Penn State- UP, I’m a high school rising senior with Penn State UP as my primary choice of school, I have a 3.5 weighted GPA, I have previously taken 6 AP classes, as well as played a sport all years of high school and been a team captain, along with being vice president of film club, and community service. Additionally, I am doing dual enrollment full-time senior year. I plan on applying for summer session, DUS, my question is, with the current state of the country, should I wait to take the ACT in September 12th, or apply ASAP in August?
sidenote: I previously had a SAT session scheduled for April 14th, and an ACT session scheduled for July 18th, both of which have been canceled.
Your gpa is a bit low, so the AP strength of schedule only really helps if you did well in those. Test-optional means you have to decide which way they are going to evaluate you (with or without) and the only way you can change would be if you select test optional and then the tests are cancelled. You would have to produce proof and appeal, but they won’t hold you to something you can’t control.
They don’t really care about your activities or sports; dual enrollment if you do well is good, Summer session and DUS should be attainable if you test well. I would be hesitant to take a chance on that weighted gpa, alone. Taking the test shouldn’t significantly hurt you (as far as August vs Sept, because admissions aren’t rolling, really) and could help a great deal.
Penn State’s Early Action deadline is November 1. Applying in August is no more advantageous than applying in September or October. I think you should wait, take the ACT in September if it isn’t cancelled, then once you receive your scores, decide whether or not to submit them.
@mom517 DUS is Division of Undergraduate Studies, Penn State’s name for “undecided major”. Summer Session means starting at Penn State the summer following high school graduation. Admission to Summer Session at University Park (main campus) is generally a bit easier than admission to Fall Session.