@ChineseInUSA Commit to Hawaii! OMG! When I was applying (back in the day) I looked there. It seemed dreamy, a real fantasy. In the end, I stayed closer to home. But if you have a choice of HAWAII or worrying about this… I’ll come visit!!! 
I wonder if the whole time our portal status since 12/22 said deferred there was no review, inactive and waiting
Now maybe our applications are under review again actively
Pure speculation of course but wth, why not?
I’m guessing no more updates until tomorrow too
Good luck
I don’t understand why they say they will let us know by 5/15 that’s way past the decision day deadline. Is it worth it to decline the wait list and find out if I got into the branch campus?
I got the wacky, “your application has been updated” comment then it went back to “under review” Just asked them to accept me via Twitter. Shoot your shot amirite?
Update: They liked my tweet ?
My son was accepted to Rutgers A&S in December. We still haven’t heard from the business school yet. This whole penn state admission process has been a cruel roller coaster. He got all those messages today and we are now back to under review. He applied in October and changed his major from Smeal to undecided after the first deferral delay on 12/22. Thank goodness Rutgers and WVU Have accepted him already
This has been a disaster
@mayaaaad I am a parent asking myself the same thing about these dates. I am asking my son/us the same as I would ask you… Have you gotten in anywhere else? Can you rank that place(s) against PSU UP and PSU Other campus (whatever that would be for you)? If you would be happy to go the branch, and just want to KNOW, don’t wait. Or, ask them directly if in your case this is 2+2 or would you spend all 4 at the branch if you were let in. If you only want PSU if it’s UP, then you could wait on the list and jump ship on April 30 or whatever for another school that you got into if you haven’t not yet heard. The situation to avoid, it seems to me, is holding on to PSU for SO long you lose what else you might have on offer. UNLESS that is, PSU is the only school for you and you are truly willing to risk not starting anywhere next fall. If that makes any sense. Others on this forum are suggesting on son look into other majors or starting in summer. (But honestly I’ve never understood the summer thing.)
@jjely44 My son also - same schools! Maybe they’ll cross paths at one of the campuses. ?
@MyaCocoa Penn State is currently not my number 1 choice but it is definitely up there on my school list. I have already gotten into other schools but I really wanted the option of PSU (mainly U Park). I started a thread asking when people in the past have heard back from waitlist and I’m hoping I get some replies so I can make a decision.
My status changed to your Application is under review, shorter message from long one.
Keeping my fingers crossed, I am excited to hear back
@mayaaaad The thing about comparing this year to others in the past is that this year is SO different. It’s hard to know how much this year will fit the mold. If you know you want U Park, go for it. If you don’t hear by the universal decision date, you have options. So you have the comfort in that.
It looks like the portal didn’t crash… their automatic system went haywire instead! We get cupcakes/ice cream/Graefruit rosé anyway.
@myacocao:
This is unusual. I feel very bad for your son. His stats are definitely within range.
It’s bad, but not as bad as accepting a spot on the waitlist and not knowing whether you’ll get in with no safety: the basic idea, when you accept a spot on the waitlist, is that you are free to accept a spot where you’ve been definitely accepted. If you’re admitted to the college that waitlisted you,you can then switch your acceptance to the new college (or decide to stick with the college that admitted you right away). It’s in fact the only exception to “accepting only at one place”: you can accept as many wait lists as you wish AND one “firm” offer.
Might he be interested in applying to other universities? UMichigan has a Feb 1st deadline, as do Colorado State, Ithaca, Marist, Stevens, UNC Asheville, UNC Wilmington, UWisconsin, WPI.
If he’s ok with smaller schools, Dickinson and Gettysburg in PA or DePauw in IN are both excellent and still accepting RD applications (after the ED1 and ED2 batches). Easier to get into, Allegheny, Muhlenberg, St Michael’s, Butler, Beloit… are all good and many are free to apply.
Having an extra choice wouldn’t hurt, it always feels better to have more than one acceptance.
If PSU UP is your first choice and you are waitlisted but get into your 2nd choice school, I would accept offer to 2nd choice and if you eventually get off of waitlist into PSU UP then switch (if you do not mind waiting.)
Do u have to pay something when you accept an offer?
Wait list in January is surprising after all This year all kinds of new stuff
Penn State waitlisting people this early is new. I’m flummoxed. I have no idea what they are doing right now. Unfortunately for all of you, you are the guinea pigs and no one really knows what is going to happen because it’s so different this year. Best of luck to all of you still waiting.
