<p>I already sent in my application for penn state a few days ago (priority) and am currently working on the Schreyer's Honors College application. </p>
<p>As I was working on it and researching though (and I don't mean to come off as lazy, lacking ambition, or a major procrastinator), I have been losing confidence in my chances. </p>
<p>I don't have a great GPA and I'm not sure if applying is even worth it...?</p>
<p>Do you think I might as well just try and apply?</p>
<p>EDIT: I guess I'm worried because my GPA is not as good as my SAT or ACT scores.
ACT composite - 31
SAT 2150 (superscored, 680CR, 700M, 770W)
GPA: 3.6 on an unweighted 4.3 scale.</p>
<p>I kinda feel the same way as you, I was already accepted to the college of engineering but i’m not sure if i have the stats to get into schreyers. Although I have heard that they take the essays very seriously. I’m not so sure what the gpa and sat/act ranges are though. Also, they only look at composite sat, they don’t superscore.</p>
<p>I’m gonna post my stats as well see what people think our chances are:</p>
<p>GPA: 4.15/4.0 W
SAT: 2010 (640 CR, 680 M, 690 W)
Class Rank: 13/249
Rec: good
ECs: I have a lot
Essays: I’ve only written the first one so far but I think it’s pretty good</p>
<p>Thank you for posting your stats and sharing your story. I go to a very competitive high school which doesn’t rank (good news for me haha). Does it really not superscore? I got a 2110 in one sitting so I guess that is okay. I heard they might not even consider test scores which sucks for me. Plus, there are just so many essays to write!!!</p>
<p>EDIT: I have excellent recommendations though… i feel weird asking my teachers to resend recommendations though… They already sent heir recommendations to penn state… Do they need to resend them for SHC? I didn’t put their contact information on the SHC application…</p>
<p>I know! I hate essays so much, that’s why I liked the Penn State app because there was no real essay or anything haha. I wrote the first one and was ready to start the second one but I didn’t understand the prompt at all so I quit. I know they don’t superscore for the general app at least, so I would assume that carries over to the schreyers as well.</p>
<p>Schreyer will not consider your test scores- it has been confirmed multiple times that they are not part of the admissions process.</p>
<p>@cricket123 I would need to see your ECs to honestly chance you. But if its any consolation, I was accepted with a GPA pretty similar to yours. IMO the essays and other softs factor into an admissions decision here more than most other places. Also, yes, recs will have to be sent to Schreyer separately.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help!! I am the cofounder and vice president of the Russian cultural club at my school. I am also the treasurer of another club. I have been working as a legal assistant at a law office since my sophomore year and am considering becoming an attorney. I want to study psychology and political science. My ECs are definitely not as great as that of other students.</p>
<p>^ I don’t see a reason why you shouldn’t apply- your ECs are in line with some I’ve seen here. Are you in state or OOS? If I could add a word of advice, I would recommend taking one of those passions and “spinning” it in a unique way during one of the essays while showing the depth and level of your interest. That, to me (based off solely what I’ve read in public releases and no inside knowledge), is what the admissions department looks for in applications.</p>
<p>Schreyer admissions is hard to gauge, but your test scores are not part of the mix, as others have said. It’s your essays, recommendations and (important for you) where you want to go as an adult. A lawyer who wants to be a corporate attorney, not so much. A lawyer who wants to be a public advocate, community organizer, or public defender/non profit lawyer — yeah, that’s Schreyer. Passion, purpose, personal goals, those are what Schreyer is after.</p>
<p>Dude… they are not going to use your career choice against you. They definitely look for passion but even if you don’t know what career you want, you can still express this passion in other forms. I am a current Schreyer student and our career choices vary greatly. They are most definitely not restricted to jobs that are in the category of public service. One of my good friends here has always wanted to be an actuary (that is one of the main reasons he came here). That is most definitely not a public service career choice.</p>
<p>But other than that… I fully agree with greenbutton. The essays, your GPA, extracurriculars (looking for quality not quantity) and your recommendations are the most importart part of your application and they will decide whether or not you are going to be accepted to Schreyer. (The SAT scores are definitely not looked at. I know some kids that got rather low scores on the SAT and they still got in.)</p>
<p>I was accepted with a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.74 out of 4 (all honors courses, no AP…school makes everyone do honors courses…AP is a “do-yourself” thing). My school does not rank, though if I were to rank myself, I would be in the top 50% (basically around the middle) of my class. Just saying though, my high school (Regis High School in New York) is an anomaly (wiki it if you want to know why). You are usually expected to be in the top 5% of your school and your GPA should be higher (like around 3.9/4).</p>
<p>SAT (doesn’t really matter but listed it anyway)
M: 760
V: 700
W: 670</p>
<p>Very heavy extracurriculars with leadership positions (about 2 hours everyday…yearbook, chess, band, etc…)</p>
<p>Asian… applied after the priority date (Don’t do this!!! I did not know about Schreyer until after I finished the regular PSU app in early January and I had to rush lolz). I was also an international student at that time.</p>
<p>I really do not know what your chances are to get into Schreyer considering your school is apparantly also an anomoly according to you. I would say that you should still apply regardless and see what happens. This isn’t exactly HYP where you will need super top notch scores just to be considered competitive. It’s a public university honors college, probably one of the best in the country (but that’s just an opinion). It’s certainly selective but not super selective.</p>
<p>@etriplec,
Well I wouldn’t say my high school is as prestigious as yours but it is a public school considered to be as rigorous as a private school…
I doubt my GPA is high enough…
Thank you! :)</p>
<p>I asked a question about GPA and tests scores directly to one of the Schreyer faculty. He responded by saying “We don’t publish those because we want to see the quality of the applications first”. In other words, there are a fixed number of slots, and they don’t want to publish any numbers only to have to change them later - either up or down. This implies that your standardized tests scores are considered somewhat - maybe only as a screening criteria? It doesn’t really matter. The criteria are not published, and they can be changed without notifying you. If you don’t write the essays, you won’t get in. If you do write the essays, and don’t get in, maybe you can refuse them for another school.</p>
<p>^I’m unsure what you mean. Are you saying they have a set minimum number for GPA/SAT? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that and would be interested if that were true.</p>
<p>^
I’m surprised by the SAT averages as they say they do not consider them…
Mine is 2150 superscored and my GPA is 3.73 on a weighted 4.33 scale…</p>
<p>If you’re on the edge, I would suggest applying to Schreyer’s. Obviously, the chances will be a lot better for this next entering class. There’s no way that PSU will attract the same quality of students after this year’s events.</p>
<p>@MisterK.
You think so? I think I’m going to apply anyway but I’m not sure how much “this year’s events” as you put it will really indirectly increase my chances…
I guess it’s worth a shot though, right?</p>
I go to a very competitive high school which doesn’t rank (good news for me haha). Does it really not superscore? I got a 2110 in one sitting so I guess that is okay. I heard they might not even consider test scores which sucks for me. Plus, there are just so many essays to write!!!</p>