Should I bother retaking TOEFL?

<p>I will apply to PSU as a ED applicant. I am an international student from non-English speaking country. I took the TOEFL and got a 88 due to test center's awful equipment and uninformed organizators (25/19/19/25). The registration fee for that test is 160$. But this doesn't matter. What matters to me is that I have SAT I in May and SAT II in June. Those 4 exams (sat i; math I; math II; physics) do require a lot of preparation. My question is can 88 TOEFL points be a reason between acceptance and rejection? </p>

<p>P.S I have a very good GPA and I don't need any fin. aid.</p>

<p>For grad students the minimum is a total score of 80 with a 19 on the speaking section; you should be fine. PSU does not offer ED, but it is beneficial to get your application in as early as possible. Highly qualified applicants typically hear back beginning in October or November; more borderline applicants may have to wait until January. SAT II’s are not required for PSU, but I assume you are taking them for other schools.</p>

<p>Thanks. Your assumption is wrong because I am taking SAT IIs for PSU to boost my chances of getting in. In your view, am I “highly qualified applicant”? I am expecting SAT I 1900-2000 and 1600 SAT IIs (maybe I will cancel Physics to do my best in math). On their web-site it states that students who submit their applications by 1 October get their decision in Mid-November. I believe I didn’t find any part of giving decisions to “qualified” students first.</p>

<p>P.S I am undergraduate student.</p>

<p>I don’t understand. Are you applying to graduate school?</p>

<p>OPS! I confused you. I will apply for undergraduate 4 year study. Currently, I am a high school junior.</p>

<p>OK. You might look here–
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/penn-state-university-park/1016986-class-2015-results-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/penn-state-university-park/1016986-class-2015-results-thread.html&lt;/a&gt;
to get some idea of the stats of this year’s accepted class, along with when they applied and heard back.</p>

<p>good. just one question. In my country school year starts 15 September. So should I ask my director to give me my high school transcript when I finish my junior year, in May?</p>

<p>I would email the admissions office and ask that question.</p>

<p>I will call them later. Usually they do require student’s high school transcript, don’t they? In my country, I have only 2 years of highschool so basically, I will send them only my 10th grade grades. And, the High School Diploma of course, when I finish my school. Is this it?</p>

<p>Our high schools are grades 9 through 12, so they will look at three years of grades.</p>

<p>Yours not mine. Again: in my country there are only 2 years of high school. I am NOT in the US.</p>

<p>1-4 Elementary School
5-9 Middle School
10-11 High School</p>

<p>Elementary/Middle School grades aren’t required of course. High School Transcript is. So I will send it.</p>

<p>You can look at it that way, or you could look at it this way-- They want to see three years of school records, regardless of how the school is labeled. If a student lives in the US in a school district with a grades 7-8-9 “junior high school” (a model that has for the most part been replaced with 6-7-8 “middle school”), I expect PSU would still want to see the records from grade 9 (along with 10 and 11).</p>

<p>I got it now. One more thing: if my GPA goes up from ealier years is that bad? I mean it’s increasing from one year to another and finally, ends up with 3.97… Starts with 3.1-3.2 and ends with 3.97. I know I made a big improvement. Is this bad/good?</p>

<p>That is good, though I’m afraid PSU has so may applications to get through they may not see it. Have you looked at applying to the [Schreyer</a> Honors College](<a href=“http://www.shc.psu.edu/]Schreyer”>http://www.shc.psu.edu/)?</p>

<p>nope. what’s that for?
What do you mean when saying they won’t notice it? Did you mean that they even won’t look at my School Transcripts? Will I have problems with getting in?
Estimated application:
SAT 1900+
SAT II Math I and Math II–both 800s
GPA: 8 grade: 3.1
9 grade: 3.2
10 grade: 3.97…
good app. essay
TOEFL 88/120
no fin. aid needed. (filling the financial statement AFTER getting accepted because I will have 100% scholarship from independent company. However, when applying I write to them that I will NOT need any fin. aid from PSU.)
ECs
many achievements in art
personal catalog
some research papers…
Self Studying APs (NOT offered and NOT available in my country to take)
Calculus BC
Human Georaphy
Environmental Science
Physics (Calculus based)
(I will write about my readiness to take them as soon as I arrive to the US)
Chances???</p>

<p>It is sort of a college within a college that is made up of particularly talented students and offers a number of “perks” (early registration for classes, special housing). You should read about it and see if it might interest you. </p>

<p>With tens of thousands of applicants PSU does not have the manpower to look at all the detail on every application. They will look at your cumulative GPA; if it is adequate they may not look at all the individual grades. (GPA is weighted 2/3 in admission decisions.) If you apply to the Honors College, however, they will look at all your achievements, scrutinize your essays, and do a much more thorough job of reviewing your material.</p>

<p>If you look at the results thread you can compare yourself to the accepted students and see how you’d fit in. I’d say you have a good shot, especially if you keep your grades up.</p>

<p>Can I ask where you’re from? Just curious.</p>

<p>I have no idea what Cumulative GPA is. Is it like an average of all GPAs? In my school, in Eastern Europe, we don’t have GPA system. The only thing we have is grade system; and moreover, we can’t choose our course or however they are being called in the US. All I did is calculated my GPA in an online calculator and that’s it. I am not interested in honors colleges; however, I am interested in PSU Park. My major is Petroleum Engineering and that’s it (not sure about exact name; anyways, Oil engineering). One more thing: what do people mean when they say like “i was accepted to my second campus choice”? what’s that?
I only wish I could take those APs here…</p>

<p>Yes, cumulative GPA would be the average of the GPAs from grades 9, 10 and 11.</p>

<p>Your program would be Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering which is in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. It would probably be useful to review all the information available on the website before you complete your application–
[Petroleum</a> and Natural Gas Engineering | John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering](<a href=“http://www.pnge.psu.edu/]Petroleum”>http://www.pnge.psu.edu/)</p>

<p>In addition to the main University Park campus, Penn State has smaller satellite campus throughout the state. For various reasons, some students begin their PSU careers at these smaller campuses, though most then transfer to University Park after two years. Usually, if a student is not accepted to University Park, they are offered admission to a satellite ( or “branch”) campus.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about the APs; many students are accepted to Penn State with no AP courses.</p>