So I got into PSU recently… and my friend who has gotten denied from every college he has applied to asked me about it and I said he should totally apply. I was trying to be nice and optimistic…
He’s is applying fall 2017 with summer option yes, to university park.
He has a 2.7 unweighted GPA with no weight
33 on the ACT
He plays varsity football at my school but thats about it for his EC’s and other stuff.
I believe he is applying to DUS
Please tell me there’s a chance, I would feel so bad if he got another denial because I didn’t keep my mouth shut
With a 2.7 and a 33 on the ACT, he is almost certainly going to be deferred to a PSU branch campus. But 60% of students who graduate from Penn State started at a branch so I’d encourage him to look into that. My son also has a 2.7 GPA and he is going to start at Altoona because it’s a beautiful campus and really close to main campus. Lots of Altoona students spend weekends at main campus, go to the football games, etc…My daughter is a sophomore at main campus and she has friends who visit from Altoona all of the time.
The one chance he may have is that his ACT is very high. If he put summer as an option and DUS he MIGHT have a shot. But in general, anything under a 3.2 is at a branch - and some might even say a lot higher than that. The middle 50% at PSU main campus begins at a 3.55. But the ACT is in the top 25%, so he might have a shot IF he put summer as an option. If he didn’t, I’d advise he do that ASAP.
@amarz12 Overall, WVU is not as highly ranked as Penn State. I’ve heard that their engineering school is good, but don’t know much about the strength of other majors. Your friend would be accepted there, as out of state students need only a 2.5 GPA and 21 ACT (even lower for instate). Some majors do require a higher GPA. It is known as a party school, but so is Penn State. It is certainly one of the least competitive (for admission) flagships in the eastern part of the country.
@Techtheatrewiz I believe that is because of the program to which you applied. Your program also has portfolio/audition requirements that outweigh GPA in many cases. So your ACT and your audition/portfolio were good, so it outweighed your GPA. In nearly all other cases, a 2.8 GPA won’t get you into Penn State.