@cml123 FWIW, someone the other day reported getting an e-mail that said to check the portal for an update re: their Wait List status, but there was no update. My S was also Wait Listed. So I do keep checking the portal. It’s says they will notify us, but not how. So maybe by e-mail when they are ready to offer UP or to discuss 2+2? I know it drives us all nuts, but I suppose it’s just best to keep checking those places for info. But I would think it is too soon for them to work through the Wait List. (I wish though!)
It’s lovely to see so many happy admits coming through. Might I assume that there are rejections coming through but people are not posting those? Or do we think that there will be a whole lot of rejections on or around the 31st? My son applied in Oct. (didn’t check the EA box) and his status has been “complete” for a few months now. Trying not to lose hope and get a sense of the bigger pictures. Any veterans on that have a sense from prior years?
THIS JUST IN THE MAIL!
Also for @cml123
My son was Wait Listed and he just got his official Wait List Snail Mail. I will quote a portion…
“To provide some perspective, the last time Penn State had a Wait List, we were able to admit to one of our 20 undergraduate campuses 100% of wait listed students.”
The other thing that was news is that, 'You will have two weeks from the date of this letter to respond." (That is, to accept or decline the Wait List invitation.)
It goes on to talk about 2+2 which y’all already know about.
The letter still does NOT mention how students will be contacted if they are finally offered UP or 2+2.
@MyaCocoa helpful info, thanks!
@ziveli513 actually we were told deferred from December that they had not even looked at ours yet so would have thought EA would still be reviewed prior to priority or RD.
What does Penn State make their decisions based on? I always thought it was 2/3 gpa, 1/3 everything else. However, I saw people with much higher stats than mine getting rejected for the same major.
@LM3232 I hear you. Saw bunch of engineering admits with lower stats than my son (who is still pending) get admitted to Fall and Summer UP.
I’m happy I got admitted but it’s just confusing because I always heard they don’t really consider much other than your stats, however if that was the case then wouldn’t only the higher stat students get admitted? I think they took a much more holistic approach especially this year than previously thought.
@dmeyers You’d probably have to go back a few pages to find a discussion of this which @ziveli513 also participated in, but based on our family’s own experiences of being deferred, and the correspondence we got, our family found it confusing. We actually came to believe we HAD been reviewed and had an actual deferral. That’s a feeling, an opinion, reading between the lines - and others I know disagree or were even told differently by admissions.
That said, I think it’s become quite clear now that however the deferrals came about, deferred EA kids were rolled into one group with RD and were considered “randomly” or at the very least, no longer by date of application. Again, while some may disagree, our family’s feeling is that once that happened EA didn’t matter anymore, though the portal continues to acknowledge the date students applied.
To me, the pooling of EA and RD is confirmation of our family’s thinking that our deferrals were “real” deferrals. Perhaps the comments about the unprecedented number of applicants - while no doubt also true - was more a smoke screen to soften the blow. I’ll never know for sure, but that is how I personally feel and believe.
My OOS son was admitted this morning DUS for Fall at University Park. We switched his major from Smeal to DUS after the first delay/deferral decision on 12/22. Best decision we made. Such a relief after the roller coaster admission process. He also has been accepted to Rutgers, UMD January 2020 and WVU. Waiting on Syracuse, Ohio and Clemson. Penn State is his 1 or 2 choice depending on Syracuse decisions. Good luck to all still waiting. Thank you for the information on this board.
@jjely44 I see that our boys are applying and getting admitted to most of the same schools ??
@dmeyers that’s how I initially read the portal message too, but as time passed and that portal message didn’t change (12/22-1/24 no change) I reread it
And it seemed more likely that my d was actually deferred and placed in with the priority review group
I think the wording in the portal update was murky at best
Then here people posted last week that admissions counselors told them on phone that on 1/24, when we got the weird cycle of messages that ended up “under review” or wait list notices, that yes in fact all the EA who were still waiting who were deferred were now being considered in the priority review group
If u notice in the decisions only board there are people who have gotten decisions who at least present themselves as having applied after 11/1
So I think, imo, we EA who got the deferred message on or around 12/22 and no change until 1/24 were in fact deferred
Just my take on it, which others here also have posted 
In any case still waiting!!! Still says EA on portal, still under review since 8/15
Good luck to u, hope we all get answers soon
I actually had called penn state on 12/23 and they told me the 12/22 deferrals were not true deferrals as they had not even looked at 8000 apps. He applied early action in mid October
@spqr70nj we should connect the boys! Maybe they can be roommates and we can be crazy college board parents lol
Penn State just announced that they are closed tomorrow… ? hopefully we still get decisions on time.
@jjely44 omg that’s great news for you and your son!
Also gives me hope as I have been nervous about the switch my d decided to make from 8/15 applied EA chemistry to DUS end of November
I was told here that switching would put her “behind” others but that didn’t happen to your son so maybe we will be as lucky
Since date received seems to have less impact in some cases than choice of major I am still hoping that switching to DUS didn’t harm her. It was just a better fit for her as time passes
Congrats to you! And so glad now you can weigh all options after finally get an answer from psu
Are updates only at midnight? Weren’t some students waitlisted last week in the afternoon?
@whirlwindy Yes, S was wait listed sometime between about 1:30 and 3:30 PM EST on 1/24.
I just saw the campus closed for today and will be closed for tomorrow
University Park: Early dismissal on Jan. 30; cancellation on Jan. 31
Forecasts that include extreme cold have led to the early cancellation of scheduled classes and activities on the University Park campus on Jan. 30
Polar vortex here in pa. Thanks universe ?