@jlhpsu 3.6 GPA does not really mean anything without all the other information including classes taken, competitiveness of high school, etc… I am certain many were accepted to Smeal with a GPA below 3.6. The average GPA of applicants accepted for Penn State in 2017 was 3.6. His SAT score is also right on the average mark for Penn State. I think @greencarrot01 has a very good chance. Best of luck!!
Great advice Professor @neuromom4! Thanks for sharing.
@greencarrot01 that’s good to know, thanks so much !
And again best of luck by 1/31 we will hopefully all hear something
Has anyone heard back since 1/2?
@neuromom4 thank you for your insight, I haven’t really been able to understand the oft stated connection between parent frustration expressed here with this year’s unusually difficult admissions process, which many here have said is worst yet, and future student experiences for my d at penn state simply because it’s a large university
She is an excellent student, completely independent, fearless and would definitely be the first kid to be at your desk to introduce herself
Thanks for your input, we are hopeful my d will get a decision soon, waiting unde review since 8/15
Does everyone still have the deferral message?
@prouddad2020 Of course, we can only look at the materials presented here. Yes, the average GPA for ALL of Penn State is a 3.58 GPA. That tells you nothing about Smeal which generally has about a 10% acceptance rate and generally requires a MUCH higher GPA. All majors are absolutely not the same as far as admissions, or anything else. Applying to a liberal arts or even some Ag majors with a 3.5 will often yield an acceptance, while to Engineering or Smeal, it does not.
I would not say that “many” were accepted to Smeal with a 3.6 WEIGHTED GPA - If it’s UW and their weighted is much higher, then I am not talking about them.
If you look at all of the admission decision threads, this year, and others, you will see many kids denied at UP for Smeal and accepted to the commonwealth campuses with much higher than a 3.6 GPA.Without knowing the full application, it’s impossible to give concrete advice, but we already know that the application was denied once. Going for second consideration, using all of the tools in your toolbox, including applying DUS, seems like a smart option TO ME.
I hope that the 3.6 GPA summer admit is enough and I am rooting for this student, but from a risk/reward perspective, applying DUS does absolutely no harm and greatly increases the chance of an admission. Which frankly, is all my advice is geared towards. What is the best chance for admission? DUS or SMEAL with borderline stats? DUS without a doubt.
@prouddad2020 yay, that’s great U posted that info about smeal here. I’m sure many out there besides @greencarrot01 will be happy to hear there is hope
Holistic review I have heard is a factor
I believe @jimmym had posted acceptance with 3.6 to smeal this round too ?
@User7531 no update since 12/22 to the deferral due to high volume of applications
And I keep searching for decisions since 1/2. None yet!
@greencarrot01
You may have talked to one of the many students who man the phones in this period. Or to an Admission counselor exasperated they applicants are using DUS as a run around for difficult majors. 
Call again, ask to talk to an admission representative about whether you can still switch your request and would thy advise you do? I really don’t know what’s best at this point.
Your odds are low for Smeal because your GPA/score combination certainly isn’t top 10% for UP let alone Smeal. Have you taken Calculus? Precalculus? 4 years of a Foreign language? All three from bio, chem, physics? Have 16+ courses (total) that are either Honors or AP? Anything special about your profile?
That kid admitted right out of HS with a 3.6 is an outlier. It’s awesome for him/her but the case is not representative, there has to be more to it: typically students admitted out of HS must be in the top 10% of the pool, so this lucky student might be coming from say PA/Exeter/Choate and have an exceptional transcript, or a school where 3.6 is top 5% … but barring this you should not use it as a good reference point for yourself.
At the same time, switching again may cause delay in your application review this making it even harder to get in due to choices filling in, perhaps having checked Summer may be enough. I don’t know whether our might simply wait and if denied would call again and ask to be reconsidered for DUS/Summer… It might be the safest option at this point.
