@Provincetown I am an alum, a parent, and a fan. I think what admissions did this year is inexcusable. They clearly weren’t expecting the quantity of admissions that they received. I wish they would have had a few of those snow days as “in-house work days” rather than delay, defer, and then waitlist. However, in their defense, they received over 100k admissions. wow, just the sheer numbers of that is amazing. And while I assume they expected an increase, that is about 30% I think?
I don’t know what the answer is. However, there are other schools going through this exact thing, also. Again, not an excuse, but Penn State admissions isn’t alone. (read the OSU thread - kids who also applied EA and are still deferred with no answer yet).
Given their high number of applications, I hope they are hiring more admissions staff!
That is just crazy @MyaCocoa - When you talk to admissions (and if his major is full) ask if there are any majors still available (that your son qualifies for-)then switch at NSO to desired major (if it is not a direct admit obviously) or DUS… just a thought…
@myacocoa: I guess this will also serve as a reminder to current Juniors who should apply to more than 3 colleges <= trying hard to find a silver lining for someone… Penn State has messed up and there’s just no justification. Your son’s major is not over enrolled. His stats are fine. If they’ve lost his application they should just say so. I’m livid on tour behalf. I absolutely can’t understand your situation - and you’re not alone but your case is worse due to the choice of major in CLA not being filled and to your son’s stats + the summer school in China. I’d be enraged and calling every day, seriously.
If push comes to shove there’s a list of colleges that miscalculated yield, typically published around May 5, and there are always surprisingly good colleges on it.
UPDATE: Hahahaha! Well, even the admissions counselor I got on the phone just now agreed there was no rhyme or reason to having been told two weeks ago to call back in two weeks! There is no new information to share and no prospect of new information to share.
Come on University of Scandals Continuous (USC) give us some good news!
@myacocoa as in-state applicants, my school told us to apply the day the applications opened up or as soon as possible after that and definitely, before the end of September to have a decent shot at University Park, those that got it had closer to 1400 SAT, lots of AP classes with scores of 4’s and 5’s… those that applied that early,with those sorts of stats heard very quickly, those that applied later or with lower stats had longer waits or were offered 2 + 2’s, I haven’t heard of any on the wait list… perhaps that’s an out of state thing? or people just aren’t talking about it if that happened. This year has been extremely hard at all schools for some reason… my assumption is that PSU requires higher stats for out of state students… but, I could be wrong. I know for a lot of my friends, PSU is the 2nd choice… they are waiting on reach schools, and if those are gotten in the next couple of weeks, will turn down their offers… hence saying they will know by May 15. But, many kids who in past years would have gotten their reaches, do not seem to be, so I think a lot will end up taking their spots at PSU.
@MYOS1634 I am so bad at recalling who said what, but I think it was you who had suggested we do late applications to more schools. I myself do look at that option on his behalf. But after my S decided what he wanted to study, we combed through the roughly 50 schools in the whole USA that met his needs. Sometimes the decision to rule out was knee jerk - like S doesn’t want to live in NYC. Fair enough. Some want that, some don’t. Didn’t want close to home, etc. After that, only 6 were left that were interesting to him. We visited all 6 over the summer. Only 3 made the cut. Even though #3 is a distant 3rd at this point, what would all the other options be? I think we should have visited more and applied to more - but this is only in hindsight. I think he is very picky (and since I typically agreed with him I guess I am, too) so I don’t know that the other 43 that didn’t look interesting enough the first time are suddenly going to become appealing. Oh, and I should say, that of those remaining roughly 43, a bunch are as huge a reach as USC or seemingly even more so. I did look at another U - just today - that didn’t make our “visit” cut and he could still apply, but don’t know that it would make him happier to get in there than taking his slot at #3. I think some kids are just way more open to location, school size, look and feel, whatever those non-academic factors are…
I’m trying to plan out with him a visit to Altoona to cover that base, but he won’t hear of that until we get USC news. Worst case scenario, we will learn from USC’s portal at 8 PM this Saturday, March 23. If he gets IN, a priority envelope is likely (but not guaranteed) to reach us earlier that afternoon, about 3:20 PM when our mail comes, EDT. Not getting the mail either means he did NOT get in… or the 2-day delivery will take until Monday (3 days). S (who is funny) went out today to buy “depression” food (read: giant candy bars) just in case! Although to me, that could also be celebration food!
