And my d is literally behind students who have been accepted and commit housing choices, I really donât think it could be any more clear according to psu website on housing
Whether or not that matters no one can tell us, because no one here knows how many spots are filled nor how many are left
In this unprecedented applicant group I say again, to quote penn state
Unprecedented so anything is possible this year that no one here has experienced
Yes, emphasizing the positives is absolutely the way to go, in this and in life
But denying flaws which are relevant to making informed choices among options offered is not wise
@ziveli513 True statement above. Most of the college/Uâs that accepted our Daughter were larger schools, but the only one that had a new admission system was PSU (New EA category) so you have to accept that and roll. I admit that a parent has a double-barrelled problem IF they have the combo of 1) their first child going to college AND 2) the clear first choice is PSU⊠it DOES make the process very frustrating and crazy, because their is such a laser focus on a single school. We didnt have that problem, because PSU wasnt her first choice (it was probably 5th)âŠ
However, she has taken the time in the interval to learn more about some the other schools that recruited her but werent someplace a year ago she wouldve thought of (Baylor, Pitt, Catholic U, Xavier) and also learned more about PSU, and will weigh all of them equally, and also wants to make an informed choice. My guess is that if someone can get into PSU, they are likely getting into other fine schools as well, so use the time before Jan 31st to see what you can learn, beyond the visits and what not.
I think you gave great advice on the waiting game. But i would add just dont wait, use it to check out the other schools, go to the admitted days, maybe you will find your home elsewhere. But your info was good for both the parents and kids. Its a wonderful time actually, never in my life growing up would we think that this was possible. When XAVIER first showed interest she didnt even know where it was, but loved the campus, same with Catholic U, etc⊠I hope the kids use the time to expand their search to schools that accepted them already and see where it takes them.
@ZeeMeZeeYou excellent advice, thank you for sharing your thoughts
While waiting we will be traveling to the 6 other fine schools that have offered her admission
So that while we wait on 1st choice, choice of the heart PSU
We will use our brains to compare
Good point that we should encourage our d to be open to all possibilities at this point
Ultimately thatâs why we applied to 7 schools not 1
We had just hoped to make these trips and explore knowing PSU had accepted her
But we still hope
Thanks again, it helps so much to learn from your current experience during this EA
Iâm going to say this loud for the people in the back, pretend Iâm yelling because in my head, I am.
Housing WILL NOT BE GONE until April-ishâŠso no one right now is in the back of the line for housing. The regular decision dates arenât even passed and Penn State is a HUGE school, not to mention housing is guaranteed! This is not a run for a limited amount of housing. Penn State will house your freshman. If itâs supplemental housing you are worried about, unless you wait to commit until April - donât worry about it. Seriously. This is added anxiety where it is truly, truly not needed. They may have âunprecedentedâ applications, but they can still only accept the same number of people. Penn State population is not going to grow by leaps and bounds.
As far as it being a frustrating processâŠit is. It absolutely is. But it is in most places. Pitt, FYI has an non refundable deposit as well and their enrollment fee and housing fee together are more than twice what Penn State collects as non refundable. I think most schools are non refundable. What Pitt does differently is put everyone in one big bucket regardless of when you applied and I donât think thatâs fair either. And you wouldnât either when you realize that means if someone is accepted regular decision, they are in the same housing boat as someone who applied in April. No place is perfect (and Pitt specifically is half the size of Penn State)
As far as whether Penn State admissions is a harbinger for things to come in Penn State policiesâŠYes. Yes It is. Iâve said this before. When you are going to schedule classes, meeting with professors, trying to get a hold of financial aidâŠetc, you are in a huge group of people all trying to do the same thing. It can be a bureaucratic nightmare at times. This is not a small school, hand holding, ego stroking University. It just isnât. And if thatâs what you are looking for- this is the wrong place for you. But what Penn State lacks in personal touch, it gains in all of the enormous educational/social/athletic opportunities on campus for just about every type of student. It is what you make it.
You can either stress out about every single snag in the road, or you just enjoy the ride.
Lastly, Iâd like to point out that Penn State hasnât broken one promise yet to anyone regarding admissions. Not one. It is not January 31
@ziveli513 Good words. Whether a first choice (Yours) or a bit lower down (Ours) keep your mind open about all options. Answers wont be in till Jan 31st⊠Thats 20 more days to find out, visit, and learn. For us one reason to apply to more schools, is that she is going to be a psychologist and will need to go to grad school and somewhere for PhD. so its good to have something in our back pockets that we learned about other schools. Im positive one of the schools she doesnt accept will be one of the grad school or PhD schools, because they all were good for her major and all offered terminal degrees in her field. Be Proactive, you are right.
@ZeeMeZeeYou ?yes it helps to stay positive
Excellent point about grad school!
I just said same to my d, she is thinking about dental school
May want to be an orthodontist
I just said to her maybe Pitt now, then penn state for grad school, Pitt housing is equal opportunity in June
By grad school will give penn state time to rebuild after Saquon and trace and others ?
Growing up going to football games in happy valley has made her a die hard psu football fan
Especially these last 3 years
Fingers crossed and good luck to your d
Seems she has a very reasonable parent to guide her ?
Regarding the âhuge schoolâ: thatâs why, if youâre eligible, your student should apply to Schreyer or try to be a Paterno Fellow Aspirant. It makes a HUGE difference.