@MYOS1634 OoooOOoooooOOooooOOOO, so THAT’S how wait listing and accepting work together! A “must know”.
That being said, how do housing deposits/choices work if you are accepting at two schools, one of which has you wait listed? Do we end up losing some money possibly?
When we chose the 6 to visit over the summer we had used the College Board’s Big Future site (before they “upgraded” it and rendered it useless IMO) and put in his major “communications and rhetoric” and also Russian and Mandarin. That narrows the field of schools way, way, WAY down. Plus a few other “like to haves”. Some places were ruled out for location, such as he was not interested in NYC or where his dad went to school. Based on these factors and others, we chose 6 to visit and chose the most extensive tour experiences offered over the summer that we could get. Three were “midwest” roughly and three were “out west”. In each area one school fell into the “I’d rather be dead than spend 4 years here” category. One in each area was like “Wow!”. The remaining midwest one was “meh” and the remaining west one became the one he was accepted at, and his #3 choice so far.
We got back and “second” guessed these decisions half a million times. He knew about getting into the one really soon. He decided that he liked that enough that the ones which hadn’t made the cut to date weren’t worth applying to or visiting at that point. (Only hindsight might now indicate some should have made our first cut.) I can see his logic. We spent SO MUCH time considering the top 6 and he got into one! So while it doesn’t sound like he has too many choices, we only had maybe 50 to even consider to start and many of those “ruled themselves out” sight unseen.
When you accept the waitlist, you don’t deposit anything (otherwise it’d be price gouging!)
However obviously when you deposit somewhere to accept a spot, you risk losing the deposit if you unenroll after May 1st. Some schools will refund you if you change your mind before May 1st, some won’t.
Do look into the universities I listed or the ones that were once OK-to-apply, so that he has a for-sure choice. He’s only applied to 3, it’s not extravagant for him to apply to a 4th and/or a 5th.
Kids generally like have a choice, picking one or the other, hesitating, not feeling like they’ve got no choice or are “settling”, etc.
I honestly can’t understand how he wasn’t admitted (like you, I’ve been wondering if that onslaught of waitlisting may have contained errors… o_O) but with the CommonApp it should be easy to send everything to a couple of “free to apply” universities.
At this point is he serious about Russian AND Chinese? Does he speak both already or would be start either (both?) at a beginner’s level?
USC Columbia has both and has a strong level in foreign language that can be combined with other majors.
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/cic/academic_programs/bachelors/mass_communications.php
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/english_language_and_literature/study/undergraduate/majors/index.php
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/english_language_and_literature/study/undergraduate/minors.php
https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/dllc/study/chinese/index.php
https://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/dllc/study/russian/index.php
I agree with the if penn state is your first choice and you get waitlisted, accept the waitlist but still deposit to your other choice. That way you still have a university to go to, and you might end up getting into PSU your top choice. It is likely you will lose your deposit at the other school though.
@MYOS1634 He already speaks Spanish and Mandarin but would have to start Russian from scratch, but that would be rather a heritage language for him and therefore important.
Don’t forget, he’s already been accepted to one university he likes very much and says he would be happy to go to. And I don’t really think a later acceptance off the wait list is at PSU is out of the question.
AND, oddly enough, his other top choice… when we had our tour, the guide said her safety schools all rejected her and she got into this very highly ranked and very selective school (the one we were on the tour for). My son’s background might not be the typical 5-star background, but he has a lot that speaks for him to a school like that. We aren’t ruling that out. I think in the end he will have a choice. And also don’t forget, he could have applied to all 6 very fine schools he visited, but his “choice” was to rule them out and not even give them a chance. So I really don’t foresee him feeling like he hasn’t had a say in where he ends up. I think he’s had a lot. A lot of families can’t afford all the tours we did - the flying and the $$$ hotels in the “hot” cities we ended up in. It was worth the money though, because the one place we expected to fall in love with, he (and I) hated beyond all hate. The city and the school. So it was good we didn’t go on reputation or what others say. You have to see with your own eyes and get your own feel for the character of a place.
He’ll be OK and so will we! I actually kind of “trust” in “fate” or whatever. He could have one of three very different experiences that will shape his whole life and I think if even in the end he only gets into one place, that one place will be meant for him and he’ll do great things with that education and those opportunities.
Even if I “trust” I’m a computer nut and “need” to refresh and worry like everyone else! Underneath (and after a nice beer and some chocolate mint mini Oreos) I can say it’ll work out. Lots of good advice here, now that I FINALLY see how it can apply to us!
Thank you!