Quoting jcs1918: “University Park is ‘close to full’ for all majors”
Well that explains all the waitlisting for high stat students. Thank you for posting the update jcs! Discouraging but having some insight is so important right now.
Some of us have not yet received an admissions decision at all.
It was discouraging since past years it seems from other posts on this thread that switching to DUS would have increased his chances of getting accepted to UP now. I will say though that the woman in admissions that I spoke with seemed confident that they would be offering admission to wait list students. I know there have been posts that no wait list students were offered admission last year, but I get the sense that this is a very different year for PSU admissions. Fingers crossed!
Wow. If the information that jcs1918 received is accurate, it tells me that a good number of EA applicants won’t receive a fair shot at admission because of this administrative mess.
I mentioned before that even though my son applied in October (and everything was received before Nov 1), they did not finish “verifying” his SRAR until Jan 3. In that date his SRAR was first listed as complete and the portal changed to “under review” for the first time. His application was notreviewed before the December deferral, and now it seems more and more likely that he’ll get squeezed out without ever having a real chance at a place at PSU. That said, his portal still says “under review” so who knows.
FYI there was nothing wrong with his SRAR. He submitted an identical one to Pitt and was admitted there Nov 1. Makes no sense.
Hello y’all, I was waitlisted and told to post here.
Waitlisted
ACT: N/A
SAT: 1480 (710 w 770 m)
GPA: 92/100
Rank: N/A
Extra: Standard volunteer & two varsity sports
State Residency: ME
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Applied date: 11/29/18
Applied Early Action?: No
Decision date: 1/25/19
Decision/College: Smeal
Campus: University Park
Not gonna lie, surprised to be waitlisted. Could anyone give a possible reason?
Thanks
DD OOS Nursing, 10/13 EA moved to " by Jan 31" groupon Dec 21st
Today
Application Status (change), now reads:
Your application is currently under review. We have received everything required to complete your application. Once a decision is made, it will be posted here.
Finally some finality to this dragged out saga!!!
@UKexpat88 Just because they say “UP is almost full” doesn’t mean that only the people who have heard are the ones that are offered admission. I would guess they waited for their entire pool and figured where to “draw the line” … once they have figured that out, they have to go back through and code each application appropriately. (And check them, I hope). I would expect that students will still be hearing ‘admit’ decisions - it just takes a while to roll everything out. (and that assumes that systems are robust and easy to deal with !)
@GmanCC Same thing happened to me. I applied 10/18 to nursing and moved to “Jan 31” group. Last night around 8pm my portal said the same message. Hopefully we will be hearing back soon. Last night PSU released many waitlist decision, so to me, that means we are either accepted or rejected at this point… but we will find out soon! Best of luck!
I just spoke to admissions regarding the portal message changes. She said the EA deferral applications got pulled off of the board into the regular decision pile. Those applications are now being reviewed and will hear by 1/31. I asked if the message yesterday that “your application has been updated check back soon” means a decision was made? She said no, that they are looking at EA deferrals now and will hear next week…lmao
@natalie2 Thanks for the information. Did she say anything about the waitlisted people and why they received decisions and the rest remain under review?
@ziveli513 I know you are angry that different majors have different standards, but this was discussed many pages ago.
https://admissions.psu.edu/info/future/firstyear/applicationreview/
{from the website above:}
In addition to the main admission criteria outlined above, the Penn State application includes other components that can impact a student’s admission.
- Major Selection When evaluating applications, we look at the standardized test performance in math more closely for admission to our math and science programs. Additionally, some of our programs, due to enrollment limitations, are more competitive for admission than other programs.
- Summer Session at University Park
- Alternate Campus Selection
- Additional Application Materials for Special Programs
It is not uncommon for colleges to have different admissions standards for different programs:
Ross (at UM) is harder than LSA, Kelley (at Indiana) is harder than general freshman admits. Just two examples that I know.
The logic behind direct admits to Smeal is that almost all Smeal majors are capacity controlled. And that DUS has a path to get into Smeal without petitioning like other colleges.
To my knowledge, Admissions does not send out a list of “unfilled majors”. They don’t want people just to choose a less competitive major just to get it and then change it immediately upon getting to UP.
You can ask experts which majors are less popular and they can make recommendations, Probably DM is better than public posting.
good luck.
