admissions process

Colleges & Universities Penn State
1

Hi,
I am looking to get into Penn State main campus.

I am a highschool student at a school in the 24th best public school in NJ, and the 434th best public school in the nation.

My grades are not the best, but I try hard. I have a 3.31 gpa in all college prep courses. Every time I have attempted harder courses, despite studying a lot, I ended up dropping them. I have a 1750 SAT and an 1800 superscored, but penn state does not superscore. I have an unsuperscored 1190 without writing, 1240 superscored.

In terms of extra curricular activities, I work two jobs, teach shotput to special needs kids, and have been a varsity football player in football since Sophmore year.

My school’s guidance counselor said that Rutgers is a reach for me, and that Penn State is a target. On the contrary, my Princeton review college counselor says the opposite. Looking at our schools scattergrams, it looks like I have more than a 20 percent chance to get into Penn State, but my Princeton review college counselor doesn’t believe so.

What do you think my chances are of getting into Penn State main campus?

I am a junior BTW.

Thank you

2

Your best bet is to apply as an undecided student and put summer start as your second option. My daughter had a 3.45 GPA and a 28 ACT (translates to about a 1950 SAT) and she got in for summer 2015. She’s just finishing up her first year and loved it. She’d do nothing differently.
The middle 50% GPA starts at a 3.6, so I wouldn’t call a 3.3 a match. Your SAT scores in the mid 50%. I think it could go either way, but DUS Summer option is your best bet.

3

Thanks a lot