@MyaCocoa , I want you to go to the PSU directory, and find the email for the executive director of admissions, and I want you to email him your story. There’s nothing ---- nothing ---- they care about more than yield. And I do not believe for one minute that a cmplaint to that office wouldn’t get you off the waitlist. Good heavens.
Meanwhile, word on the street is that Smeal at UP is nearly full.
@greenbutton Thank you. I can verify the Smeal rumor. The lady today looked up my son’s application and said if he’d applied to business she could indicate it wasn’t looking good for him. But for liberal arts, she had nothing at all to say.
Being that we’re so close to Saturday’s USC decision now, I’ll wait to until next week to do as you suggest - if we should still need to. Hope around here springs eternal.
There is a really good video on supertutortv (youtube) that gives tips to get off the waitlist, it may be something to look into. Writing letters, essays, showing information (awards, better grades, etc) that you didn’t have before may boost your chance. Doesn’t hurt to try.
@2019undecided I did have him do that initially, himself. The time I called two weeks ago I felt it had to be me because I was the one reading CC and Facebook and getting really fed up with the “tricks” (like others changing to my son’s major and suddenly getting in). He offered to call, but I said that for him what I was learning on CC and Facebook was secondhand (or I suppose really thirdhand). But since that’s been covered now, you’re probably right. Have him go back to advocating for himself as long as he’s the one who has the facts at hand to discuss.
@LM3232 Good thoughts. He has gotten some additional recognition since applying that could be brought up.
It does not hurt to try, but you also do not want to irritate the very people who could help you with an irate Mom calling/writing too much. But I’m 17, what do I know? We were just told to only have our parents contacting if it was financial aid stuff that they had to answer… to do our own advocating and to keep it positive. My sister got off a waitlist (not at Penn State) a few years back… she wrote admin people, called, had additional teachers send recs, had her employer send a rec, sent new scores, grades, anything she could think of… she jokes that they finally caved because they were so tired of hearing from her… but, all the contact was positive… she loved the school, what else could she do? here is more info, I’m still interested, etc.
Hold the phone – Penn State already admitted it isn’t an academic issue, it’s logistics. So more letters, etc won’t matter …and how long would it take for those to even arrive? As for irritating people and jinxing things, again, they’ve already said he’s just on the waitlist doing exactly that – waiting for a spot. Or his turn at one. Or however things are ordered, but it’s not about suitability now.
Also, a student calling about the waitlist won’t impress anyone. A parent’s voice at this point will be much more important, because parents are deciders and check writers. Again, it’s about the yield.
@greenbutton as I noted, this is just my opinion… but the tactful approach is always smarter. I know parents would like to think their outrage will help… I just don’t agree with you. Not under these circumstances. They will extend offers off the waitlist as kids turn down their acceptances… you really think being perceived as a difficult parent will help when that time comes?
@2019undecided On the phone (both times) I have been friendly, heartfelt, and charming - and the admissions counselors and I both laughed together at various and sundry. I don’t know how or why you have jumped to assuming I have not been “tactful” but rather have been "outrage"d while making my calls. It is in fact possible for me to express myself to admissions - my frustration, disappointment, confusion, and questions - without resorting to angry attacks.
@MyaCocoa and @greenbutton from time to time I check up on the status of others waiting for PSU decisions - still leaves a bad taste in our mouths with the process this year. Anyway, I may have posted it before, but when my son reached out to Admissions after that lack of reconsidering him for Summer Start, the individual counselor rushed him off the phone. He came back to me saying it was the quickest convo he ever had with someone. That pretty much sealed the deal with his decision.
Penn State has messed up and there’s just no justification. Your son’s major is not over enrolled. His stats are fine. If they’ve lost his application they should just say so. I’m livid on tour behalf. I absolutely can’t understand your situation - and you’re not alone but your case is worse due to the choice of major in CLA not being filled and to your son’s stats + the summer school in China. I’d be enraged and calling every day, seriously.