Nursing isnāt among the colleges where they really want to see the SAT score, and especially Math (which would be EMS, COE, IST, Smeal, IIRC).
However I would submit a 32, because it is objectively excellent and because TO has slightly distorted the range. 30-31, Iād hesitate for Nursing and itād depend on the rest of the application, whether the score validates it or weakens it. (Nursing is the most competitive college.)
Checking the Summer box does offer an advantage, if only because your application is reviewed twice. Last year there were three LEAP Prides open to Nursing students (2 āSocial Problemsā and 1 Biostatistics) with many others fulfilling Nursing Gen Eds.
During our info session, they stressed that checking summer start definitely helps your application. Interesting that you and I received conflicting info.
Interesting. During our nursing tour, they not only mentioned that summer start makes no difference, but I believe they also wrote it in the printed materials they handed out. Perhaps it is a result of the relatively small size of the BSN program and the fact that they have such a low acceptance rate as is. That said, my understanding was the Nursing school doesnāt review their own applications, it is all done centrally. Nursing said they may get questions from admissions on individual applications but they donāt do the review. So I would have thought the same rules apply to all. I guess weāll find out soon enoughā¦.
For most majors, checking summer start can help with admission chances, but not for nursing. The nursing major has a very structured 4-year curriculum and the only advantage of starting in the summer is that students can take 2 courses in the summer and have a lighter load fall and spring of freshman year.
thinking out loud hereā¦ nursing gets so many qualified applications for so few spots. They may not āneedā to offer summer (which tends to be students on the bubble) ā¦ because their quality is high already.
Perhaps another way to look at it isnāt that Summer is an easier Admit for Nursing but rather an admission cushion at the same level of selectivity but still opening a couple more spots?
I think summer admits are only āon the bubbleā _for their chosen major_ (or in relation to other factors like regions/HS or late applicants - not applicable for Nursing..) Meaning Nursing applicants could be topnotch overall and still be offered Summer. Clearly no one would be offered Summer if their stats didnāt let Admissions expect success in Nursing (they must have tons of data about what that means).
From an Enrollment pov, it would make sense to have a few Nursing Summer admits for instance in order to offset Summer melt and to cushion any error in yield prediction. With the selectivity so high theyād still be excellent students (thus may benefit more from a CAS100 Pride combination rather than an English15 combo, keeping Eng30 for the Fall?) For the students itād just mean they would have a lighter first semester.
BTW: On another thread, salaries 5 years after graduation for CA public universities graduates indicated Nursing graduates competed with CS majors as the highest paid graduates. Itās in California not PA but considering the status of CS in CA it was eye-opening.
Good info, thanks. Re: nursing salaries in CA, my understanding is there is a major nursing shortage in the state (and high salaries a result of low supply/high demand). If you look at direct admit nursing programs in California, there are very few. So I donāt see how this problem gets resolved any time soon. PA is very different in the number of direct entry BSN programs availableā¦ though nursing shortages seem to be an issue nationwide.
Does Penn State look at mid-year senior grades for RD? My son has good SAT and rigorous classes, but his GPA definitely makes UP a long shot. He was thinking that instead of applying EA, he would wait to apply RD with hopefully stellar mid-year senior grades to show. But Iām not sure Penn State would even consider those, and if this strategy would even be worth missing any advantage he has by applying EA.
Penn State has historically not looked at senior grades. As with many popular state flagship universities, applying early action is almost a necessity.
They only use senior year rigor, not senior year grades. In addition, students who apply RD face a MUCH more competitive landscape since most spots have already been offered.
