We are in Atlanta. My son’s classmate heard Thursday night. I am not sure how often she checks her portal. She was undecided- Liberal Arts and Sciences, but my son said she has a very high GPA and test scores.
I just looked through last year’s decisions thread for UP. Looks like decisions rolled in somewhat sporadically (several around 11/5) and then an increase of acceptances came in around 11/15 (week before Thanksgiving) and then the decisions stopped entirely the week of Thanksgiving and picked up with intensity on 11/28 (the Wednesday after Thanksgiving 2018).
Past history does not indicate future behavior but personally I won’t be surprised if we don’t hear much the week of Thanksgiving. With that said, I did hear of someone in the last few years who learned her news on Thanksgiving Day (not sure how often she checked her portal though).
Remember, PSU only recently changed to accepting the Common App and also only recently implemented EA, so it really is anyone’s guess how this year will go. They are probably a work in progress.
Good luck to everyone.
@OceanIsle That’s impressive research! Thank you! I hope all our kids hear soon!
1 Like
My son put Business Administration as his major but actually doesn’t want to do that and now he is in the Smeal pool for acceptance which I’ve heard is more competitive than general acceptance. Can he call and change it on his application to DUS?
@fla946 , it doesn’t hurt to call and ask. My son did that at another school this cycle and they changed it right there on the phone with no problem at all. Good luck.
Thank you, do you know if this will change his EA status?
@fla946 , for this other school it did not change his EA status and he has already received his offer of admission.
However, what I would do is call and explain the situation and ask them directly whether it would change his EA status, then let them know you don’t want to change anything if it affects EA. My son has also received quick email responses from Admissions for general questions (did you receive latest SAT score, etc.?).
Another option is that if he is declined, I believe you are allowed to call and ask to be re-evaluated for a different major, but his app will then be placed at the back until after EA apps are complete.
If he is accepted, of course he can change his major out of Smeal (but not into it if accepted DUS).
If I have any of that wrong, hopefully our PSU experts on CC can correct me.
@Oceanisle, Thank you again. This is helpful! I will have him call today.
The University is closed the week of Thanksgiving, so I would say it is this week or not until December. @OceanIsle
@PSUPro , that makes a lot of sense and would explain why last year’s threads had radio silence on admissions decisions the week of Thanksgiving. Thank you.
Hopefully we’ll see a surge in decisions this week before break. ?
I applied rolling back in mid September, and I feel like I’ll never hear back. My stats are literally exactly in the 50th percentile for everything, and I know that Penn State receives a ton of apps, but I feel like I can’t wait any longer.
@SaucyCollege Unfortunately, rolling admissions is usually for applications submitted after Nov. 30 and yours may be looked at after Early Action and Priority applications. You may want to call admissions and ask about the status of the your application. There is still time to ask to have your application moved to Priority if it isn’t already there or in the Early Action batch.
Thank you so much, I guess I’ll do that
What is Priority? Can anyone move their application to Priority?
@somekidsmom , I believe they mean Priority = EA (which would theoretically ensure that the app is read before Rolling Admissions apps).
I just spoke with admissions at Penn State regarding the portal. They said:
- Portal is updated once a day around 8am
- The portal WILL be updated over Thanksgiving break.
They could not move me into EA unfortunately, but I did get moved into priority. It’s unfortunate, but it’s better than where I was before. Thank you!
@Mlo625 Thank you!!
@OceanIsle You’re welcome! ?
@somekidsmom Those who chose Early Action and whose applications were complete by November 1 are evaluated first and should receive a decision by Dec. 24. The next group evaluated are those who chose Priority and whose applications were complete by Nov. 30. They should receive a decision by the end of January. If an applicant applied before Nov. 30 but chose Rolling Admissions (which are usually evaluated after Priority), perhaps thinking that would be the quickest decision, he/she can call now, as did @SaucyCollege, and ask to be switched to Priority.