Hi I’m a high school senior and I got accepted January 28 to penn state but not university park. I was really upset that I got to Erie because it’s not what I wanted. I meet all the requirements, have acamdic achievement, now have an internship, and my recommendation is from my principal. I later switched from Erie to Altoona because it’s closer but I found out all males from my school got in who were shocked they found out they got to Arizona… this says a lot and I personally know them and I can tell you they don’t meet even the off campus requirement yet they all get to park before I do. One has a legacy and the rest who knows because not only classes wise are my more challenging, but better gpa, act and it all. It’s totally unfair and when my mom called admissions for an appeal all the counselor said I couldn’t because the competition too high meaning I was given lip service because they didn’t want to do anything… we were feed up. We called 3 different people and they all told us different lies so we knew something was up. My counselor said that there no way why I shouldn’t be accepted to University Park and later in the mail I got into EBERLY college of science which is what I wanted but was too scared so I did DUS. I’m thinking but how do they know this… are they compromising with me? next letter I get is money for my acacdemic achievement but if it was so good why didn’t you accept me to Park. After we had called I received an email and I thought maybe this was the appeal they never let me do end it says congratulations you’ve been excepted into University Park please come to achievers 2017 to visit our campus . And I’m so excited and I tell my mom and I tell my counselor and she goes they were excepted you. Little did we know 10 hours later I get an email saying invitation air sorry that email wasn’t directed towards you please note you are at Altoona. I’m thinking how can you accept someone by accident you are intentionally playing with my emotions. It got to the point where my school college counselor and principal step in and called people and no one has been helping us. Time running out and all I want is a fair appeal because I have lots of good evidence. My school isn’t as dedicated as me because I’ve been wanting this since 8th grade and it’s my only options of school I care for and want. Do you believe we should write a formal document to appeal(my counselor advice), get a lawyer( my principal advice), or call the principal of Penn State to find out what’s going on. I really need some help!
I don"t think you have any basis to appeal. What do you think a lawyer could do for you? They didn’t accept you at University Park, and they don’t have to. To be honest, your writing is pretty atrocious and I would bet that worked against you. Are you an international student? Go to a school that accepted you, improve your writing skills and and then maybe you could transfer.
I am having some trouble following your story. But I’m going to try to answer your questions here.
First of all, don’t compare yourself to others in your school who you “think” didn’t have as good of an application as you. It depends heavily on what they applied for. Legacy matters little. Gender of the student matters little. EC’s matter little. Recommendations matter not at all.
I can guarantee you Penn State is not “playing with your emotions”. They get upwards of 60,000 applications a year. They don’t have the time, nor the inclination to mess with you on purpose. They aren’t lying to you. The competition is high. There are 4.0 students who get deferred to a commonwealth campus if their major is full or if the competition within that major is high. I think you said you applied DUS, but I can’t be totally sure based on your writing.
You have your principal and your counselor calling people and the answer is still no. I am not sure at all what you think a lawyer will do for you? Penn State doesn’t have to accept you. Even if you are within the middle 50% etc…It’s not a guarantee offer and they tell you that. Also, any principal that is telling you to get a lawyer is suspect in his own abilities in my opinion.
Your writing is very disjointed and hard to follow. It does not seem as though English is your primary language. This may be hurting you in your attempts to communicate with the people at PSU. It very likely also hurt your ACT score in writing.
What are your stats? GPA and ACT score? Where is your high school? This will help us determine whether a formal appeal is a waste of time. My feeling is that it is a waste of time.
PS…There is no “Principal” of PSU. You could complete a formal appeal through the admissions office. They can tell you how to do that. It’s more than just a letter. They reject or defer thousands of applicants a year and they have heard it all for why you just HAVE to go to UP.
I’m sorry you’re disappointed with your acceptances. Every year some school sends out acceptances by mistake. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not personal.
You can’t force a college to accept you. Your counselor should never have told you that you should be accepted to Penn State/University Park. There’s no way for them to know that.
What are your stats? Did you receive merit from Altoona? If it’s affordable, I’d go there. If you do well enough, maybe you can transfer into Univ. Park.
You applied for UP, with Behrend (Erie) as an alternate campus.
You were accepted at Behrend
You asked, and were granted a change of campus to Altoona
You have been accepted to the Eberly School of Science, but decided to go in as DUS, this I don’t understand because Eberly is a UP designation. But okay, maybe that applies to all campuses. And what your major is as a freshman is nearly meaningless.
ADmissions is based on grades, test scores and strength of schedule. In some cases, other details may tip a balance, but those are fairly rare. Legacy candidates are noted only as part of tracking yield (do our alumni value their degree, or not?). Get over yourself, already.
Appeals are only heard from a handful of students who have life-altering circumstances between senior year and acceptance : catastrophic illness, accidents, injury, family severe crisis, etc.
As is the case SO MANY times on CC, you had a good offer to start with, and only made it a bad offer by refusing to take it at face value. Behrend is a great school and the largest commonwealth campus outside UP. But you decided you “deserved better” and have complained your way to confusion. And called staff liars in the process.