To give you an idea, Iāll use fake numbers but real scale: 300 applicants for a major where they plan on roughly 40 freshmen. Due to yield, they admit 140: roughly 1:2 chance. 35 can be expected to take their offer, that leaves 5 free spots for which they only need to admit 15 in the RD round. If 100 apply RD, their odds of getting one of these 15 are considerably lower than in the EA round when all the spots were still open. They probably need to be as strong as the top 15 in the first round, or perhaps even stronger, and definitely stronger than all other admits. Which is how you end up with āwhy did X get in and not me?ā
Itās much better, if denied for UP and offered a branch campus, to ask for reconsideration for a less competitive major, than to wait and apply RD. Since Iām a āleave no stone unturnedā person, Iād try to include the senior year grades in the reconsideration request, just in case, even if they may not be looked at. At least youāll have no regrets.
If his GPA is borderline AND you can afford it, he should apply directly to the Summer session (not Fall and Summer, *just* Summer). At least heāll know quickly.
Itās also worth considering whether starting at a branch campus, especially one thatās relatively residential, isnāt a better idea: each year, about 8-10% UP students donāt make it to their second year despite being carefully selected for their potential success. Many, many more have to switch majors - engineering, any major with Math 140-141 or Chem 110-111 can be brutal.
Thanks so much for your response. This info helps a lot. I agree on the approach to apply summer. And I personally think a residential branch campus could be a good fit for him, but Iām not sure heās come around to that just yet.
Is there any advantage to this over applying Fall but checking the box for Summer too? My understanding was itās ok to check both, but wanted to make sure. My studentās GPA and SAT both at lower quartile and applying for DUS. Thanks!
Itās okay to check both, of course, especially if youāre applying to a less competitive major, either because the college as a whole is not one of the more selective ones (Nursing, Smeal, Engineering) or the major is not one that is more selective than the overall college (Meteorology, Psychology), or if you have strong SAT scores to show your HS has some grade deflation.
However if youāre in the bottom 25%, letās be real, you donāt stand a chance for the more competitive colleges/majors that even the top 25% applicants canāt be certain about.
So, in my opinion, why even apply for the Fall session? At least if you apply directly for the Summer session, if you meet their benchmarks (or if you donāt) they can let you know quickly rather than your being stuck waiting and risk being deferred to RD. You can make reconsideration plans or move on. Itās just my opinion, based on previous yearsā applicants who waited and waited because they were really borderline branch campus; applicants may or may not have been okay but their parents were often *really* antsy, worried, etc. Late November to late December is very hard on parents and can be hard on kids, especially when they see their classmates getting decisions and theyāre still waiting.
Still, some kids donāt mind waiting, some really want to roll the dice and see if they could get in for Fall, etc. And of course there are families where that option isnāt even possible due to costs (8.5k instate, 13.5k OOS, and you can only get FAFSA aid for it - counts as āprevious yearā ie. 2024-2025 so freshmen get the full amount for Summer then the full 2025-2026 amount for Fall and Spring - to be confirmed with the FA office especially in light of the recent changes passed by the Administration.) So if it matters to you or your child to start in the Fall, thereās no downside to checking both in terms of chances, it may just feel like the decision is pointlessly dragging on and on and onā¦
Test scores must be sent directly from College Board to be considered official by Penn State.
The code for Penn State that should be listed on the registration form
for the SAT #2660
for the ACT #3656
Does Penn State weigh dual enrollment the same as AP for the SRAR gpa recalculation? Also does Penn State include electives such as gym or business electives (ie marketing, accounting) when recalculating the gpa or do they just care about core classes?
They only care about academic classes. So, no PE, Health, whatever your state may have that is non academic or has no grade. Everything else ācountsā.
There used to be (canāt see the new SRAR/STARS) questions where you could check how many years/what level and what classes youād taken in each subject, and it was clear 4 or more in each main area of knowledge (English/Humanities, Math, Social Science&History, Science, World Language) was valued/expected. You could check a 5th year, too. Electives were counted too and Art recommended.
The minima are listed on the admission page but establish the basics for branch campuses (as well as rural HS that may not have all the courses, something that should be made clear in the school profile).
If you want to estimate rigor - typically, 12-15 honors, AP, IB, or DE total over 4 years would be best if your school offers them. 16-20 is far from unheard of.