Shoot the messenger if you want - but go ahead and search the admissions thread for just this year. If it’s not posted on the decision thread, I don’t believe it because the data doesn’t accompany it and we need all of the data to determine whether that GPA was weighted or not, etc… That’s the purpose of the admission thread. The lowest WGPA accepted to Smeal is a 3.8 this year (posted) A 4.2 GPA was sent to a commonwealth campus. The vast majority of those accepted had higher than a 3.8 UW.
I have no idea why there is so much angst from a few posters when I post that a 3.6 generally doesn’t get into Smeal…and frankly, why that angst only exists when I post it and not when the dozen other long timers here post it. I have my theories about that, but I digress…
It’s not personal. It’s data, and I don’t make up the data! Are there sometimes outliers…absolutely. But they are unusual and that’s why they are outliers.
I pray, pray, pray that some of you hear ASAP, that’s for sure.
I believe the admissions thread is obviously and often stated a fraction of decisions made?
To use it to make a statistical point is not accurate I think
I think. I do not know
@MYOS1634 where is data on smeal acceptance stats found?
Thanks for your knowledge @MYOS1634. You are highly educated on this topic so I am glad to see we are on the same page and I’m not just nuts.
FYI - I did some more research here on CC regarding that first poster who said they got in with a 3.6, Their GPA of 3.6 was UNWEIGHTED. Which is VERY different than someone with an WGPA Of a 3.6. I’m always assuming people are posting their Weighted GPA’s. We have no way of knowing what their WGPA was, but guaranteed, it was much higher than the 3.6.
One year may not be statistically relevant, but 5+ years of data from admission threads shows a picture as well as reports directly from admission reps stating that Smeal is about a 10-11% admission rate, which is much much lower than the general admission rate of 50% for UP.
Also, I don’t think anyone can make the argument that the hundreds of posts on the admission decision threads don’t matter if you are also using a one off post that is anecdotal as evidence of your point.
@jlhpsu I recently read through some of the older PSU threads and happened to come across the one where you were waiting many months for your daughter to get her decision. You were so kind, patient, and non argumentative with other posters. And it’s been so nice to see you stick around and help others.
@greencarrot01 , the advice from @jlhpsu and @MYOS1634 is very sound. They have years of experience in this area, and are just looking to help give every candythe best shot. It’s no sea Rey that a lot of people apply DUS, then jump to Smeal in their later years because it is easier to get accepted, with no downside. I personally know of a student that got accepted this fall using this method.
What we also seem to have here is someone undercutting their advice with second guessing, even though that person did the same exact thing with having their kid switch to DUS. Unless the advice is coming from one of the moderators of champions, take any posts with a grain of salt
@allieandjoe Oh no…you found my posts while I was waiting, haha. I was anxious and a little crazy - but never rude! But I’m the first one to say the admissions process drove me nuts (but also led me to tiling my bathroom so I didn’t look at the portal!) - which is why I’ve stayed here for all these years to TRY To make things better for those waiting and to give advice that hopefully gives everyone the very best shot. It’s truly my only goal.
@jlhpsu @MYOS1634 Appreciate the honesty, I rather look at things realistically. I have taken 7 AP Classes so far and dual enrollment english (College level English class that gives college credit) and the rest of my classes are honors. The 3.6 GPA is not weighted because my school does not give weighted GPA’s. I took math all the way up to (Completed Precalculus, Algebra, Geometry already) calculus, but when I started Calculus AB I was not doing well so I decided to withdraw from the class and I took statistics. I have also completed Honors Chem, Physics, AP biology, honors biology so classes and difficulty wise i’m decent. Don’t want to get too into it but my extracurricular are highly geared towards business (National level awards/competitions, Internships, etc.) along with sports. Overall i’d say I have a well rounded, business oriented application, with my GPA being the only thing weighing me down along with an average SAT score. Just hoping they look at the whole package rather than just the numbers presented to them. Appreciate the help guys.
@jlhpsu I’m sure you were anxious but def not crazy. I’ve seen crazy…
@Greencarrot01 I thought I read your original post was unweighted gpa is 3.6, thanks for confirming
Seems that gives you a more hopeful prospect according to posts here
And again I’m really glad to read you have parents supporting you in this process
Which was my original question this morning
Best wishes to you!