Schreyer Honors College Class of 2020

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
21

Accepted - Eberly Science + Schreyer

Stats:

SAT: 2250 800M 690R 760W
SAT IIs: 800 Physics, 780 Math Il, 760 US History
GPA: 3.95
Rank: Top 3 % of 800
Other stats: 5’s on AP US History, Calculus BC, Physics C, Statistics

Subjective:
Essays: Very good in my opinion
Teacher Recs: Excellent
Counselor Rec: Unknown
Hook (if any): Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science Director’s Award, Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences

Location/Person:
State or Country: PA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity/Race: Asian
Gender: male

Other Factors: Applied November 26
General Comments: Honestly shocked, especially after looking at the acceptance rate this year. Congratulations to all who got in!

22

Not accepted def surprised

4.6 weighted
1970 SAT
11 AP, Scholar with distinction (5 on Calc as soph)
Dual enrolled in PSU as a senior
Race: Caucasian
School: Public
Gender: Male
Other: Tons of EC, captain varsity team, Math Honor, Science Honor, National Honor, Coach disabled children for 4 years
State: PA

Great interview, great teacher recommendations

Congratulations to those accepted~!

23

CONGRATULATIONS!!! :smiley:

24

Accepted!

Stats:

SAT: 2320
ACT: 36
SAT IIs: 800 Physics, 790 Math Il
GPA: 4.53 (Weighted)
Rank: Top 5
Other stats: 5’s on AP Calculus BC, Physics C Mechanics, Chemistry, Statistics and 4’s on Physics C E&M, Literature, US History, Government
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar, Intel STS Research Report Badge, NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Affiliate Winner

Extracurriculars:
TSA (7- 12th)
Science Bowl
CyberPatriots
CodeTN
Mu Alpha Theta
National Honor Society

Volunteer: Bit of tutoring, IndiaFest, FIRST Lego League tournament
Interview: Wasn’t contacted for one

Subjective:
Essays: Decent
Teacher Recs: Good
Counselor Rec: Probably good
Hook (if any): Not really!
Location/Person:
State or Country: TN
School Type: Public
Ethnicity/Race: Asian
Gender: Female

General Comments: I’M SO HAPPY :slight_smile:

25

Decision: Accepted

Liberal Arts & Schreyer

Objective:
SAT I: 1760 (very low, I know, but they don’t look at that so…)
ACT: 26 (also fairly low)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98/4.3 (I think? School doesn’t use 4.0, we use a 100 point scale)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/456
AP: APUSH, English Lit., and Chem. Currently self-studying AP Gov.
IB (place score in parenthesis): None.
Senior Year Course Load: College English Composition 1, College Psychology, Modern European History, Government and Civics, Honors Physics, Advanced Math, Trigonometry, Speech and Communications
Major Awards: United States Senate Program Semi-Finalist, CONA Recipient, several local awards

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Youth & Government: 10,11,12, - President, chosen to attend National Conference
NHS Co-President: 11,12
Student Council President: 12, VP: 10
Yearbook: Editor-In-Chief
Select Choir: 9,10,11,12
AV Club (2 people chosen): 11,12
Academic League: 9,10,11,12
Drama Club: 9,10,11,12
Archery: 9,10,11,12 - Varsity letter winner

Job/Work Experience: Writer for Amish newspaper
Volunteer/Community service: Average volunteering whenever the opportunity arises.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8-9/10. The first one I wrote about was how I have changed throughout this college admissions process and how relatable it is to life, the second one I wrote about how multiculturalism has affected my life coming from such small backgrounds. I think my short essay about a book was really good - I wrote about a story that influenced my name, and nickname, in today’s time.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 Penn State alumni, also knew the teacher for upwards of 6 years and we get along very well, he wrote it in no time.
Teacher Rec #2 & #3 - No idea…I didn’t read their’s

Interview: N/a

Other

State (if domestic applicant): PA
School Type: Public (400 students)
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy, First Gen. schreyer

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, gpa, leadership experience
Weaknesses: SATS, even though n/a, no interview, lots of things, tbh.
Also Applied: George Mason Honors, Roanoke Honors, Franklin & Marshall (Deferred)

General Comments : So blessed to have been granted admission, congrats to all!

