smeal was so hard to get in to we would have applied DUS from the start and based on everyone getting in for DUS he definitely would have gotten in for fall. Now I think he only got summer because they don’t hAve many spots left
@nyann1127 Unfortunately, if he got in for summer DUS there is no more ‘re evaluating’ to be done. There isn’t a waiting list. There are lots of jobs available in State College in the summer because students go home for the summer, so if he chooses to go to UP for the summer, he can always get a job at school. I know that’s a really difficult decision.
If someone could figure out the formula they use to determine admissions or denials they’d make a lot of money. PSU appears to have no rhyme or reason but of course, they must!
@MSmead Behrend Engineering is really difficult to get into as well. I can certainly understand with his stats why you’d be confused about his referral to a branch though. Must have been a lot of engineering applications this year. That’s the only thing I can think of.
@MSMEAD : call right now and say your son got emails about engineering at up including a link to apply for scholarships, and another indicating Behrend, 3.8/1400, which one is it?
They’ve been processing many applications in the past few days and mistakes have been made. You should have received info only from one campus.
My son got an email back from admissions. He received the UP email because he would be 2+2. He will be copied on both Behrend and UPemails for this reason.
Re the PSU admissions process – it is important to note that each high school has a specific profile that is utilized in the admission process. Specifically:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michele-hernandez/10-secrets-for-top-colleg_b_1921183.html
“Every high school has an official college profile that students need to read and be familiar with. College admissions officers will use this to translate and better understand your transcript. Your high school’s profile contains school demographics, grade weighting, class rank policy, grade distribution or percentile distribution, class offerings at the school, standardized test score averages from current and past years, and sometimes, college acceptance rates for previous classes. Even high schools that claim they do not rank often provide a very exact GPA distribution that allows colleges to “force” a rank.”
I would be very surprised if PSU did not utilize this data.
Good luck to those awaiting final decisions
Accepted Fall Health and Human Development (Pre- Major)
SAT: 1220
GPA: 4.0
Many ECs
In State
5 APs
@pilot2012 thanks for this info however when kids from the same high school with lower stats get in to fall and kids with higher stats end up in summer how does that come in to play?
There are kids with lower gpa and test scores that get in over higher stat kids from the same school. Same activities and everything too. Only difference is female vs male.
Are these kids applying to the same majors @nyann