still under review! So glad now that I did call admissions on Friday, I know the application is not lost
But wth? Calling didn’t change anything, yet anyway.
Sigh
@ziveli513 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! :-??
@ziveli513 I can not believe you haven’t heard anything yet. Absolutely insane. I’m so happy your D has so many fabulous options…
Call back.
Have your child email and call. This is unacceptable.
At this point is Penn State even under consideration still?
@spqr70nj I went to Syracuse for Newhouse and the weather was a non-issue. You get used to it quickly. The city is skilled at snow removal. Everyone just had waterproof boots and a warm jacket, and walking to class and out to social stuff was no big deal. I don’t remember ever staying in my room and not doing something because of the weather. Granted we all wore jeans and sweaters instead of the cute going-out-clothes that friends in warmer climates had, but it was fine. I was even there during the Blizzard of '93 when they shut down the school for the first time ever. Fun times. 
In touring other schools, I have been disappointed that few come close to Syracuse in terms of beauty of the campus, especially the greek housing. So, don’t let the weather scare him away unless he has seasonal depressive disorder.
I’m also familiar with Virginia Tech and that’s a great school too! He has good options.
Alright - I’m putting my lawyer cap back on. I keep checking back here to see how everyone waiting is doing.
@Ziveli513 - I’m not sure if you said your D was uncomfortable calling or if that was someone else. I hate to hark on the social engineering aspect of things, but I feel terrible for you. I recommend strongly considering having your D call admissions and ask that her application be flagged to a supervisor. I think you mentioned that your D is somewhat chill about the wait, but it seems that you (like I was) are extremely frustrated and disheartened. A final push by your D may do the trick, as it seemed to work for my boy.
Just a thought, and I’ll keep checking back and praying for all of the waiters here, and especially their parents who carry the brunt of the emotional weight!
@PatLawyer thank you very much, I truly appreciate your advice
My d is just not going to call and press for an answer without a reason, and I wouldn’t advise her to now that we know application is still in order
she isn’t asking to be considered for summer as your son requested, which was a change and was successful if I recall correctly? (yay for son again)
When I called on Friday, i was transferred and it was confirmed by an admissions counselor that my d application is in order as it has been since 8/15
The counselor said she was surprised, said she would review it on Friday and we would have a decision on Monday
Definitively that’s what she said, and she apologized and said this has happened to “many this year” and that there are “thousands waiting” for a decision that was due 1/31
@MYOS1634 My d also emailed and got a reply on Friday saying some time “end of next week”
My d is chill still (working very hard and keeping her 4.0 uw with a killer schedule while enjoying senior year and all her ECs)
because though penn state was originally tied with Pitt for #1 choice (slight lean to UP for legacy and football love) now it’s fading the longer we wait without any notice why 1/31 has passed
Since she got caught in that mass deferral 12/22 due to “high volume” but her three hs classmates got decisions in November though they applied a month after my d and have lower gpa/rank, DUS, penn state has slowly faded for her
I haven’t shared the details with her learned here on cc except the positive info about various things but she of course knows that psu has now missed a second promised deadline by a mile
That’s reduced her psu interest since 7 other competitive universities accepted her as a chemistry major within 6-10 weeks
They keep sending mailings and emails and phone calls (Ohio state keeps calling)
Financially we have savings to pay for in state
She loves university park, loves her memories of many an exciting football game and weekend visit to explore, she went for a campus tour last summer and was impressed
She is still open to UP, if fortunate enough to be accepted
But imo, I do think the bottom line with UP from all I have learned here from many helpful posts describing all aspects being survival of the fittest competing for resources, is that though unrivaled for school spirit and alumni network, it may just be too big, and too insulated without a big city nearby for quality of life reasons for her, she loves city life and the opportunities for internships and work study a big city like Pittsburgh gives
this psu admissions process makes me feel like she could be lost in the freshman shuffle in other ways due to sheer volume of students
Since she has options that are equally fine, well deserved and hard earned (notice of a pending scholarship from Clemson has just made that an outside possibility, awesome school, may be just too far)
We still hope but Pitt is now more likely to be her final choice, financially we need her in state
I hope she gets a decision from psu soon so we can make that final decision and move on
So long winded as usual @PatLawyer but that’s why my d won’t call admissions and press for an answer
Your prayers for us and all who wait are so much appreciated
@UKexpat88 thank you!!
@MYOS1634 it’s not only us according to admissions “thousands” still waiting past 1/31 counselor said Friday but thank you for your advice as always!!!
@MyaCocoa ?
UP campus and admissions office closed today
?
?
@ziveli513 Another lurker here checking each day to see when your D gets her acceptance to PSU! It sounds like she is a great kid and has many great options on where she will end up! I hope PSU gets their act together already.
We were fortunate that my son was accepted back in Dec for the school of engineering. But as we are OOS and his financial aid package finally updated over the weekend with $0 merit it looks like PSU has slid down on his list. UDel Honors with merit is looking a lot more attractive at the moment and has moved up to #1 on his list.
@sunshinelove5 that is just so nice of you!!! So many really thoughtful peeps here, I have enjoyed keeping up with all though I didn’t want to still be waiting in feb lol
Congrats on your sons psu acceptance, always a boost even if it doesnt work out, must be a great kid to have gotten into engineering!
Glad you have Udel honors with merit, sounds appealing as oos
And I hear great things about Udel, my d close friend is choosing to go there over psu, it’s a great fit for her all around.
Thanks again for your good wishes and best to you and your son
???
