My school does not do weighted GPA’s so I have a 2.71 cumulative gpa. I had a pretty bad sophomore year (2.21) but showed major improvement to my junior year (2.87). I take 5-6 IB courses and am a 3 sport varsity athlete. I also took a community service trip during my sophomore year to costa rica (idk if that helps). I currently dont have SAT scores as they dont come in for another few days. Is this a total reach for me?
I would say not just a reach but almost out-of-reach. GPA is 2/3 of the decision, and you’d be in the bottom 4% of enrolled freshmen as per the Common Data Set (https://budget.psu.edu/CDSRedesign/cds.aspx?reportindicator=FreshAdmn&Location=UP&AY=20162017). Be sure to put a branch as a backup and apply for DUS and summer session.
I agree with bodangles. GPA is the main decision factor for admission, 1/3 of the decision would include, your SAT’s, Extra-Curriculars and etc.
I’m sorry to say that it’s definitely a reach. However, if you are really interested in Penn State you could go to a community college for 2 years and then transfer. However, you’d have to get a good GPA at the community college (I’d say at least 3.5) to get into Penn State as a transfer. Good luck.
^ Or just go to a branch campus, unless the cost is truly prohibitive. You get basically guaranteed transfer if you work with an advisor to complete all the requirements – there’s no second application process. And you can still say you were part of Penn State for all four years, if that matters.
I would not suggest a community college at all. Not all of the classes will transfer necessarily. But if you start at a commonwealth campus, then you know the classes move on with you to UP campus. My son had a 2.8 GPA and is at Altoona campus and really likes it. It’s small (about 5k students) but it’s a full college experience. Meaning they have dorms, clubs, athletics etc…The other 4 year commonwealth campuses that are colleges in their own right are Behrend and Harrisburg. I wouldn’t even apply to UP campus with a 2.7 GPA, unless your SAT is at the very top of the middle 50%. If you do, you are destined to wait until January to find out that you didn’t get in. If you apply directly to a commonwealth campus, you will hear in October-ish and can commit early to get your choice for housing. Most commonwealth campuses don’t have enough housing so some students live off campus. If you want on campus housing, apply directly to the commonwealth campus and commit early.
Remember that 60% of all Penn State grads started at a commonwealth campus. It’s a typical path for many. It’s still a very valued PSU degree at the end of it all. Good luck!
The lowest GPA thinkable is 3.4 so up is out of reach. Apply directly to Altoona and another branch campus. After two years ID you do well you can continue at UP.