Congratulations 
You’ve been admitted to Penn State for DUS 
And NOW, what…?
Lots of choices await since DUS is the “pivot to anything (*.)” major and you could really do… Anything from there 
(* except, mostly, Smeal- new this year).
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Thanks for starting this! D26 has Penn State high on the list and was admitted for Fall 2026 DUS. Wondering when she would meet with an advisor and whether it’s before registering for the freshman fall classes? D26 is interested in mathematics and plans to take Calc 140 in the fall and not request the AP credit for it. But not sure what else she should take to explore other things too while still staying on track to graduate in 4 years.
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She will have to take some placement tests before she can discuss classes.
She needs to review algebra and precalculus before she takes it since it verifies she’s “calculus ready” (and may have forgotten since she took the SAT).
She should also check what previous students have said about their preparation: calc 2 (Math 141) is weed out and really difficult, have students from her school done well or would they recommend reviewing/improving knowledge in calc 1? Same thing for AP Stats and Stats 200: if you got a 5, are you ready to jump into Stats 300 (a class designed for the AP Stats students)?
For Gen eds, she could take all the AP credit she wishes and just commit to “tasting” at least a class per subject/field since college is to discover new things - could be climate disasters in movies, classical Greek myths, intro to Swahili, anything. There are literally hundreds.
There are several paths for Math and Stats majors - applied, actuarial, industry, grad school…
But the first year is similar. VERY oddly, the official recommended path frontloads math courses, keeping Gen eds for jr/sr years, when typically students are taking advanced and more specialized classes in their major. A normal schedule would have 2-3 Gen eds and 2-3 major-related classes (totaling 5 per semester) freshman year, with only 1 gen ed per semester jr/sr year and 3-4 major-related classes. Below you’ll find a more “normal” schedule.
Covering all Math and Stats options, she would typically take
Fall
Math 140/Calc1
Stats 200 (or 300)
English 30H (or 137 in Schreyer)
A social science or humanities subject she’s interested in
Freshman seminar
Spring
CompSci 131 (works for both Stats and Math, the other choices don’t work for the other major)
Math 141 (calc 2)
Stats 184 (R programming)
Econ 102 (Microeconomics)
CAS 100 (Communication) or 138 if Schreyer
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Excited to show her this, thank you!
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I’m a bit confused about the DUS route. My daughter (D26) genuinely isn’t sure what she wants to pursue yet. She’s shown some interest in psychology, marketing, and business law. Since she chose DUS, would a major like Marketing no longer be an option unless she’s admitted to the Smeal School of Business in her junior year? I understand that’s become more difficult now with Smeal’s direct-admit model. Any light you can throw on this would be highly appreciated.
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@MYOS1634. My daughter is considering a few majors. If she ends up at PSU, wondering about suggestions for which classes would be best to set her up to pivot easily. Options are: Psychology, Criminology, Forensics, HDFS in HHD and Communication Disorders (SLP). She’s also potentially interested in Educational Policy. She is planning on going to graduate school because she knows none of these things leads anywhere without a graduate degree.
Relevant(maybe?) HS coursework:
She is currently in Honors Psychology & Criminal Justice. Also in Honors Forensics. She has an A in both. Taking AP Calculus AB also with a A. She took Bio and Chem with an A and academic awards in both. She also took Physics but definitely wants to avoid that at all costs. She did NOT take Stats so that is something she would need to do. She’s in AP French and on track to take the test to earn seal of biliteracy.
Advice for courses to look into? I would like to give her some things to look at as she makes a decision on which school to attend.
She can pivot to Smeal/marketing if she takes the pre-reqs. Marketing requires one of the highest GPAs (3.25) because it’s in high demand after Finance so many places may not be open. As a result she needs to maximize a manageable schedule that covers different majors beside Marketing and allow her to use her academic strengths to earn the highest possible grades.
An alternative could be something in Comm with a couple stats/data science classes and the Smeal business certificate.
Another alternative is to add the a Digital Analysis and Marketing minor to any major.
Behavioral economics is another very in-demand major professionally (econ/psych) but as of now I don’t think PSU offers a concentration in it at the undergrad level.
In order to keep all options open
Fall
English 15 or 30H
Math 110: Applied Calculus (if 4or5 on AP calc AB: Take the 2-credit Math 111: Applied calculus 2; it’s not mandatory but a useful signal to employers and an easy way to complete the Quantitative requirement when taken alongside a Stats class.)
Comm 160
Psych 100
Foreign Language 111 (intensive), 2 (if 3 years in HS), or 3 (if 4years in HS)
Spring
Stats 200 <-although there are Smeal-specific and Psych-specific stats courses, this covers requirements for both Smeal and Psych
Econ 102 (beware! Weed out course! Worth taking the AP credit if you scored a 5. Required for Comm and Smeal if no AP Microeconomics 5) or Econ 104 (required for Smeal, gen ed social science for Psych or Comm, waived if AP Macro 5) or another social science or Intro to Management
Psych 2xx (a choice of 200-level psychology course)
Gen Ed Science
Foreign Language 112(intensive2) or 3 or 201 (Foreign LanguageCommunication), or IST 110 (if interested in Comm or Digital Marketing certificate - can be taken over the summer or sophomore year too) - note: taking 4 years of a foreign language in HS pays off at this point.
An interest in Business Law could also mean this major:
In which case the student would take LHR100 instead of Psych 2xx or Intro to Management Spring freshman Year. She could still take Psych 2xx or Intro to Management or IST110 Fall sophomore year and be on track for the other majors but the choice of Smeal vs. other majors would have to be decided by that point.
Students preparing for Law school would follow the BA path with a Humanities minor and students preparing for work right after college would follow thr BS path with Smeal certificate or Industrial Psych courses.
You’re remarkably knowledgeable. I really appreciate your help — thank you!
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