To All
I have lurked on here since September when my son first applied to PSU UP for Engineering. He has a 4.2 GPA(w), 1410 SAT and has taken every AP and CIHS class he possibly could have. His HS also has project Lead the Way for engineering which he is involved in. He applied EA and, like most of you, agonized every day as his application seemed stuck on “Under Review”… He was accepted at Pitt’s SSOE within 2 weeks, however, he did not hear back from PSU until the final day for EA decisions. He was accepted, but to Behrend, on the 2+2 program for mechanical engineering. He was disappointed to say the least. More so after following the decision thread and seeing students with lower stats get accepted in the same program at UP.
He called admissions the next week and told them he would like to be reconsidered for UP under the DUS program. His page went back to the dreaded “Under Review”. Then, to our surprise, his page changed on 31 January. He was accepted to UP! I was in shock at how fast that happened after reading some of the stories on here.
We attended the Accepted Students day yesterday. During the program the speaker from admissions said that they were accepting roughly 8,000 students to UP from the nearly 90,000+ apps they received! I have seen a range of numbers from others on here regarding the number of applicants, but I just wanted to share the number I heard. I really wish everyone here waiting good luck. I wish I could pass along some magic secret they shared, but there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to how or who they are accepting or when. Just keep the faith and hopefully it all turns out well.
@Tlh67 Congratulations to your son! Was he accepted to DUS like he requested?
@tlh67 I heard that as well! I couldn’t believe that there were only 8000k spots for enrolled freshman at UP. Makes me even more grateful for my acceptance.
@LM3232 Absolutely! The yield for how many they can actually accept will not change from year to year due to space limitations. So it doesn’t matter if 50,000 apply or 100,000 apply. They usually accept approximately 30k students in order to make a freshman class of around 8,000. The freshman class is always AROUND 8,000. That’s what makes this process so frustrating to watch and go through. It’s obvious that by adding common app and getting SO MANY more applications, their admission % is going to be way down making them look more selective. Also, the more applicants they have, the more they can pick and choose and PLENTY of very high stat kids will be denied for reasons that are not transparent.
Anyone who got an acceptance, even for summer or change of major, should be incredibly thankful (if Penn State is their number one choice) because the competition this year for a spot is historical.
Just to add some perspective, there will be approximately 8,500 students in the 2019 freshman class at UP. The yield rate in 2016 (most recent I found in my 30 second search) was 28.4%, meaning 71.6% of UP accepted students declined their offers.
Very roughly speaking, based on past yield, PSU-UP would need to accept about 30,000 students to fill the class. Obviously admission and yield rates vary by college/major but those are the rough figures.
However, I predict that, with the addition of the Common App this year that yield number is going to drop, even with the higher number of applications. Especially given that PSU didn’t require a supplemental essay, I suspect that quite a few students tacked it on as an additional, easy safety. I also assume this is causing admissions officers a great deal of angst. It also implies that they’ll ultimately need to accept far more than 30,000 to fill the UP class (motivation for the early wait list??).
Admissions may also be trying to drive up enrollment at the Commonwealth campuses. At any rate, I feel like we’re caught up in some complex numbers game that none of us can fully understand.
What I see is another example of a student getting a second decision, after changing major to DUS, before others have gotten a first decision
I am absolutely thrilled and happy for every student who has been accepted
But how can it be overlooked that the complex numbers game is giving some very strange results?
We have seen posts here many times that report admissions has said choice of major shouldn’t make a big difference in admission decision, except for a few narrow majors, it’s on their admissions website too
How can a system be fair and continue to make second decisions, recently requested, when others haven’t received their first? Some have moved off wait list to acceptance (again congrats really I’m not bitter just surprised)
And it’s obviously not just my d who is waiting, we here represent a small fraction of applicants
I’m not upset. I’m just really truly puzzled
And again congrats to those accepted, I mean no shade at all!!!
@STEM2017 Yes, he was accepted to DUS. Might have been a blessing in disguise. After being locked into engineering since somewhere around 8th grade, he is now seeing there are other interesting fields to explore.
I am in total agreement with the two decisions in the time some haven’t heard anything. I take no offense to it, I am just as puzzled. Here’s to hoping everyone still waiting gets good news.
You should be puzzled. It’s unfair and makes no sense. I’d be raising holy hell at this point, or giving up on Penn State altogether.
That being said, is has always been true that the major you choose matters. It is much harder to get into Smeal than it is to Liberal Arts. Always has been and always will be. It is ridiculous that Penn State has on their admissions website that admission is to the campus and not to the major. Any review of the actual admission statistics will disprove that immediately. I don’t know why they tell people that - it’s just not true.
People can be happy for others getting in with a second decision - but it is ridiculously unfair that there are STILL people waiting for a first decision and others have gotten their second! Penn State so messed up this year.
@tlh67 I love the idea of DUS, reminds me of when i went to university 40 years ago
Choosing a major as a prospective freshman is really tough, it seems to me the very best time to be open and explore
I’m so glad your son will be able to do that exploring a fine school like UP.
All the best and thanks for sharing your story
People can learn a lot from these posts and maybe will choose DUS to start in future
Still hoping for good news for us, and to others waiting too
For us we still have time to consider all options
@UKexpat88 I agree there is some complex numbers game going on. My problem is that I’m not convinced the Admissions actually knows the answer to the game. It certainly seems like they are making it up as they go along.
@ziveli513 You have a right to be frustrated. I wish we could help and provide some clarity, but this year is just a big black hole.