Ok. Thanks Nutmeger!
@greenbutton Since his academics aren’t THAT strong, his essay, explaining his background leading to those academics ( and the fact he had been a competitive gymnast for 11 years), is what he is hoping will get him in. His next 7 essays he found his writing niche.
@nutmeger12031999 Ok thx! We are in Southern CA, so we thought perhaps he would be hearing earlier because of course they would be getting out of state tuition should they admit him . LOL.
Thanks.
@Andreq: is he a recruited gymnast? If not, it won’t really help at Penn State. It really is 2/3 GPA including curriculum rigor (how many AP/Honors classes? precalculus/calculus in math? Level 4 or 5 in foreign language? all three from bio/chem/physics?), 1/3 scores and everything else, with scores weighing the most within that group.
My D applied 9/1/17 and has had all ger items completed and under review since Oct. it’s frustrating but like everyone says Jan 31st! Lol. Her best friend has been accepted to University Park since Thanksgiving which makes it hard. All her friends who applied have all gotten in to either the local branch (Harrisburg) or University Park. My D has a better GPA than most of them but she also applied with Summer option to UP so I’m wondering if maybe thats why her offer isn’t out. We have had 2 annoying false alarms too from the portal saying login in tomorrow for a decision
He actually had met with the team coach unofficially when we took our campus tour in November 2016 and the coach was interested in him. But for different reasons, he decided over the summer to stop gymnastics. So they never even had a chance to recruit him because when he met with the coach, he was only in his first semester of 11th grade.
As far as AP classes, yes he has taken AP classes every year since 10th grade. And as far as math… He is far ahead of most High school seniors because he is even in AP Stats now. He took pre-Calc in 10th grade and AP Calc in 11th grade. He went up to Spanish 3. At his school Spanish 4 was the highest he could’ve gone and chose not to continue. He took rigorous classes according to his academic coordinator who he has been working with for the past two years, every year since ninth grade.
He took as far as sciences go up through chemistry, took anatomy which was an honors level class and last semester took molecular genetics which was also an honors class.
As I said he is not strong academically because he does not test well unfortunately due to different reasons that are in his genetic make up. And it frustrates him. We know the chances of him getting in are very slim. But that’s why the waiting is even worse. But because it was always his dream to attend he insisted on applying. Just wish it could be like a Band-Aid and pull it off quickly since we don’t think the news that he will get will be the answer that he wants.
@weareMom , Ugh re the false alarms! I’m sorry!
@MYOS1634 I’m not saying it would’ve helped that he was a competitive gymnast literally since he was five years old… But since he trained 24 hours a week for the last 6 years, his essay explained that in addition to the issues that I told you that are part of his genetic make up… Again he was explaining why he isn’t as academically strong compared to those who have over 4.0’s who apply .But that he has determination and perseverance.
This would be a fantastic essay and I hope he applied to holistic universities (based on what you said, he may do well with Muhlenberg, St Lawrence, perhaps Hobart&WilliamSmith, Goucher, St Michael’s - they are test optional to boot). However Penn State isn’t very holistic so do keep his expectations in check (and if he hasn’t applied to the above colleges, express interest and have him apply ASAP.)
How would he feel if he got admitted to a branch campus? And would the branch campus matter (ie., Erie, Altoona, and Harrisburg are the “residential” campuses. Many others are essentially open-admissions/commuter, such as Greater Allegheny or Abingdon, and may have only one dorm - sort of like California’s CCs.) But I’m not sure it’d be worth it from Southern California - I assume he’s applied to CSU’s and UC’s, which would be a better value.
@weareMom I feel the same frustration. My son also applied on 9/1 with summer option, has been under review since Oct, and has not yet heard anything. At least we only have 10 more days to go!
He did apply to Goucher and received his admissions letter the second week of December. He also was admitted into the University of New Hampshire. Yes he also selected for a second choice Altoona because it is in Philadelphia near where some relatives live. He applied to a few the Cal States and a few of the UC‘s but since 10th grade has always said he wants to go to school on the East Coast. The money for us it’s not an issue so whatever he gets into and whereever he would like to go it’s totally OK .
I applied engineering on December 26th and my application has been under review for about two weeks. Does anyone know if the timing of application submission is related to decision release? From reading the more recent posts, it seems random.
if i checked yes to the summer option does that mean I am automatically getting summer?? or will can I still possibly be offered admission for the fall semester
@Andreq , good luck to your son. If he’s on the bubble for UP, I would hope that the admissions committee would take his gymnastics background into account. It takes a crazy amount of year-round commitment and work ethic to do that sport.
@finnb you’ll read a ton of kids who applied in sept and still don’t know. And these are the first round of kids that applied by the 11/30 deadline and will hear by 1/31.
@Sophley Thx! And Oh yes it did!
@MYOS1634 I had replied with all the answers you had asked me but I forgot to tag you in that reply.
@finnb Kids who apply AFTER the 11/30 deadline and before 12/31 can expect a response by 2/28. According to their website, those who apply before 11/30 have the best chance at their 1st choice campus.
@Andreq: Thanks.
Altoona isn’t really “close to” Philadelphia, but it’s a relatively residential branch campus and he’s sure to get in. I’m not sure it’s worth it from OOS though.
I forgot, did he apply DUS or what major did he apply for? Majors also factor into the decision. He’s on the bubble, so his essay MIGHT help him, but be ready to call right away if he’s sent to Altoona, asking for a review with another major - if you indicate which major he applied for, we may find an equivalent in a less selective college.
What about UVermont? Here, it has a better reputation than UNH while not being as hard to get into as Penn State. Same thing for UDel, which is also located in a great college town and has a nice campus, but is close to major urban area on the East Coast (v. UVermont’s being close to ski slopes and a favorite of New England prep school students.)
If you have a budget for OOS colleges and he’s set on the East Coast, it may be worth a try to apply to a couple more, especially since he’s refined his essay since then.