It’s a big school, with lots and lots and lots of people who have done more, seen more, achieved more, and have more ambition than any single student. You can’t be comparing yourself to others all day long or you’ll be miserable and confused. Give it a rest, go to Altoona (or ask to switch back to Erie) . Remember when you call to have a specific question and if it needs to be a counselor, say so. The call centers probably take hundreds of calls a day, so know what you need and how to say so. And good grief, forget the lawyers and the principal. Say " I don’t understand my acceptance, can I talk to a counselor"
Best luck – and breathe.
I come from a blue ribbion school and I am a foreigner and English is not my first language so please don’t insult me. My Act is a 31 and my Gpa is a 4.2 so do you want to keep saying I need to improve my English and writing skills? Yeah I didn’t think school. My school gives so much money and communicates well with PSU and I don’t want Erie I rather have Altoona but I don’t want to be at the 2+2 program why can’t I transfer sooner? We aren’t calling anyone else we are letting the college counselor handle it. I didn’t call any staff liars and didn’t tell anyone I deserved better I’m saying that what my mother said. All we said were can we speak to an admission counselor and this one man didn’t say anything so we didn’t bother. My writing didn’t work against me because I had an Act tutor who’s a lawyer to help me edit my application. Transferring is a hassle but now with all this greek life shit going on people don’t even want to attend the school. I was accepted in an email and a formal paper document so you can’t really tell me that’s not an acceptance. I know I shouldn’t compare myself but when I hear other student like me get rejected it’s hard because do compare ourself. I’m not saying Altoona is bad I’m saying it’s not ideal. I got into EBERLY college of science by my essay not by my choice of major. The money I got was just $16,000 a year for academic achievement for maintain good gpa for 4 years. I applied DUS so I wouldn’t be rejected entirely is what I meant to say. In the application my English and writing skills weren’t disjointed I got a 30 on English and on my writing 10/12. My principal didn’t call the school and neither did my counselor just college counselor who has connections with the admissions office. I am out of state and pay a lot and know the competition is high but doesn’t mean I don’t deserve an answer. All of these acceptance of money and scholarship were thrown after the admission couldn’t tell my mom the answers we wanted so that’s compromising. If I was that good I could be accepted into university park. I was accepted into Maryland, Virginia Tech, University of Delaware, American Univeristy, Indiana, Ohio state, Syracuse, and many more but my choice was PSU and now I’m not sure.
Oh and fwi I have 4 national award for my writing essays so I may not correct my grammar for this website but I do in real life!!
And EBERLY college of science is only offered at UP and it states that when you look it up and you can’t study it at any alternate campus. I know the application is a combination of everything because they even say on the website grades are a factor becaus the tour guide at psu said if you don’t have the gpa we set that aside, if you don’t have the act we set that aside, we look for what you have. I’m not saying they have to accept me but They should.
Is it possible if I take summer course at community college it will help me transfer earlier to UP if I go to Altoona because it is closer to UP so I can still go to games and everything.
No. You can’t transfer to UP before your junior year.
Ok, I’m going to try again. IF what you are saying is true…that you have a 4.2 GPA and a 31 ACT AND You applied DUS Prior to the priority deadline, then that would be unusual for you to not gain acceptance to UP campus. That said, IF all of that is true, there may be something with the way your school weights their classes. Is it a 4.2 GPA out of 4? Are you an IB student?
I can’t tell if you actually spoke to an admissions counselor or not. You’ve said your principal called, and then later you said he didn’t call. You said your mom called 3 different people and you were told different “lies” (so you did call PSU liars) and then later you said you called one man but he didn’t say anything so you didn’t bother. So I don’t know who’s called whom.
If you have not spoken to an admissions counselor, I would call and ask to speak to one. Not to the person who answers the phone…ask to speak to an actual admission counselor and ask about your application.
As far as your writing skills, we are not insulting you. We are telling you that we can’t follow nor understand what you are saying. So I’m guessing PSU admissions doesn’t either. I think you are not only out of state, but international based on the times that you post. I do not believe you have 4 national USA writing awards. Not a chance based on your writing here. That’s not being insulting. I speak and write zero other languages so you speak and write English a million times better than I speak any other language - but it’s also a barrier to your communication with us and with PSU.
EBERLY is only at UP, but you can study the majors within the science areas at any campus.
Lastly, the commonwealth campus system is a 2+2 if you want to get to UP. You cannot do a community college and transfer to UP and sooner than junior year. You go to UP either freshman year or junior year. Those are the only years they allow people in.
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I am out of state and pay a lot and know the competition is high but doesn’t mean I don’t deserve an answer.
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You got an answer. You didn’t get into University Park. Stop thinking you’re entitled to anything, you’re not.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this thread
Paragraph breaks would be very helpful to those trying to follow your posts.
If you’re not accepted, you’re not meant to be there. Everything happens for a reason.