For those just joining us today because you noticed your status changed back to Under Review, you might want to go back a few pages and see the hundreds of posts from yesterday… :))
No, I didn’t ask sorry. I was so shocked that her application just got pulled to regular decision my mind went blank. She applied first week of sept.
Direct from the link posted by @lucyvanpelt, thank you for all of the information you are sharing…Hopefully admissions does in fact evaluate applicants by the following philosophy…
The most important piece of our review is your academic record, which represents your individual four years of academic development. Penn State’s holistic assessment of application materials includes the academic courses, grades and levels of those courses and standardized test scores, plus additional factors that may include an audition, a portfolio review, the geographic and cultural background of the student, the personal statement, and the activities list. We take a hard look at the many roles you serve as a student, sibling, athlete, son or daughter, volunteer, and/or employee. Assembling a class of students with diverse interests and experiences is a task that we take seriously.
Penn State does not have a minimum GPA or standardized test score used for admission. There are no such things as “cut offs.” We review students in a holistic manner, taking into account a full range of factors.
Next week? LOL. Well glad I didn’t send my DD a heads up PSU txt msg!
and as expressed by others, we will not take the “waitlist” decision but opt for the "best efforts " one. It is a direct Nursing propram, so you are either in or out. Although PSU is not her top choice, enough is enough, we want to move on.
Good luck to all,
thought you all might be interested to read this:
NOT Penn State (another B10 school):
'm kinda confused because someone that I know was a regular decision applicant (they applied in November) and they already heard back from {school}, yet many of us who are early action applicants still haven’t gotten our decision. Have they already started to look at regular decision students or something?
and this:
I applied EA … back in October and am STILL waiting to hear back as well. … I called their admissions office just now and really pried at them asking if there’s another wave of admissions tomorrow and they said they cannot confirm or deny that, and that we would know by the end of January. Not very helpful, I know, but I’m still hoping for tomorrow!
… so many kids having frustrations! In some ways, it was easier “way back when” … we knew less, we just waited for the mail sometime.
good luck to all -
funny, this long wait allowed my daughter to research the other 6 schools that admitted her. Had she of been admitted by 12/24 she would of committed to PSU. Now she is exploring options
@natalie2 thanks for sharing your info from admissions today
If I understand what u were told, sounds like we EA who were deferred “due to high number of applications” to priority review deadline 1/31 were actually deferred in the true sense of deferred?
Pages ago people posted that admissions said EA would be separate and handled first
but when I reread that deferral message it sounded more like deferred
Now we are back under review
Like she was since 8/15
What u were told today sounds like our EA applications were in fact updated yesterday by being placed in the pool of priority review
That is surprising and it’s news
@pama3115 yes, I will break down that paragraph as I understand it:
- The most important piece of our review is your academic record, which represents your individual four years of academic development. ==> translation: GPA is more important than SAT/ACT.
- Penn State’s holistic assessment of application materials includes the academic courses, grades and levels of those courses and standardized test scores. ==> translation: Admissions looks at:
- course levels (AP, Honors, etc.) - what is the rigor of that GPA?
- grades in those classes?
- ACT/SAT note: this is where they probably have a sense of which high schools are grade-inflaters (is that a word?), and which high schools are notoriously stingy with tough grades.
- plus additional factors that may include an audition, a portfolio review, the geographic and cultural background of the student, the personal statement, and the activities list. ==> translation: some programs need auditions, portfolio reviews
- we will consider geography (were you raised in Greenland? might add diversity!)
- we will consider cultural background (are you a first generation college student?)
- we will read the personal statement
- we will look at activities note: it does not state how much weight will or will not be placed on these things.
- We take a hard look at the many roles you serve as a student, sibling, athlete, son or daughter, volunteer, and/or employee. Assembling a class of students with diverse interests and experiences is a task that we take seriously. ==> no translation needed.
Also use critical reading to understand what they DO NOT list:
(for the record, not shouting, just emphasizing)
- demonstrated interest is not tracked
- letters of recommendation are not considered.
- essays (only the short personal statement) are not included.
- interview does not occur.
So … this is all my opinion. They are “quasi-holistic” if that is such a thing?
good luck. I know the waiting is excruciating. Again, I am hoping that all Admissions staff is locked in until they complete this process. How about we all send them food so they can be chained to their desks?
I took it as the people who where EA deferred to 1/31 just got pulled yesterday to be reviewed. That is what she said. And she said thats why the cycle of confusing portal changes happened.