An issue is that after his summer program in China he’d need to start immediately with the next Chinese course so that the summer learning is not wasted (called Chinese120 I think) - foreign language learning disappears very quickly. I don’t think any campus beside UP offers this class and staying 2 years without proper Chinese classes would set him back two years.
Can he take a gap year studying Chinese? What would the summer program’s leaders suggest?
@ChineseInUSA , although D19 did not choose PSU, I have still been checking in to see how a few other parents like @MyaCocoa are doing. @MYOS1634 is completely right about Abington campus; we live near it and it is basically a commuter campus in this area. There are some people living there and you can jump on a train and be in center city Philly in about 30 minutes, but there is not much to do in Abington itself. You might want to see if Altoona is still an option
Good luck!
@ChineseInUSA You mentioned months ago that you were admitted to the University of Hawaii, Michigan State, and CU Boulder. I think you should choose one of them (or any other main campus to which you have been admitted) rather than the 2+2 option at Penn State, especially if the first 2 years would be at a primarily commuter campus.
@MyaCocoa we loved Pepperdine, and up until the very end we thought he might choose it (he also got into Loyola Marymount, but they didn’t offer any financial aid at all), but ultimately decided it just wasn’t the best fit for him (too small, no social life on campus without a car, veryexpensive meal plan and reviews said food was bad). He officially committed to PSU the other day. Have to admit, I was a little disappointed I won’t have an excuse to visit out there, it is so beautiful!
@MYOS1634 I don’t think the summer program’s advise would be much help. While I view S’s trip as a chance to practice the language for a couple of weeks (not all summer) it is also a cultural and travel trip as far as they are concerned.
I am beginning to see/feel (though I have not yet discussed this with my son) that staying strong in his languages may make him far more employable later on than being strong in communications/rhetoric. In reviewing our options this AM I was surprised to find that U of Denver does NOT have a major in Chinese - only a minor. (We had used the College Board’s web site to filter colleges originally.) They do have a Russian major. PSU has a stronger ranking overall than DU.
You may find it interesting that we both had to go be interviewed for the selection process for the summer trip yesterday afternoon. My son was interviewed for about a half hour almost entirely in Mandarin. (I was interviewed in English for a few minutes.) It was very interesting to hear my son speak in Mandarin for “so long”! Since we don’t speak it at home, that was my first chance to hear more than a random sentence or two! It WAS pretty cool!
He gets compliments all the time from native speakers, but I have no idea how good he really is or if they are just being encouraging.
@OnHisWay What do our children not GET about setting us up for the vacation lifestyles to which we’d like to become accustomed?!?! They seem to think this is all about them! 
wow. are you serious? UP is full? I can’t see it on my portal but i haven’t gotten a decision yet where do you see it on yours?
i hope it isn’t full UCONN gave me a pretty good merit scholarship but i really would like to go to UP
@yerrr123 Take the money and run to UCONN…you’re not going to get money from Penn State. My son was accepted for engineering and received nothing, and worse we’re OOS.
Just tried to login to the portal and it is telling me invalid user ID or password. I guess that is our answer?
To @jcdoyle --no, that’s not your answer LOL. Several of us has gotten that page a day or three before the portal updates. Alternatively, the whole system might just be down for a bit. Worth trying later on.
Does anyone know when NSO sign ups open?
@spqr70nj aw shoot, did he get right into UP or the 2+2 and what are his stats like just wondering?
@LM3232 NSO registration opens tomorrow, 4/1. Not sure what time.
@yerrr123 direct-admit into College of Engineering for Aerospace but pushed to 2+2. Stats at time of application were 4.0uw GPA and SAT 1290. Plenty of APs, Honors, and Dual Enrollment classes - all As with one B+ year to date. Also works part-time. As mentioned earlier, no aid or merit offered so it definitely didn’t make sense to attend a branch school being OOS. He’s leaning Syracuse after receiving phenomenal aid.
One of the Abington admission officers emailed me yesterday saying that they will start reviewing my application since I was rejected by UP and Harrisburg. By the way, do all commonwealth campuses share the same rankings as University Park? How do I ensure if going to a branch campus at Penn state is worth it or not?
How do we sign up for NSO, will it be on our lionpath accounts? I just competed the ALEKS about 5 minutes ago, boy was that brutal haha.
@ChineseinUSA #2955
It’s not.
Abington is like a community college in other states - prepares you to transfer to the flagship university.
Harrisburg is like a directional - 4-year degrees, more commuter, less intense, smaller classes.
You should have other acceptances that are better than this.
@LM3232: review your score and if necessary, retake AFTER STUDYING. You’ll get ONE more shot. If you don’t score high enough, you’ll waste one semester or more in remedial math classes instead of starting at whatever level you’re supposed to (Calc 1, Elementary Stats, Business Calc…) and it’ll mess your entire schedule progression.
@MYOS1634 Thank you! I believe my score is high enough for what I need, I don’t think I’d get into a higher bracket, I was in the 61-75 range, which is more than sufficient since I want to possibly get a degree in the social sciences or humanities. Correct me if I am wrong though, and I for sure would retake, but if I am correct there is only one higher bracket (76-100).
Hopefully NSO sign ups come at midnight!