Unlikely based on past but who knows?
Maybe we will get lucky and on Monday there will be waves and we will be in one ?
Every year applicants complain because itâs November they applied September 1st and while University X has already admitted them Penn State still has them under review. And at that point itâs normal they havenât heard because the Penn State process isnât fully rolling. So veterans explain, be patient, itâs normal, thatâs the way Penn State does things. We may not like it but thy never did theyâd do what University X does.
Itâs different when Penn State decides on a 12/24 deadline and canât keep it because they havenât hired enough people, then mess up the 1/31 deadline. Until 12/22 there was no difference between the past and this year. The past six weeks though have been a mess. In my view thereâs no excuse for whatâs been done to current applicants.
(I donât blame adcoms who are certainly totally overworked. I blame whoever decided to skimp and not hire&train more people + whever didnât approve system capacity upgrades.)
I agree they will have the numbers they want - but their yield is bound to be really messed up. So, there will be consequences for them - enrollment management is a big deal, dropping yield is a big deal in that business.
At this point, if youâve applied to Smeal, depending on stats, Iâd say
- youâve got 30-32+ or 1400+, good rigor: ask for DUS/Summer if you can afford it
- if you have 25-29, ask for Altoona, Harrisburg or Erie + Smeal + Schreyer
- if youâre okay with Agribusiness or Advertising/marketing or Economics and have good rigor including math and foreign language, ask to be reconsidered for that major + summer session.
@harekrishna I second what others here have said. I would not send a student OOS to Brandywine. They do not share any faculty with UP, although neither does any other commonwealth campus that I know of, but they are for sure more of a commuter campus.
For OOS Iâd look at Erie, Altoona or Harrisburg. They are 4 year colleges in their own right. Altoona is closest to UP campus and easiest campus from which to be involved in things up at UP. Harrisburg and Erie would be easier to fly in and out of. All are very nice campuses. Closest large airport to Altoona is Pittsburgh.
Supply Chain is amazing at Penn State and graduating from Penn State would open a ton of doors. Itâs one of the occasions where I do think sending a student OOS to a commonwealth campus is worth it. I know when my son was at Altoona, he knew lots of OOS kids.
Iâd ask for reconsideration at Altoona or Harrisburg, arguing the fact youâre from Colorado and need a residential campus. Also check if your son can apply to Schreyer at either campus. (Schreyer is top notch).
OR
Ask for reconsideration for DUS/summer/UP.
All students need to take the same classes, DUS or pre major. Theyâre only admitted to their major after meeting the grade and course benchmarks.
@harekrishna IMO save your money and go in-state to CU Boulder. Your son would have the big school experience all 4 years vs 2 and it would be cheaper than OOS at a satellite for PSU. Coming all the way from Colorado to go to Brandywine (even Altoona tbh) doesnât seem worth it when you already have an awesome option. CU Boulderâs business school is also very competitive and I donât think having âsmealâ on the degree would put him that much more ahead. I applied to Boulder as well and itâs one of my options if I donât get in UP. Best of luck and SKO BUFFS!
Thank you all for your guidance. I an thinking Harrisburg may be a better option from a connectivity perspective. Does anyone know how can I request them to change from Brandywine to Harrisburg? I am going to call them on Monday. I am still leaning towards PSU because the cost difference between CU Boulder and Altoona is not much (~$4K/yr) and Penn State has better Supply Chain program.
@harekrishna Isnât instate tuition at Boulder ~$12000? Out of state tuition at Harrisburg or Altoona is ~$24000. And tuition alone for years 3 and 4 at UP would be over $35000.
Thankfully, Son got accepted into DUS at midnight for Fall University Park. He couldnât be more happy right now. @harekrishna if you call the admissions office on Monday and tell them your situation, iâm very sure that they will be more than happy to change your campus over to wherever you choose (besides University Park). However if you really want to go to the main campus, iâd strongly suggest changing his Major to DUS depending on his stats (he can still go to Smeal if he takes the right classes). It will allow him to be reconsidered and Smeal is extremely competitive so DUS might raise his chances just enough for him to get into the main campus. Up to you though, Altoona and Harrisburg are fine campuses from what I hear.
@kidzncatz : CU Boulder in state is $16K, plus housing differential between Boulder and PA locations⊠Its $32K fully loaded vs $36K at PSU satellite
It sounds like PSU really messed everything up this year. We met with a counselor last spring, who told D19 that with her stats sheâd have no issue getting into UP, even without the summer option.
The other day she got 2&2 with a commuter branch that she didnât want, no summer option or anything. Needless to say she was very distraught over this; she spoke to Admissions and changed both her major and branch school⊠so now we wait for another 4-6 weeks.
Looking at kids with stats that should have been an easy admit, like @ziveli513âs D who is still waiting, meanwhile my D has classmates who got UP with lower SAT and GPA than her for the same exact school.
