Anyone have any guesses or intel on when decisions might start to roll out? Yes, I know that PSU communicates “by December 24th” for EA, but many colleges communicate similar practices and release in batches prior to that date. 
Who else is waiting?
I talked with an admission person last week and they said decisions could start rolling out in mid November.
A few years ago, my daughter heard on Thanksgiving Day - it was November 24th. (she got in, went and loved it. “WE ARE!”)
@4gsmom I love that story! Thanks for sharing; so glad to hear of the positive outcome for her.
Waiting! Applied in August.
Hoping to send another kiddo to PSU. He applied 8/1 and is still waiting. Let the “OPC” begin… (obsessive portal checking).
We were at a branch open house over the summer and they said mid October for Branches and November for Main.
@StephenLL, did they say mid-November or early November?
I was told by an admissions person that the 2nd or 3rd week in November they would start releasing decisions and continue up until December 24th for early action.
Here are the hard facts…nobody knows. TRADITIONALLY, decisions begin to roll out in November…but only for a very small percentage. The vast majority of decisions will occur in December for EA and January for priority.
Penn State doesn’t really release in batches. All they promise you is “if you apply by X date, you will hear BY x date”. That could include the very last day. Plan for Dec 24. Hope for earlier. But don’t expect it.
@jlhpsu , in your observation from the past (though obviously no guarantees), should a kid in the middle range of PSU’s stats who applied EA expect he/she will likely get deferred to RD? DUS Undecided and no summer start checked on the app.
@OceanIsle so hard to predict - last year was the first year of EA and were kids deferred because of stats or because Admissions staff was overwhelmed and didn’t get to them? (We all heard that rumor).
“middle range of PSU’s stats”… what does this mean? I will break down how it is different:
- GPA - 2/3 of decision. What is unweighted? Weighted? Rigor? Is the HS a strong HS? Does the candidate have required science/math/foreign language?
- SAT - PSU does not superscore. This is about 1/3 (or less) of the decision.
- Legacy/Sibling - any?
- Activities/Grade Trends/Other - anything to help the student here?
If the kids really wants PSU, I would encourage him/her to check summer. It is a great program - kids get a jumpstart on things, adjust to college, etc. Many kids do it who do not “have” to do it.
We aren’t exactly sure that GPA is 2/3 of the decision, during my time here I’ve met many students who got into PSU with less than stellar GPAs. I think Penn State really does take a more holistic view of your application, taking into consideration your essay, rigor, act/sat, and any extenuating circumstances. If your gpa isn’t the best but your other stats wow, you may have a good chance of getting in. We are all just guessing, we really don’t know what goes on in admissions.
During our campus visit and admissions session, they echoed lucyvanpelt that the incoming class will be 2/3 GPA and 1/3 SAT (no superscore). Don’t send resume, volunteering or letters of recommendations etc. All those extras become relevant when applying for scholarships.
@LM3232 Penn State doesn’t even have an essay in the true sense. They have a short personal statement that they do take into consideration, but it falls in the 1/3 that is combined with the test score. They don’t read recommendations…they don’t require them and they let you know they won’t read them if you send them. The definitely take your rigor into consideration, but they tell you that GPA is 2/3 of the decision when you go to their tours or speak to anyone in admissions. The other 1/3 is test scores and “other factors”.
While much of admission is guess work to those of us on the outside, many of us have been around here for years and have watched many application cycles come and go and we have a really good idea of the general flow of things based on other years. Penn State gets over 100,000 applications a year. They are unable to do a holistic review of applications and still get decisions out by the deadlines. It’s pretty much a numbers game at Penn State and always has been. According to the common data set, the three things that are “very important” in your decision is your GPA, your test scores and your rigor. That’s it.
@OceanIsle @lucyvanpelt is correct (as usual :)) Last year was the first year for the EA decisions. In last year’s cycle, we did see that middle of the road stats were often deferred to regular decision, but in true Penn State fashion, we also saw some pretty high stats get deferred also. I’d love to say that things are black and white, but they aren’t. It’s a waiting game…a slow, agonizing waiting game. But the good news is, once someone gets in, nobody on God’s green earth will ask when they got accepted…Whether you are the very first in, or the very last - you all start the same day! Fingers crossed for quick decisions this year - last year was a cluster…
Someone on the PSU Parents FB page posted an acceptance today, so they must be starting to release
some decisions.
I have a freshman at UP who did (and absolutely loved) the summer LEAP program. I’d encourage your kids to check the summer start box (if you can afford it, as it’s not cheap).
Good luck to the students (and parents) of 2024!
@penmom222 correct, but that acceptance was for a branch campus.
@simple0920 ah ok I didn’t realize that. ?. Makes sense since it’s not even close to the EA deadline yet.
@jlhpsu thanks for the shoutout! Back at ya!
In general, PSU has been known for being more GPA focused than test score oriented. I was surprised at this year’s Spend a Summer Day when they showed the 2/3 GPA slide, since I had thought they were walking away from that. I actually took a photo of that slide for that exact reason. They have found GPA to be a better predictor of success… take that for what it is worth -
@lucyvanpelt , thank you for that info. I had assumed that the 2/3 GPA stat was inside speculation from keen observers or people who had once worked at PSU but it’s interesting to know that Penn State actually communicates that fact to the public. Adds a whole new ring to it.