US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student US
State/Location of residency: PA
Type of high school (or current college for transfers): public
Other special factors: (first generation to college, legacy, recruitable athlete, etc.) Legacy
Cost Constraints / Budget (High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.) None
Intended Major(s) ERM
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores 3.876 unweighted 3.886 weighted
No class rank. They use deciles. 3rd decile
Unweighted HS GPA: (calculate it yourself if your high school does not calculate it) 3.876
Weighted HS GPA: (must specify weighting system; note that weighted GPA from the high school is usually not informative, unless aligned with the recalculation used by a college of interest, such as CA, FL, SC public universities) 3.886. Weighting scale for honors classes 1.05
College GPA: (for transfer applicants)
Class Rank: 3rd Decile. No class rank system
ACT/SAT Scores:
List your HS coursework
(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)
English: CP English 1 and 2 Honors English 11 Honors Western Lit
Math: (including highest level course(s) completed) CPAlgebra IA, CPAlgebra 1B CPAlgebra 2 and CPGeometry (she previously had an IEP for Executive Functioning which kept her behind in math. I know this is the biggest negative. No longer has IEP but didn’t include info in personal statement
Science: (including which ones, such as biology, chemistry, physics) CPPhysical Science CPBiology CPChem Geology, Environmental Science and Ecology, Astronomy (Geology and Environmental and Ecology and Astronomy not offered as CP or H)
History and social studies: CPAncient World History CPModern World History CP US History CPCivics/Economics
Language other than English: (including highest level completed) CPFrench two years
Visual or performing arts:
Other academic courses: Media Literacy, global
perspectives, Design/Build (CP not offered) College Coursework (Transfer Applicants) (Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)
General education course work: Art phys Ed (3 units) food science and advanced food science health, and financial literacy
Major preparation course work: Geology, Environmental Science and Ecology
Awards High Honor Roll every marking period
Extracurriculars (Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience) astronomy club (4 yrs) library volunteer and works a part time job
Essays/LORs/Other (Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.) Essay average but honors English classes, previous IEP student for Executive Functioning
Schools (List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified) Accepted at Shippensburg with Academic Scholarship, Honors College decision pending
If a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below; also, for colleges that admit by major or division, consider that in chance estimate.
Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): Already accepted at Shippensburg with Academic scholarship
Since you are posting about your child, I strongly suggest changing your username to something more anonymous. I would also change your photo so that you, and she, can’t be identified.
Yes only for Penn State. I was told about this forum just before I posted. So if I should do it another let me know. I thought it was going to a PSU specific forum. Which is why I abbreviated ERM.
And thank you about the user name/pic. I was so upset when I posted I just linked it to Google and didn’t think about it.
I’d be concerned with the third decile ranking. And because the UW and weighted GPA are so similar, it leads me to believe that the course load is not among the highest rigor in the school.
Based on her NGA she’s really close to 2nd decile, like just missed it. 450 students in her class. Our weighting does seem low. AP is only weighted 1.10
She took the highest should could take without doing AP. Many classes don’t even offer an Honors or AP section. For instance they recommended her for AP Social Studies for grade 11 but she signed up for Honors and then they decided to only have a CP and AP and canceled the Honors section We tried to convince her to do AP but we ultimately allowed her to choose. Electives aren’t even weighted as CP so that hurts somewhat too because she took a couple classes she really wanted due to content teacher etc. but then it kinda bites you since they aren’t even consider CP.
I like her chances, but get the app in by the EA deadline (Nov 1) and that includes the SRAR (so if using common app to apply, you should give a couple of days cushion, because you can’t submit the SRAR until your kid gets their portal login info.)
I would say ERM was a good choice considering her science classes&general academic background but the lack of honors/APs is going to hurt (they like seeing ~15+ and I only see 2, so even if Ag is a bit more lenient in that regard, they’d definitely want more), foreign language only through level 2 (Ag may be lenient there), and most importantly, no Precalculus whereas freshmen are expected to start ready for calculus (that may make UP a bridge too far but they do offer precalculus classes.)
1st semester ERM is tough, with calculus and chem as weedout courses, ie., designed to fail a certain number. Many who take these have already taken an intro to these courses, like Honors Calc and AP chemistry.
Her math placement test (ALEKS) would likely place her in the precalculus sequence (Math 22 probably) but although that class is not weedout it’s still fast paced and a lot of work since students must be ready for calculus in a semester.
Combine that with being test optional (ie., Admissions have no math score to gauge her ability to handle Precalculus/calculus) and I think they’ll offer her a Commonwealth campus.
That being said, Altoona or Harrisburg in particular are quite nice and Abingdon is growing. You can always ask for another branch campus if you don’t like the one offered, but you need to do it fast because the above+Behrend tend to go first, especially for dorms - if she can’t get one of these, she’s definitely better off at Ship (and even if she gets one of those, the choice would be real, actually.)
Yeah she chose Berks as her other option. We’ve toured there and like the campus. Also closer to home. I honestly think Berks or Ship are better options for her personality but as a Legacy she wanted to try. I told her that doesn’t matter to us and we want her to be comfortable and happy. I think it makes sense to reverse the order and put Berks first. I’m thinking that’s going to be the better option for her anyway. Work her way up to UP. It’s hard to pass up the scholarship Ship is offering too and the invitation to the Honors college. I told her there is no shame in going to a smaller school when it’s a better fit.
Absolutely! Scholarship and Honors at Ship are terrific l, evidence they really value what she has to bring, and she already has that in her backpocket. (Plus the new governor has decided to invest in PASSHE so… all pluses!)
If she wants a less commuter campus than Berks (it clears out at night and is quasi dead on weekends) and a real 4-year “away” experience she could put Altoona/Behrend/Harrisburg as campus 1 and keep Berks as campus 2. A bonus is that she’d hear quickly.