26

Congratulations to all those accepted to SHC! Five years ago, my youngest daughter (D2) had to wait for the same email to come in. It was agonizing, especially with her other acceptances already in hand. I just want to let you know what a world of opportunities being a Schreyer scholar opens up to you.

D2 was an architecture major, arguably one of the most time-consuming majors at Penn State. She managed to graduate with honors in Architecture as well as getting a second degree (with honors) in Anthropology. Many of her fellow Schreyer Honors College (SHC) classmates wound up with two or three degrees when they finished their academic careers at PSU. In fact, I believe that about 40% of the SHC scholars in D2’s graduating class graduated with at least two academic degrees.

The opportunities and advantages that being a Schreyer Scholar are multitudinous. Penn State offers a wealth of courses and degrees, as do many large campuses. However, being in the SHC enables you to fully take advantage of that variety. D2 was able to register first for classes As well as take a semester abroad (with financial assistance from Schreyer). I’m not sure that she would have had all the same opportunities if she had chosen another college to attend.

For the parents out there, and this was my primary emphasis - living in the honors dorms means your kid is going to be living with other kids who have the same drive and determination to succeed. D2’s roommates from her first two years wound up going to med school or grad school at Columbia. D2 wound up getting a job offer as an architect at well above the median starting salary due to both her accomplishments and opportunities as an SHC scholar as well as being a PSU alumni. (Don’t ever underestimate the networking opportunities that derive from attending the university with the largest alumni organisation in the world can offer.)

27

Decision: Accepted

Eberly College of Science & Schreyer Honors College

Objective:
SAT I: 2200
ACT: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0/4.0 (4.62 weighted, but we get 5.0 for Honors courses in addition to AP, A- is a 4.0 unweighted)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank
AP: USH, English Language, Physics 1, Psychology, Studio Art 2D
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Language, AP Studio Art Drawing, AP Bio, AP Statistics, AP Gov
Major Awards: National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction

State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Public (2000 students)
Ethnicity: Mixed (White/Asian)
Gender: Male

Extracurricular: Sports, 4 year varsity, 6 years club, national team pipeline camps
Volunteer: Coaching Sports Camps

I wanted to post one of these because I have found it really helpful to glance over them during my own college search. I am very excited to have been accepted to the University and the Honors College! I think my essays are what got me into the school, as I spent many, many hours editing them to make sure that they would be as pristine as I could make them (much to the disdain of my friends that wanted to hang out). My two cents to anyone applying to Schreyers is to really give the essays the time they deserve, especially if you are not a naturally talented writer (I’m definitely not- it takes me a very long time to edit essays to flow and make sense, whereas many of my friends can craft sentences that are cohesive, emotional, and beautiful with little effort). However, the great thing about writing is that as long as you put enough time into a piece, and you write about something you genuinely believe in, eventually it will turn into something that artistically reflects what you want to say. All in all, spend a lot of time brainstorming to find something you believe to be insightful and reflective of your character, write an initial draft, edit out redundancy, organize ideas, and continue adding to your argument until it has a high level of clarity and depth. It helps tremendously to have peers/parents/adults to read it over. For me, the stress of college essays really made me turn out my best work, and after countless hours I was proud of what I could submit. Hopefully this helps a SHC hopeful struggling with the three essays!

Congratulations to all my peers that were accepted, and good luck to everyone else in their college searches!

-N

28

Decision : admitted

ACT: 32
International student, Male
Major : Mecchnical engineering
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9/4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank
Major Awards: National award for distinguished student,
Loads of extra curricular activities incl social works