Thank you @jlhpsu for the helpful information on Altoona! If D19 doesnât get into UP this time, we at least feel comfortable that her new bran
@Psu2023dad - May I ask if in your interactions with Admissions, they were flexible about changing campus? I am cool with my Sonâs major, but not cool with commuter campus. I am thinking of changing to Harrisburg campus from ease of flight purpose and what I read here about the quality of satellite campuses.
@harekrishna , yes the woman in admissions was very empathetic to Dâs situation and changed her branch to Altoona with no questions
My S applied EA for a music major. His portal immediately said EA: Yes, but then below that said because of major that requires an audition, he would not be EA. Thatâs fairly standard for music majors. Two weeks later, for a reason that doesnât matter here, he emailed admissions and asked if he could change to Smeal. He was told yes and that changing his major would not take him out of the EA pool.
A few weeks later, when the blurb about the audition on his EA status didnât change and on his âto doâ checklist it still listed Audition as not being complete even though the portal now said Smeal, he emailed again. They answered and sad it will all be fine and within a few hours the Audition was checked off with a comment that it was waived, but the EA status still had the not qualifying blurb due to an audition. It was frustrating, but sounded like admissions was just a hot mess.
Fast forward and we received a postcard about them not being able to meet the 12/24 date, blah, blah, blahâŠwhich led me to believe that the admisssions person was correct and it was all fine, but we would have to get bumped to priority because they couldnât meet the demand.
Long story short, he contacted them one more time in January when people were posting here that Smeal was getting filled up and there would be no room by the 1/31 date. This time S said that he was concerned that it says he applied EA, and told that he would still be in the EA pool, but the portal never updated and still said EA status was denied due to audition.Their response completely changed and said that he was not EA because some of his paperwork came late, not because of the audition. That, to me, was total BS!!! That had never been mentioned in the other emails, ever. It was the first time we were hearing of it and I think they were just making excuses for their poor management of this yearâs admissions. 1/31 came and went and nothing, so I am assuming he is RD. Heâs been admitted into Rutgers Business School, UScranton Honors College/Business, URichmond, and some others so I think he would have been competitive had he had the chance. So frustrating!
^Congratulations on URichmond, itâs a TERRIFIC college and business program.
You might think a professor from Smeal would suggest that Admissions work some OT this weekend to help clear the backlog. Just sayinâ
@Propinquity4444 I remember your story, you still havenât gotten a decision either?
Iâm hoping we still under review just got caught in the polar vortex delay from the admissions office closure on 1/31
If your son ended up not EA would that mean he would be priority review so still expecting decision 1/31?
Since the office was closed 1/31 Iâm hoping thatâs the only reason for the delay
We have been told that updates to the portal can take up to two days (grrrrr) by admissions on the phone which posters have shared and also thatâs what it says in the psu admissions website under FAQ
So maybe he didnât get a decision yet for that reason I hope? Not because heâs now RD?
I was accepted 2+2 at Altoona for a Liberal Arts major on Wednesday, I was surprised I didnât get into main so I called admissions and was asked to be reconsidered for DUS summer. They said thatâs fine and my application would go back under review on the portal. At this point my application hasnât changed. Any thoughts on why? Should I call admissions again on Monday, or wait a couple more days?
@ziveli513 I really donât know if he is EA or RD at this point. I donât want him to be âthat kidâ that keeps asking! I feel like if he points out the error again, or asks them what specifically did not arrive on time, they will put a red flag on his application! LOL I think we will just have to wait at this point. The portal just says âunder reviewâ which is what it has said since November. Good luck, everyone!
From psu class 2022 decisions dated 2/5 2018
Seems last year psu admissions wasnât prepared for high volume either?
02-05-2018 at 1:20 pm.
â I applied for a cs course at PSU for early decision. It was supposed to come by 31-Jan. But it still says that my application is under reviewâ
Reply from a veteran
02-05-2018 at 1:26 pm
âThey had to change it to Feb 7 due to not being done with the high volume of applicationsâ
Last year in mid February some were still waiting who had applied before 11/30, deadline 1/31
Sigh
FWIW
housing
All freshman are guaranteed on-campus housing
Psu websiteâdate of commit is your place in line for housing choice, first come first served
So, all students who were accepted and then committed October, November, December and now January are in line for on-campus housing choices ahead of any of us still waiting under review or wait listed and are fortunate enough to be accepted
Before any chime in and say all housing is great, kids are fine anywhere and who cares etc, itâs another example imo of unfair policy. Not overwhelmed status
When I expressed concern about this issue in December I was advised no problem, no need to stress until February and March
And that we all would have a decision by 1/31 anyway
Meanwhile those accepted in November and December were advised commit asap and get in line for housing, best chance for first choice etc with glowing reviews of various choices to be had
Meanwhile good luck to all
Hope tomorrow we will get more decision waves