In my d’s acceptance letter it was stated that they have received over 75,000 applications! I do not know how that compares to prior years.
^That’s a lot more - didn’t they get 45,000 or 50,000 priority deadline ones last year? (NOT sure but it sounds like it’s a LOT more).
“deferred” here has come to mean “modified deferred” too :D… it only means that you’re in the EA pile and will hear asap in January but they couldn’t get to your application it’s got nothing to do with your stats. (Normal deferred means they feel you have a shot in the RD round even if you couldn’t compete with the other EApps. Not here).
I had a lengthy conversation with an admissions rep I have been speaking to over the last couple of months. Here is my recap: 7000 kids put on deferral but not really deferral as other schools consider it for them its a “Pause”…
most of them fell in the 50th percentile…as they got 70,000 applications through EA…
They will be going through them starting Jan 2 -Jan 31 releasing through the month…she couldn’t tell me how often …I don’t think they even know and it depends on the actual college and how many people they have looking at these. I even asked about the time of day release and she couldn’t answer that question either.
And yes anyone who was EA will get a response by Dec 24th not all will be Deferral, the majority of Deferral was yesterday.
All EA applicants have Priority over Reg decision (but I don’t believe it bc there are kids that got in who applied after the EA date I know.)
But whatever…
and this “Deferral” has no impact on their chances…at all. She promised our kids all have the same chances as if it was the day they just submitted.
And if we don’t like the decision we get in Jan we can still ask to be reconsidered for yet “another” major as she quoted “their are many opportunities at Penn State”.
They will be looking at Essays, Extra Curricular, etc. to make the final decisions if GPA/Scores are close…
Hope this helps everyone.
@psu2023dad My guess is that they will consider the EA apps before the regular decision apps, but in all other ways they will be treated the same at this point. I don’t think it was less competitive to apply to EA. I think the benefit was to get an answer earlier and of course that didn’t work out so well for many.
But you are right…it’s new territory - and since I don’t work in admissions, it’s really just a guess based on how they’ve handled regular decision in years’ past.
@sammomof2 , so according to the admissions person, out of 70k applications only 7000 or 10% were deferred? Were the other 68k processed and we are just the unlucky minority?
@psu2023dad That wouldn’t be what that meant. 7000 were deferred so that’s ONLY EA applicants. The 70K includes all applications at this point which includes EA, Priority decision, and those who’ve applied after Nov 30. They haven’t even begun to make most of the priority decisions.
BTW, 70,000 applications is WAY more than they usually get in a full application season. Their totals are usually closer to 50k
I don’t think the rest were admitted if that’s what you are asking, I am sure there were no’s in there and she did say there were Branch Campus admits. The number I do not know, I didn’t ask, as I was really only concerned with UP. Sorry.
@jlhpsu @sammomof2 that makes a lot more sense , thanks for clearing it up! From the postcard we got, I thought PSU was saying they got 70k applications just in EA
I was told last year total they had about 70K total in the end… that this year bc of Common App they exploded in their number so far. We are only in Dec and they hit that number.
i was so excited for decisions but lol i got deferred like seriously.
I would think that Penn State would be worried about managing yield with this huge explosion in applications. Should be interesting to see the final numbers and if they are over enrolled.
Got some bittersweet news, I got into Smeal just now but I got accepted as a 2+2 student which means I would start at Abington and from there go to University Park after 2 years. Honestly, is this worth it for an out of state student from VA? My only thing is that I will eventually go to university park and my degree will just say Penn State which is awesome, but I’m not sure how I feel about it. Anyone know anything about this and is it worth it??
I have applied to Smeal, and have heard it is the most difficult school to get into. However, I have also heard that Penn state is major “blind”- meaning they do not base your acceptance into the entire school based on your major. If i applied to Smeal will that give me less of a chance of getting accepted into University Park? Please help!
@greencarrot01 I hear you. We’re Out of State (NJ) also and my son’s app for engineering is still ‘under review’. UP is his first choice and Scranton is alternate. We know nothing about Scranton and if admitted there for 2+2 he’d graciously decline. Maybe it would work for an in-state resident, but can’t justify paying OOS tuition for the school that is not his choice.
@greencarrot01
No, it’s not worth it to attend Abington from OOS - It’s a glorified community college that just added its own dorm for kids who can’t commute during the week.
Call TODAY and ask to be reconsidered DUS and direct summer session. Or, if you’re okay with a nice branch campus that’s a real college for 2+2, request Altoona (but 2+2 at OOS costs doesn’t sound like a good value when you must have instate acceptances).
@marie2001: they don’t always factor in the major but they do consider you based on what college you’re applying to. Unless you’re a top applicant you won’t get into Smeal UP. Your choice is either to be reconsidered for DUS/summer session or a branch campus (Altoona, Erie, or Harrisburg are the best ones).
Thank you for all of your sound advice! I have valued your opinion. I learned a lot from your posts and they helped me get through the angst of waiting for decisions for my twins. I’m happy to post that my twin boys were admitted Summer 2019 DUS. You are a valuable asset to all of the parents sweating this process out!! Thanks again.
My post was meant for jlhpsu!!
@myboys01 congrats to your boys! Summer session is a great option for many reasons. I would encourage them to knock out that English class over the summer - it can be a lot of writing, so good to get it out of the way.
before you see it asked a million times: is there A/C in the summer dorms? No, there is not. And it can get hot. Have them take a good fan… or two. And find the study places that have A/C! There will be a few hot nights, but overall, it isn’t unbearable.
@MYOS1634 Thanks for your helpful reply. I am about to call this morning and ask to be reconsidered for it. Do they generally fulfill these types of requests? I know for a fact that if I were accepted into University Park directly, I would attend in a heartbeat (even if its in the summer). Also, is Altoona the best campus for a business major other than UP?
I have an 87.7 GPA and 1130 SAT and was accepted into the college of liberal arts at university park!!