Not just the housing and location and excellent food, but also smaller classes where you wonât get lost in the crowd, having a personal adviser (sometimes two) whoâll point opportunities out and help you when something goes wrongâŠ
Schreyer essays are a headache but theyâre the level of thinking expected to do well in college. They post prompts in July so that students have plenty of time to draft and write. Because who has time for three extra papers during the school year? Just by not doing these essays over the summer the students could take themselves out of contention because theyâll have too much homework to do a good job. These essays are a good challenge, especially for liberal arts, communication, and IST students whoâll have a lot of writing to do. Professors who teach Schreyer freshmen will read these essays, thinking, do I want that kid in my seminar? If the answer is yes, do you have the rigor they want? Will you bring an interesting viewpoint to discussions?
Then, for Liberal arts students, Paterno Fellow Aspirants is a fantastic program. They even have a summer âLEAPâ program, meaning that even if your stats are borderline theyâll consider you. Basically, the way Paterno Fellows works is that you are admitted to Schreyer and must meet the Paterno Fellow challenge to stay in it. Your motivation keeps you in, lack thereof and youâre out. Many universities have a program where you can join the Honors College after a year. None that I know of have this system whereby you can take honors classes and have honors college advantages before officially getting in - typically you have to prove yourself through regular university classes, no access to the perks. Here you have everything right off the bat. The rest is up to you.
So, those are two opportunities to make the huge university smaller.
Others include
choosing classes with fewer than 30 students (English, foreign language, subjects that arenât your obvious âgo toâ classes for freshmen, some sections that meet at 8 or 9am or in the evening) and going faithfully to Office Hours to establish a rapport with professors and have better guidance.
joining a Living Learning Community (which PSU calls SLO): right off you have a group of people who share something with you, an interest, a goal - they become your squad and you typically have shared classes, meaning youâre not one in thousands but one among people you know. It will also be easier to meet your professors, getting socials organizedâŠ
SLO is very appealing to us
Thanks for the tip on seeking out classes with fewer than 30 students based on subjects and times offered
Thatâs news and very helpful
@MYOS1634 great explanation of Schreyer and Paterno Fellows. This should be copied and bookmarked at the top. Maybe even add it to the admissions process sticky?
@MYOS1634 my D applied to Schreyer and put an unbelievable amount of time into her essays - they were very, very good, and she felt that her Schreyer interview went well. I keep running this scenario through my head whereby she is waitlisted (or worse) for Smeal, yet her qualifications and essays would have gotten her into Schreyer.
Does admissions have access to her Schreyer application and essays? Would Schreyer even receive her application if she were to be waitlisted? Logically, it seems that a Schreyer candidate would easily get into Smeal, and if she were waitlisted for Smeal there is no way she would qualify for Schreyer, but this whole EA process has us doubting everything, when we were originally quite confident.
The main regret we have is that she did not just apply DUS to begin with. We had no idea that Smeal was so competitive when she applied, and I think she would have easily gotten in if she were DUS.
I understand that technically PSU has kept all of its promises, but when you have a set of expectations and the process plays out very differently than what was expected, it creates a lot of stress and self-doubt âŠand the waiting becomes excruciating!
No, PSU has not kept its word. We applied before Nov 1 and were promised a decision by Dec 24. The âdeferralâ was not a decision, because in our case it was 100% clear that the application file had not even been verified - and was not under review - until after Jan 2.
Even that would have been fine if the admissions office has simply acknowledged they were behind schedule. But no. Instead they sent out a loosely worded, BS letter implying that applications had been reviewed - and decisions to defer made on their merits - when this clearly was not the case.
I get that this is a tough process and sometimes things go wrong. For example, Pitt was going to issue honors decisions in mid December but fell behind schedule. So they told the students there would be a delay, gave everyone a new decision date, and there was no confusion. No problem.
Look, I donât want my hand held. I donât need mollycoddling. I went to a Big 10 university myself so I get it - university administration can be impersonal. But I expect competence, efficiency and transparency if something doesnât go to plan. This whole process has left a very poor impression of PSUâs administration.
From psu website. As I said, housing is impacted by when students accept offer.
What jumps out is psu says the earlier u accept the better chance you have of getting your choice
And that renovated dorms are fewer, so students who applied after many of the EA applicants who are waiting due to admissions being overwhelmed are in line ahead
âRoom assignments are processed in date order of when the student accepts the offer of admission. Therefore, the earlier the offer of admission is accepted, the better chance the student has of being assigned to a room assignment based on indicated housing preferences. The University cannot guarantee that HFS Contract preferences will be honored. All first-year students will have an on-campus housing space.
Penn State is pleased to announce that a new residence hall and three renovated residence halls designed for first-year students will open for fall 2018! Two new residence halls opened fall 2017. Learn more about the construction and renovation projects on campus. The majority of space for first-year students is located in traditional residence halls. With the limited space in renovated residence halls, not all students will be able to be accommodated in this space. Students will be assigned in date-order of when offer of admission was accepted and if student has indicated âdouble, renovatedâ as a preference. It is anticipated that there will be a high demand for this limited space, so unfortunately not many students will have the opportunity to experience the renovated space. â
@ziveli513 your info is a year oldâŠfor 2019/2020 academic year, there will be 6 renovated dorms and 2 new dorms, while two older dorms will go under renovation. D17 was accepted at the end of January and was placed in a non-renovated dorm at East and adjusted just fine.
My info isnât a year old, the psu website is not updated
good news for 2019, thanks
psu needs to update their website for prospective freshman student housing if the info there is a year old
Fact remains, room assignments processed in date order of when student accepts
Just saying ?
