@ronboy72 I’m not quite sure what you mean by PSU is “not a state school”. Because it is certainly a “state-related” school meaning, it is a public institution that receives public funding and gives reduce tuition to in-state residences. That generally is the definition of a “state-related” school.
Unless you mean it is not owned by PaSSHE; in which you are correct because it is a University that is part of the commonwealth university system. Making it similar to a UC school instead of a Cal State school in the State of California.
@soccermom22, I’m pretty sure PSU knows which districts (at least regionally) are competitive. Some districts inflate grades while others are beginning to stop that practice. I read an article recently that highlighted research stating that GPAs have been on the rise for years while SAT scores (out of 1600 pts) have declined. If 1/3 of your school is graduating with a 4.0 and above AND your school averages a low SAT score, there’s a problem with the district. You can’t have kids on the high honor roll who also don’t meet the benchmarks for college readiness.
@soccermom22 I don’t really have any hard evidence, but have suspected that PSU admissions does know which schools produce kids that succeed at Penn State. They have all the information to do that. From that basic HS GPA AND PSU GPA information they can come up with an individualized measure of each high school’s academic rigor.
For example:
1000 kids from HS A with a 4.00 HS GPA end up with a 3.0 at PSU
1000 kids from HS B with a 4.00 HS GPA end up with a 3.5 at PSU
Pretty easy to say that a 4.0 at HS A isn’t equal to a 4.0 at HS B.
I suspect that for some of the bigger HS’s they could even be more granular, using things like actual classes. Need more data, but with a larger pool of applicants and attendees, it would be possible after a couple years.
Again, all speculation, but it is possible and MIGHT explain why some kids, particularly borderline ones, get in and some don’t.
@Sophley Below the average? My GPA is almost 3.7 which is above the average! Well whatever, if I don’t get into summer, but into a branch campus, I’m not going at all.
@ronboy72 and @collegebound0600 my daughter suggests joining the FB page Penn State University (PSU) Class of 2022 - once your “join” request is accepted there will be a link on there to join a group chat. There is also another FB page for girls (Penn State University Class of 2022. Congratulations!!! We Are Penn State!
PSU absolutely does take high school into account. The PSU admissions rep for my school told me that. She said that everyone in admissions is assigned territories, and they get to know the schools really well and know what kind of rigor they have, which helps them evaluate kids across multiple schools. So just looking on this board and saying that person had a lower GPA doesn’t really say much. Especially considering PSU recalculates GPA according to its own formula. So what you think your GPA is and what PSU thinks it is are not the same.
@thebigD1001 - I’m out of state but my dad went to North Pocono. Small world!
@jackellynT: in California, the distinction between UC and Cal State indicates “research university for the whole state” v. “directional”. Thus, “state university” is a distinction of level within the system, but both are public universities funded by the residents’ taxes.
In the South, it used to indicate “White-only” university v. “Mostly Black”. (UVa v. Virginia State, UAlabama v. Alabama State…)
In Pennsylvania, the distinction has two purposes: first, establishing Penn State as the university of the state of Pennsylvania, v. UPenn, the University of Pennsylvania which is not the flagship but the totally private Ivy that bears the name of the state (unlike the University of Maryland, the University of Delaware, the University of Virginia)! And second, to mark it as the state flagship. However, unlike the UC’s and the CSU’s, it’s not a public university - the state participates in its funding (5%, I think) and in exchange the state’s residents get a break in prices, but the costs are very high (it’s among the most expensive both for sticker price and net price for its residents) and there’s roughly the same percentage of IS and OOS students, with the latter admitted even if they have lower stats, as a commission established last summer. That makes Penn State half way between private and public. I think the best equivalent are New York’s contract colleges, like Cornell’s CALS and ILR.
@thebigD1001: in that case, the decision is puzzling. They must have recalculated the 3.67 and come up with another result but course rigor should be enough forUP - DUS/Fall or DUS/Summer. However Smeal rejects 90% applicants or something, so not getting into Smeal is more like the norm, it doesn’t mean you’ll get a branch campus for these stats. An issue is that DUS may be full but you can only switch from DUS to Smeal so you don’t really have a choice. I would definitely try and participate in Paterno Fellow Aspirants in the meanwhile, so that you can take some Honors Classes while you’re in DUS and are deciding on your major.
@Trackrunner445 you hit my pet peeve so forgive me while i point out that Penn State is not a state school! Still one of the best public’s in Pennsylvania, but definitely not a ‘state school’
@zorf2 first of all, Penn State isn’t a state school.
Second, the criteria to get into summer is slightly lower than for fall. It’s not about space, it’s about improving the odds of success for those borderline students. They get 6 credits under their belt and study skill sessions etc and a slower roll out to college. Well worth it in my opinion. And the $9000 includes 6 credits and room and board for the summer.
@JackellynT Penn State receives about 5% of their overall funding from the state vs real state schools that receive about 90% funding from the state. That is the difference. We are state related like Pitt and Temple but we are decidedly NOT a state school that has to abide by the state school regulations etc. and thank goodness for that as the PASSHE schools are in danger of closing Because of financial issues. When one says ‘state school’ that usually implies it receives the bulk of funding from the state. Not true for PSU and is why our tuition is so much higher. It may seem the same to you, but it’s not and when people are discussing the costs of Penn State, it’s placement within the system matters. There are 14 PA state schools. PSU is not one.
Strictly speaking, PASSHE schools would get 80% of their budget from the State, and 20% from tuition. A few years ago, the State cut the 80% to 20%, hence budget woes and the need to raise tuition, while more PSU branches popped up creating competition for the PASSHE schools, which couldn’t even really compete on price anymore. But that’s internal Pennsylvania politics. Add to that the UPenn situation and that’s why ‘state school’ is a loaded word in PA.
Dear PSU applicants, you don’t need to know these details. Just know it’s a kind of public/private partnership university
As for summer: traditionally, this option is offered to students who within their specific pool, either major or college, show less rigor or less success within equivalent rigor, than their other admitted classmates - perhaps may not survive the weedout classes in the Fall if taken along with 4 other classes among 200 people. Therefore, they’re given a chance to show they’re up to the task by getting good grades in the summer, when there’ll be 10,000 students rather than 50,000, smaller classes, cohorts of students living together so the classes aren’t as impersonal and it’s easy to start a study group, and more approachable instructors.
However, some students are admitted to summer simply because there was no space for Fall when they applied although they qualified for Fall (especially if they applied after November 30).
The students are expected to show college student -level independence in learning, ie., form study groups, go to office hours; they have a chance to find their bearings on campus, so that when the Fall comes, they hit the ground running with 6 mandatory credits under their belt. It means they can choose to take 1 less class in the Fall to ease the transition, or “save” the credits for junior year when they can try to do an externship and still have enough classes and credits to graduate “on time”, or to make a semester loaded with hard classes (like when premeds take Orgo) a bit easier by keeping a light workload with one less class yet not be delayed in their 4-year plans.
$9,000 IS very expensive.
I checked my son’s portal today and a decision was FINALLY released. I’m happy to say that he was accepted into the College of Health and Human Development with the intended major of Athletic Training at University Park.
@MYOS1634, Is it possible to transfer to other college later if my D decides on another major outside the college. She got accepted to UP CLA undecided major. We didn’t know about DUS when she sent her application.
Portal still says under review. I’m majoring in nursing. I was in my school’s newspaper, NHS student council and the top 10% of my class, ranked 18/240 at the end of junior year. My gpa is UW 3.85 and SAT 1200. Can anyone chance me?
