What is DUS

I see that everyone is saying that they applied DUS to penn state. could anyone let me know what that means?

It’s the “undecided” college. Instead of applying to the College of Engineering, for example, some students would opt to apply for DUS/undecided because it’s easier to get into than some of the more competitive colleges like engineering or business.

Penn State has a system where everyone has to take “entrance to major” classes. Before you can declare a major (any major) you have to meet some requirements and, often, receive specific grades in specific classes and a specific GPA.
DUS makes no difference to this system, nor does indicating what major you want.
DUS just means you don’t apply with a major. You take whatever classes you want and have to meet the same requirements and make the same grades as those who applied with a major - and applying with a major does not give you any advantage over those applying DUS.

Please note…it’s the only school you can transfer from to get into Business. My daughter was in Libral arts and found out the hard way (although libral arts has some major perks -Paterno Fellows, second year entrance to schyers, etc). My son is DUS and highly recommends. Like most kids he changed what he wanted to major in after trying some of the classes. Since most kids change majors, why not start in DUS.

In the PSU application you can select a science major and summer option and alternate Branch campus. If you are border line candidate and gets assigned to branch campus ,can you then call and ask them to reconsider for DUS
.will they consider that request once assigned to branch campus .Is there any disadvantage in doing that instead of applying DUS initially. was wondering is it worth giving a try first before selecting DUS and if we did what are the cons.

Well, your request goes to the back of the queue and if DUS is full, you’re stuck. So you have to be strategic with your gamble.

@MYOS1634 Is the courses you take first two years before you get into major the same whether you start in branch campus vs Eberly school of science in UP vs selecting DUS for two years. what is the difference academic wise. Is getting into major you want after 2 years difficult if you meet the entry guidelines. Just wanted to understand the risk in taking DUS even though you know what major you want to take in future.

You take the exact same courses as DUS and as pre-major at UP. Classes on branch campuses may not be exactly the same (some students complain that they’re not as well-prepared or that the classes they had weren’t rigorous enough; however an advantage is that it helps with the transition and the classes are smaller).
There’s no risk in applying DUS. Whether you’re DUS or pre-major you have to take the same classes and meet the same requirements.

@MYOS1634 Thank for all info. So what are chances for my D with following stat
instate at UP
3.62 W goa
1300 sat
lot of Ec and interested only in Bio Premed track
willl applying to Dus increase her chances to follow her interest in PSU or they would send to branch campus

What’s her unweighted? Has she taken all three of bio, chem, physics? Precalculus or calculus? Foreign language up to level 3 or 4? If you add up all Honors and AP classes she’ll have by graduation, what number do you get?
Note that Biology is a risky choice professionally speaking since there’s a glut of bio majors and not enough jobs (their unemployment figures are quite higher than those of English majors). Penn State also offers Neurobiology and Neuroscience, Biochemistry, even Forensic Chemistry. For premeds, it offers a Medical Humanities/Bioethics minor that is highly recommended.

@MYOS1634
All IB honors courses 9 ,10 Grade.
For junior year and senior IB HL Bio , HL Chem and HL Maths (calculus bc) foreign up to 4. School only give weighted .My guess un weighted may be around 3.2. Does PSU give any consideration to IB rigor to compensate for lower gpa.will applying DUS with summer option gives a better chance to get in and then follow one of the major above?

Yes, IB rigor will matter, and she’ll get maximum score on that (you have to add up all honors classes taken + all IB classes taken including EE or CAS. So, just jr/sr would be 14, then add whatever honors from 9+10 and you should easily have 18+, which is maximum rigor).
I would recommend she apply DUS, register with Paterno Aspirants (I don’t think she can make it into Schreyer despite rigor, but if she has excellent EC’s/recommendations/essays I don’t know), and do her best.

She would likely get 8 credits for Biology, Chemistry and Math, but med schools would require some classes, so my advice would be for her to take 4 credits of Math 140 (calculus 1) + 4 credits in general math, but take Calculus 141B (Calculus2 with biology applications); she automatically gets BIO 110 and BIO 240; for chemistry, she gets credit for Chem 110, 111, 112, and 113, but frankly that’s a LOT of credit (111 and 113 are NOT the labs for 110 and 112, but separate classes that focus on applications) so I’d advise she take at least Chem 113 and perhaps 112 or 111 too. If she just took Chem 111 and 113 freshman year, they’d serve as a refresher and guarantee easy A’s - I strongly recommend she NOT start freshman year with Organic Chemistry, regardless of her preparation, because she’d be competing with juniors and some advanced sophomores who already “know how to do college” and in a weeder class you don’t want to start at a disadvantage.
Penn State doesn’t give credit for SL subjects, if she wants credit she needs to take the corresponding AP in May (ie., AP History, English composition, etc.)

As a Paterno Fellow Aspirant and DUS, this is what her schedule would look like freshman year:

Fall
Math 141B
Chemistry 111
Biology 230
Honors Psychology
Honors 137 Seminar
PSU 016: First year seminar for Biology

Spring
Chemistry 113
Biostatistics
Bio 220
Honors 138 Seminar

Philosophy 00 or 100 Honors
Elective (can be EMT training, Human Health and Development 101H…)

With that schedule, she’d be one year ahead of most premeds and she’d have a lot of flexibility. She’d start Sophomore year in Organic Chemistry and in Physics 250, well on her way with premed pre-reqs, able to “take it cool” during the Orgo semesters (killers of premed dreams everywhere) and thus keep her chances up.

Have her look at these majors, too:
http://bbh.hhd.psu.edu/
https://rap.psu.edu/bachelor-science-psychology-neuroscience-option-psybs-neuro-students-who-plan-attend-medical-school
And she should seriously consider adding the Bioethics and Medical Humanities minor
http://bioethics.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/

I am interested in going into business. Would it be easier if I were to apply as DUS then declare my major while I am in college?

Smeal is very competitive, so yes, DUS would be easier to be accepted to. Then you apply for your major (note that finance requires a 3.5, and other business majors a 3.2 – https://ugstudents.smeal.psu.edu/academics-advising/get-into-a-smeal-major/entrance-to-major-requirments) during your 4th semester or so, just like everyone else.

@MYOS1634 Thanks a lot for your suggestions way back in October. After taking your inputs my D changed her major from Eberly to Dus. and this morning she heard back that she is admitted to UP with summer option. If she had applied to eberly my guess is she would have got branch campus as I see lot of kids with higher stats who applied to eberly where sent to 2+2. Looking back she is so happy to get into University park. Thanks again @bodangles @jlhpsu and every one else in this forum for the valuable inputs.so Happy Today.countless time spent on this forum has been very helpful.