Update: I just checked the portal and I’m in! My acceptance letter should come any day now I’m guessing!
Stats:
SAT: 1440 (740R, 700M)
SAT IIs: 710 Molecular Biology
GPA: (Weighted) 3.75 uw, my school doesn’t weight GPA
Rank: something like 110/1500 (my school is huge)
Other stats: Lots of AP classes (1 freshman year, 2 sophomore year, 4 junior year, 2 senior year) the rest of my classes were honors
Subjective:
Essays: I think my personal statement was okay. I had it checked over by my english teacher
Teacher Recs: Didn’t need these?
Counselor Rec:This either?
Hook (if any): None really. Maybe a girl interested in science, but that isn’t really anything.
Location/Person:
State or Country: Michigan
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Other Factors:
General Comments: Try to include your college in the title too!
Admitted to University Park Campus, School of Science for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major.
Also accepted to: University of Pittsburgh, Grand Valley State University, University of Alabama (19K merit scholarship), and Arizona State University (14.5K merit scholarship)
I hear back from NYU this Friday, so hopefully this will be my first of two acceptances this week!
@nyuhopeful44 Check your portal! Many people have been accepted. They don’t email you, and it it takes a while for you to receive it in the mail from when you actually get in. However, I’ve noticed a trend of people with high GPAs and/or certain majors hearing back so far.
@pagirl1999 My daughter was accepted to Penn UP College of Nursing (her stats or at the top of page 19 in this thread). UPITT requested that she take another SAT and send in her mid-year grades. We scrambled with a tutor and registering for the 12/3 SAT - then a week later found out she was accepted to her Dream School Penn St. We are even still waiting on UDEL. Honestly thought Penn ST would be her reach but they even asked her to apply to the Schreyer Honors College. Her Math and science grades ranged from 102% to 107%. I think they appreciated those scores for the major she selected. Hope this helps. Keep the faith - you will go where you are meant to be.
Does anyone’s application status read, “Your application materials are being verified. Any additional application materials required to complete your application will be added to your Application Checklist during the verification process. We will update this message when our review of your supporting materials is complete.” This has been the same message for several weeks now. All three items in the application checklist have been completed for weeks as I applied early September. My original message was “We are currently receiving a lot of material…” or something to that effect.
@Cookies510. UDelaware does give merit aid to OOS. My daughter got $12,000/year, waiting to hear what her twin gets. My OOS nephew got merit aid from Maryland last year. Good luck!
@nyuhopeful44 both my daughters were accepted for University Park. They found out when they checked their portal either this past Fri night or Sat. They applied in Sept. Good luck!
@laralei That is true. There are not awards like at state schools either. There is a lower tuition rate for In state vs OOS, but no one is getting much merit aid regardless.
@my2nurses That is great congrats to your daughter! I had always thought Pitt was more of a reach for myself so I was definitely surprised when I got in. I applied undecided for both PSU and Pitt and while Pitt is a great school I would definitely consider going to, PSU has always been my number one. Thanks for the advice, it was very helpful!
@Cookies510 Florida State does accept mainly Florida residents but they take a lot of OOS students too, test scores are a big deal for them so if his SAT score is good he has a good shot at getting in. A lot of Florida kids who don’t get into FSU attend Tallahassee Community College for a year and then transfer (basically guaranteed acceptance and most of the professors are the same). I know you probably don’t want to pay OOS for him to attend TCC but it’d be a good option and he’d be able to attend all of the FSU games and events and then transfer into FSU. My sister is attending FSU and she loves it.
@jkb2600 Yes, this means that they are close to reviewing or have already looked at your application and will notify you once they make a final decision. Remember that you are not guaranteed an answer until January 31…I have seen mainly people with high GPAs and/or certain majors getting in so far.
@Cookies510 I am surprised and disappointed your son didn’t get in. Sometimes this admissions process makes no sense at all and any admissions person on any given day can reject an applicant for big or small reasons. Your son’s school list sounds similar to mine so I thought I would share with you where else my son applied. He applied to Penn State, FSU, UF, VT, SC, Ole Miss, University of South Florida, and Auburn. We are OOS for all of those schools. He has been accepted to Auburn, Ole Miss and USF so far and waiting on all the others. Ole Miss and USF have good merit packages for OOS. Your son should try to appeal the decision at UP, highlighting his accomplishments this year they didn’t get to see on his app. If it doesn’t work out, then something better was in store for him We expect to hear from SC later this week and I will keep you posted.
@beach1234 Recommending a repeal for a student who’s WGPA was on the bottom end of the middle 50% (of an UWGPA scale) is not good advice. That is just an exercise in frustration which will end with the exact same result.
2/3 of the decision is GPA, 1/3 test scores. Penn State doesn’t care about grade trends. They care about EC’s only when someone is very borderline. I’m assuming the UW GPA was below the middle 50% by a larger factor so that is why her son didn’t get in, but we don’t know that for sure because that question wasn’t answered. It is so hard when our kids don’t get what they’ve strived for and I feel really badly for any kid that gets rejected - but that doesn’t mean the rejection made “no sense”. A 3.6 W GPA this year could go either way. A few years ago it was more like a 3.5 could go either way. All depends on the applicants for any specific year.
@jlhpsu I understand your point of view, but don’t agree. If a student believes there is new information for consideration, then it is completely appropriate for them to take the time to write a brief letter explaining that. There is no harm in that and may even bring closure to the student, regardless of the outcome. You speak as if others don’t understand the application process. Many people do understand it and sometimes those admitted or rejected ‘don’t make sense’.
I agree that contacting the admissions department never hurts. For instance, this morning I called Temple in response to an email my son received indicating they were holding off on a decision. It seemed odd given his stats. I discovered they miscalculated his WGPA & understated it by .5 because they didn’t properly classify his freshman & sophomore honors classes. Had I not called, we would never have known and a decision would have been rendered with incorrect data through no fault of my son’s. While requesting reconsideration & supplying new info likely won’t make a difference in the majority of cases, it doesn’t do any harm (other than maybe to prolong the agony, but as you said, it can also bring closure).
As an aside, I find it interesting that the same day my son was rejected to UP he received an email encouraging him to apply to the Honors College. Scratching my head on that one.
