I was accepted to Penn State UP in mid-December following a successful audition for the School of Music. I accepted my offer of admission this past week after attending the For the Glory program, so if I don’t get into Schreyer as a freshman it’s not the end of the world and I’ll probably try the gateway program sophomore/junior year. I applied to Schreyer close to the deadline so I didn’t get an interview. I know my stats as far as GPA and test scores are below average for what they accept, but I think my essays were strong and my short answers for extracurriculars etc were pretty good as well. Like I mentioned, I got invited to the For the Glory program and attended, and while I don’t know exactly how they selected us, we were described as “top academic achievers” (probably within our selected colleges, so I’m sure for example I’m ranked well within those accepted to A&A so far but nowhere near those who were there from Smeal). My selection for that program makes me feel better about my chances for Schreyer, but of course that is an entirely different thing and I know going to For the Glory doesn’t guarantee me anything.
GPA: 3.9W, my school doesn’t give me unweighted but when I calculated it myself it was 3.6-3.7
SAT: 1300/1600, although I heard that doesn’t matter
Rank: School won’t tell students
Class rigor: AP World, AP Bio, AP US, AP Lang, AP Music Theory, AP Calc AB, AP Lit, AP Gov throughout high school, the rest of my classes either honors or band/choir classes with one CP class this year. My school doesn’t offer a lot of AP classes and I have taken almost all of those available to me with the exception of some sciences.
ECs: Definitely my strongest point. I’m play multiple instruments but specialize in one, have had a number of leadership positions in band and such at school, multiple ensembles outside of school, have performed nearly all styles of music, studio experience with album credit, 4 year all state band member, selected for and performed in an all-national band this school year as well, high seating in other honor bands. My ECs show a very focused area of interest relevant to my major. Also, I’m a female who plays a very male dominated instrument, so although I wasn’t outright like “HEY LOOK AT ME” for this detail, perhaps it makes me more interesting.
Schreyer Application:
Essays: All strong. I can post more detail about what I wrote about, but I took a really creative approach to one of the prompts and demonstrated thoughtful responses and allowed my personality to shine through.
Short answers: I don’t remember all of the questions but I wrote a paragraph minimum for each of them and had a lot to say about them. There was a big focus on ECs and awards I’ve won and I have a lot to talk about there. I focused on the music stuff, but in the awards section talked about winning essay contests and the Golden Horseshoe award. I also didn’t try to paint myself as some service hero but I talked about how I have experience helping kids in the community learn music stuff and also talked about being a passionate vegan and promoting it in my school.
Letters: Two teachers who love me, so should be good.
Overall I did my best on the writing and tried to be clear about my achievements and ambitions. I just tried to be completely honest and let them see who I am. If everything else is good, how much will my GPA hurt me? Thanks in advance!