<p>So the Schreyer page ( How</a> to Apply: Schreyer Honors College ) states the following:
[quote]
The priority application date for the SHC for Fall 2013 first-year admission is November 30, 2012, but applications may be submitted through January 15, 2013. Applicants will be notified of admission decisions by mid-March.
[/quote]
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<p>Can anyone quantify what the benefit would be to meet the priority deadline? Is it much easier to get accepted?</p>
<p>This was posted on Schreyer’s facebook page yesterday:</p>
<p>“Friday’s coming! Attention high school seniors: Just a reminder the Friday is the SHC’s priority application deadline for admission for fall 2013. Put the finishing touches on those essays, check in with your teachers on those recommendation letters, and be sure to actually hit “submit” to get your application in by midnight on Friday. While we accept applications through January 15, those that are received by the November 30 date are reviewed first with admission decisions made in early March. Questions? Contact our admissions office at 814-865-2060 or email <a href=“mailto:scholars@psu.edu”>scholars@psu.edu</a>.”</p>
<p>That doesn’t really tell me anything about whether missing the “priority deadline” will hurt one’s chances. Will they review the batch submitted by 11/30 and once they get to their goal for acceptance stop, or put ones that are ‘on the bubble’ into a pool to be reevaluated after the 1/15 deadline?</p>
<p>There is a hard cap to the number of Schreyer Scholars each year. As such, once the initial freshman slots are filled, later applicants are at a severe disadvantage to get acceptance into the Honors College. They will look at the later submissions, but the hurdle gets a lot higher.</p>
<p>I would say that if you do not get your app in by the priority deadline there needs to be something pretty remarkable in your resum</p>
<p>Hi, I realize I’m very late posting to this, but I just wanted to say on here for the benefit of the kids who will dig up this thread in the future: it IS possible to by admitted even if you don’t apply before the priority deadline. I personally didn’t submit my application until 1 minute before the absolutely final deadline but was still accepted. And I wasn’t even a particularly impressive applicant; I just wrote one completely original and out of the box essay and two barely decent ones. Just find a way to make your application stand out from the crowd and you stand a chance of getting in.</p>
<p>So this is late too, like confussedtodd’s post, but have faith! Although you SHOULD submit your app by the priority deadline, I did not. I thought odds were pretty much stacked against me because I submitted late, was out of state, and didn’t have a perfect 4.0 GPA (I submitted it a week before the final deadline was due). However, I still got in! You just need killer recommendations and killer essays. I know my recommendations were super strong because the teachers I asked really knew me on a personal level and were extremely familiar with my work ethic. As far as essays, work hard on them. Although I am not the best writer in school (4 on AP Lang test), my essays I think were very strong. So if you’re reading this and are going to apply past the priority date, just make sure the rest of your app is super strong!</p>