<p>I go to a public school in Philadelphia, 1920 SAT super score or 1870 for the highest sitting, 4.02 GPA weighted, many extra curriculars, fluent at Chinese and English and taking French 4 AP, has 4 AP classes (pretty rigorous) at senior year.</p>
<p>BUT I got rejected from Penn State Main Campus...I applied on November 30th which was the priority deadline, and a few days ago I got my rejection status online...My friend from the other public school got in with a 3.5 GPA and 1500s on SAT, but I guess I am just confused with the whole system at University Park...</p>
<p>If you just got your decision then that probably means you were actually in the RD (not priority) round without knowing it. I applied on November 30th also and thought I was in the priority round, but I called and they said they received my SAT scores a few days later putting me into the regular round.</p>
<p>I’m actually glad I’m not alone in this, because it seems like we both are in a similar situation. I have slightly higher statistics than you except I’m out of state. Nonetheless, my college advisor previously told me not even to worry about my acceptance at Penn State.</p>
<p>Anyway, I was just looking over some of the more recent acceptances and they all have lower SATs and GPAs than us… this is an absolute guess but it may just be that Penn State knows we are not likely to matriculate and deny us from University Park in order to make them seem more selective / increase their yield rate. Purely speculation, but I can’t reason any other logical explanation. Sorry to be so long winded…</p>
<p>You most likely missed the priority deadline. You may have thought you had the materials in on time but one thing probably came in late (ie- SAT scores, transcripts). I HIGHLY doubt PSU would reject you based off your above average state. They are really looking to bring in the best and the brightest here, especially in Sci and Eng. But they can’t admit you if they already filled up a majority of their slots in those colleges to the students who had all their materials in before the priority deadline.</p>
<p>Yeah, I remember my tour guide from there emphasizing to get your app in before priority deadline. That’s probably it. Did you get completely rejected or just from UP campus?</p>
<p>I agree with what the others said. Most likely, you didn’t make the deadline. It’s not just your application that must be in by Nov. 30th - everything else must be there by then, too. What stinks is that this is often beyond the student’s control. We were pretty mad to discover that, a week before the deadline, our son’s guidance counselor still hadn’t submitted the necessary paperwork to Penn State, even though we’d sent it to the school at least two months ahead of time.</p>
<p>I don’t see how this can be beyond a student’s control. What if a student is applying (to another school) EA or ED? If my S’s HS didn’t get his materials into his SCEA school on time there would have been holy heck to pay.</p>
<p>Alas, the deadline stuff is all over the map. Some schools (including very selective ones) can be kind and flexible – particularly for the material that is out of the student’s hands – but other program deadlines are writ in stone. </p>
<p>So, hard lesson learned – at least it sounds like there is confusion here and not deep, wretching grief. Stuff like the tour guide giving a tip needs to register with applicants.
Hopefully there are still some good options coming here. . .</p>
<p>Sadly, it often is beyond the student’s - and parents’ - control. At our son’s school (a small private college prep school), several of the students’ materials reached colleges at the very last minute - or even a little late. At my nephews’ school (a nearby large public high school), several students heard that their materials arrived late. So it seems to be a common problem. </p>
<p>The thing is, unless the student calls the college(s) to ask if their materials have arrived, they may never know if their high school dropped the ball. </p>
<p>Also, if the students are submitting their applications at the last minute, they may also be waiting until late in the process to give their high schools the paperwork. At my son’s school, they required the paperwork 4 to 6 weeks before the deadline.</p>
<p>Our HS has very strict guidelines for requesting recs, sending scores, etc. If a student had all his paperwork in promptly and the scores (or whatever) were not sent promptly the parents would be outraged and the counselor would be held responsible. I’m surprised that is not the case at your small private college prep school.</p>
<p>shirley, did your 25 ACT go to Penn State? I’m pretty sure they look at all the scores you send them and don’t just take the highest. (And I know they only count single sittings and do not superscore.) And what was your Math/CR score only for the SATs…single sitting?</p>
<p>Momwriter, actually, we did call the colleges and checked the websites daily (under the students login) to make sure all materials were in hand. It took 3 days and multiple calls between the college board and Penn State to figure out why the test scores weren’t in the file - to the point of discussing transmission times and batch numbers with the computer people. Calling admissions to ask if a file is complete is a very reasonable thing to do.</p>
<p>oh yes, I have no problem calling (repeatedly, if necessary) and in fact that’s how we found out that our materials had finally arrived. It’s just a shame that parents have to spend so much time double-checking to make sure high school officials are doing their jobs. </p>
<p>And of course there are plenty of students and parents who never think to call admissions and verify that all of their materials were received, so they just assume all is okay.</p>
<p>I am in the same situation. I have a 2230 SAT and 97.75 GPA with all honors/IB courses. I applied BME to University Park on October 15th, but was wait listed (AKA rejected).</p>
<p>Although Penn is considered a safety, I honestly wanted to attend. Now, I’m at a complete loss whether to stay on the waiting list or forget Penn. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>With those stats you should have been accepted if your application was complete by the priority deadline. (A rejection would have been an offer to a branch campus.) I’d call and ask what happened.</p>
<p>Dear Shirley110791,
Did they out right regect you or offer a branch campus - would you consider going to a branch campus for 2 years? In any case call admissions office and ask to speak to an admission representive. Be polite and plead your case and explain how you really want to go to Penn State and ask what are your possible options. See if they offer you the Leap summer program or branch campus. Also ask if you switch major would it make difference_you can always switch later. You need general ed classes in the beginning anyway. You would be surprised how many people get in after making a phone call. Really let them know Penn state is where you want to be. Good luck and let us know how you make out. By the way where else did you apply and have you heard from them yet?</p>