<p>Penn State isn't my top choice, but I'd like to know whether I stand a chance of being admitted into the Honors College. </p>
<p>**My mom, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather all went to Penn State, my uncle is currently a professor of English at University Park -- would this give me a boost? </p>
<p>SAT: 2180 composite (650 M, 750 CR, 780 W)
GPA: 3.77 UW --> low for SHC, I know, but I attend one of the most rigorous high schools in the country where I am IB Diploma Candidate (meaning every class I take is Honors or IB SL or IB HL)
My essays should be fine (my writing abilities are my greatest academic attribute, I feel), and my recs should be above-average (1 from my Calc. teacher, the other from my Creative Writing/IB Lit II teacher) </p>
<p>Schreyer’s admission is extremely competitive. Extremely! Virtually everyone who applies has outstanding Test scores and superlative gpa; it is your essays that set you apart. Your best chance lies in a truly compelling vision of who you are, and what you want to do with your life. Simply being a legacy or going to a hard high school is not enough, so work on your Schreyer essays with all you’ve got.</p>
<p>While the core concept that factors other than the transcript are essential. The process is more complex than the essays setting you apart. The transcript is evaluated separately. The combination of short answer responses, essays, recommendation letters and the appropriateness of the academic record and rigor is analyzed by faculty readers. Most unsuccessful applicants have failed to paint a consistent picture of themselves within the four criteria. In some cases, it’s overly edited essays (too many cooks spoiling the pie) and in others its weak or generic recommendations. My experience tells me the weakest part of most overachiever’s application is the letters.</p>
<p>Thank you for your feedback! Do you know how long the essay responses should be? I feel like mine are on the short side (~200-300 words, maybe), but I don’t want to stuff them with unnecessary fillers. If I got my point across in each, should I not worry about the word count?</p>
<p>Concise essays are not a problem and will be well received by the readers who evaluate 3 essays, 3 letters of rec and the short answers for each of the applications assigned to them.</p>