I have a question about my chances at Penn State (UP).
If my GPA falls in their average GPA scale 3.55-3.97 but my ACT doesn’t do i still have a chance to get in if i apply. I don’t mind applying summer and i am definitely applying undecided.
UW GPA: 3.59
W GPA: 3.94
ACT: 20
Sat Subject: 740 ( US History)
Honors Courses: 8
AP Courses: 3
AP Euro, 4
AP English and composition, 3
APUSH,3
I’m just having a hard time raising my ACT score, the same goes for the SAT. What should i do to make it raise to a 25 or 26
You know what? If you were to take the ACT or the SAT without a time limit, I would bet you would do pretty well. IMO, neither test is too very hard. The SAT is tricky, showing a picture of one type of line while asking a question about a different line altogether. The ACT is all about beating the clock. Both tests require an attack plan where practice and strategy are key.
With the ACT, wrong answers won’t hurt you. Some kids have a letter of the day so that if they run out of time, they bubble in that letter of the day. Odds are, you will pick up a couple of points here which is way better than leaving an answer blank. Never leave an answer blank on the ACT.
Most kids are better on some sections than other. Play to your strong suits and strive to complete those sections and complete them with as many correct answers as possible. This will help with your composite score and show a school where you shine.
Really work on pacing. Science has the shortest amt of time so I suggested to my son to never read the passage. “Read the questions and then look for the answer.” This worked for him on one occasion and was a major failed on a second testing. Find what works for you.
Son is a strong reader with a good memory so he read all sections of English and Reading and then answered the questions. He did however have an order in which he approached reading. I believe he started with Social Studies and then Humanities as he found the prose or literary section the hardest. See, that might be the exact opposite for you.
Practice the test and work on pacing until you are sick of it. That, and exploring what approach works best for you is my best advice for improving your score. Good luck.
If your English score was significantly higher on the ACT, the SAT may be the better test for you (the math is easier…no trig). Get a prep book or use a free website like www.number2.com and practice as much as you can. You’re obviously an excellent student, so you should be able to raise your scores significantly with some prep.
PSU says they count GPA as two-thirds and ACT/SAT one-third of their decision and care very little in regards to ECs, etc. I personally believe there is more to the story than that, but seriously doubt you would get into main campus with a 20 ACT.
I would guess that would depend on the individual. I would think someone getting a 20 on the ACT would have a difficult time getting a 1750 on the SAT, but I would also guess you never know until you try. Maybe some prep or practicing may help. Good luck.
An ACT 20 is equivalent to about an SAT 1460. An SAT 1750 correlates to an ACT 25. That’s a big difference, but some people are better suited to one test format vs the other.
With your GPA, though, I don’t think you’d need to get that far, especially if you apply DUS and are willing to attend summer session. My understanding is that the bubble chart is based on W GPA (why else would it go above 4.0), so a 3.9, 20 would put you solidly in the maybe category. Obviously a couple of points on the ACT, or a shot at the SAT wouldn’t hurt.
Also, as the people above said that the jump from a 20(1400ish) to a 25(1700ish) is large; what about a jump from 1400 to a 1600 or above.
what a 1600 give me a decent shot of getting in at PSU with DUS and summer session? I also plan to apply before the priority deadline.
FWIW, my impression is that PSU likes their out-of-state students to have decent SAT or ACT scores. So, as you can see from the chart, even a 1600 SAT with your GPA makes it into the lower-end of the yellow area. Signifying that you are willing to take summer session and be on DUS will definitely help since you technically would still be on the borderline. I’d do my best to get your SAT or ACT as high as possible.
Keep in mind that weighted GPA’s are very hard to compare to other people. It all depends on HOW your school weights the grades and how you performed within your school’s system. For example, there was a very upset mom this past year who’s daughter had a pretty high GPA who didn’t get in even for summer, and it was because the way the school weighted the grades was too easy. In my daughter’s school, an A is a 94%. In the neighboring school it’s a 90%. Comparing GPA’s is tough - which is why many who watch the PSU admissions will tell you there is often no visible rhyme or reason to who gets in or or who is denied. PSU publishes their middle 50% based on a 4.0 scale - so not weighted.
PSU will tell you that the further you are from their middle 50%, the more likely you are to be offered a branch campus. The middle 50% for University Park campus is 3.55-3.97 for GPA, 26-30 ACT, 1750-2000 SAT. It is extremely difficult to go from a 20 ACT to a 26 ACT. A 20 ACT is about a 1410 on the SAT, and a 26 ACT is about a 1770. A 300 point jump is not unheard of, but usually pretty unlikely. You may want to try the SAT and see how you do on that. Students usually have one or the other on which they perform better.
My daughter had a 28 composite ACT (equal to about a 1910 SAT) with a 32 in the English section. So she was at the upper end of the middle 50% for GPA. But she had a 3.4 GPA so just under the middle 50%. She was offered summer session this year as a DUS major.
I’d take your tests again and apply DUS and with summer as an option. Regardless of how you look at it, that’s your best chance for admission to main campus. Otherwise you will be offered a branch campus, which is about how 60% of PSU graduates start - so you won’t be alone and it’s also a great way to get into PSU and graduate with a degree from a good university.
just to make it clear, i lie in the middle 50% with my unweighted GPA.
my school does grades differently. it weighs grades as points, so an A is 4 points, B 3 points, C 2 points, D 1 point, and an F 0 points. My school also does periods instead of semesters which means there are 2 periods in one semester.
2 semesters= 4 periods.
So, if one got all A’s for all the periods then it would show as an A for the final grade.
But, if one was to get one C and the rest are A’s they would get an A- for the final grade.
I know you are in the middle 50% for GPA, just not in the test scores. Given that one is in and one is out of the 50%, your best bet is to apply DUS and summer. That’s what I was trying to say. I don’t think the way your school determines grades is much different than most schools figure their grades. Most work on a 4.0 scale where an A is a 4.0, a B is a 3.0 etc…It just depends on what percentage it takes for you to get that A. If it’s a 90 to get an A, then that’s less rigorous than someone who also gets an A average (4.0) but their school requires a 94% for an A. So comparing GPA’s across schools is tough because each school determines GPA differently. Regardless, Penn State will look at how you performed within your own school’s system…for exactly the reason above. This is what they told me at least. But again, it’s very mystifying how they determine things and it can be very frustrating to try to figure it out. I know it was for us. In the end, you just have to go by the law of averages. There will always be outliers. But in general, if you are outside of the middle 50% for one or the other of your stats, it is always safest to apply undecided (DUS) with the option of summer. They will not evaluate you for summer until they’ve already decided you don’t fit the criteria for fall, and nearly every major (except direct entry majors) can be completed in 4 years starting out in DUS. So neither option hurts you at all. Summer is an added expense but many also feel it’s worth it. Some do not. That, you would have to decide yourself. You are fortunate in that 2/3 of PSU’s decision is GPA based and only 1/4 on other factors such as standardized testing So you are in a better place than if your stats were the other way around (low GPA, high ACT).
Alright thanks.
Also, when you apply DUS is it possible to switch your major after your first year or when you begin your first semester. When you do that does that mean you would head to a different college. For example, you switch from DUS to an engineering major would you go to the college of engineering?
