🐾 Penn State 🐾 Early Action Class of 2030 Official Thread

All A+ or A. So i guess he is a 4.0 uw even though actual gpa is 4.21. School doesn’t have APs but is rigorous private school and all classes considered advanced. Thx!

1 Like

If he’s got straight As at a rigorous school that’s instate and thus is a known quantity (hence the rigor would be recognized automatically) with good rigor, there’s no reason to worry.

(If you’re using it as a safety: even if it’s not unreasonable to consider PSU a safety, Smeal is typically highly selective compared to the rest of the university meaning not all qualified students get in; I do think it shouldn’t be a problem for your son based on stats/rigor but no matter what, he should have a second university that’s an affordable sure thing he likes - Temple’s Fox+Honors or Pitt+Fredericks or Drexel or Susquehanna Business or SUNY Bing SOM+BusinessHonors for instance - so that if even more selective universities don’t admit him, he has a choice in the Spring.
Due to the new Smeal admission system, ā€œreconsiderationā€ isn’t as easy for Smeal applicants: now, students either apply DUS and know that if they complete their pre-reqs they’ll have to pick Smeal majors that still have places OR apply to other majors such as Agribusiness -which, Btw, is a TERRIFIC major with great professional outcomes… but the pathway DUS=Smeal premajor being closed changes things for reconsideration and thus odds of Smeql admissions.)

Is he applying to Schreyer? Interested in Sapphire?

If you’re applying to PSU..

NOW is the time to complete and send your application if you haven’t yet done so.

Yes, now :grin: as in, today :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: ASAP :cowboy_hat_face:

Get it done, get parents or a friend to review, send by the end of the day.

Indeed, it’ll take a couple days for your portal to let you access your STARS(SRAR).
Then you need to complete it carefully - review it because a lot rests on that document. You want to make sure you didn’t skip a line, make sure someone else has checked you entered everything right.
PSU will recalculate your rigorƗgpa (ie , 2/3 of your decision) from this document so you want to make doubly sure it’s accurate.
Then they need to acknowledge it, which takes a couple days.
Everything needs to be received by Nov1.
Reverse flow chart things and you’ll see why your application needs to be in today :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:.

GOOD LUCK ALL

5 Likes

Daughter forgot to put two current year courses (electives) on her STARS. Emailing to request that it gets reopened, she’s freaking out though. Anyone able to reassure her that it’ll work out, or parents who have gone through this previously able to give advice?

I just wanted to add…if you’re not ready to apply today, you should still start your STARS as soon as possible. You can start an account without it being linked to any schools. When you get the link for PSU or any school, it’s seamless adding them to the STARS. BUT it still can take a few days for colleges to download the info from STARS, so you don’t want to wait until the very last minutes.

1 Like

Last year my daughter updated the STARS in November with her newest SAT scores. After she did that, the new version was sent to all 4 schools that were using STARS and they all received her updated SAT scores that way. So I think if you email an AO, which is what the directions state to do in her situation, they will be able to tell you what to do. The AOs at Penn State are great, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

1 Like

Thank you. She emailed both the general admissions office and our regional admissions rep, and updated her STARS for the other schools she’s applying to that use it.

Definitely interested in Sapphire but not necessarily Schreyer

Parent here….anyone else just now get an email stating the campus options their student chose in their application? My son submitted his several weeks ago, so interesting to get that just now.

2 Likes

I did. Probably means they are starting to go through the applications?

2 Likes

Received as well.

2 Likes

That’s what I was thinking.

1 Like

My daughter got it too and then says check application status here. When clicked it just states under review still.

2 Likes

my kid just got the same ā€œapplicationā€ email. guess they’re finally starting to go through them. i got a little excited that we might get a early decision:(

3 Likes

An early decision would be so great! Someone on reddit said he just got in a few days ago. Never sure if I should believe what I read there though.

2 Likes

My daughter applied in August. She is going for Applied Mathematics so nothing super competitive. she’d be 4th generation in our family to attend if she gets in. She’s got a 4.0 unweighted and 6.12 weighted GPA, 1520 SAT, 7 AP’s, ranked in the top 2% of her class and Decent EC’s, I hate to say i think Main campus is a ā€œsafetyā€ but my thought is Schreyer. What are her odds of Schreyer? does it really come down to the essays? I assume her stats are high enough to at least get her in the door for consideration.

1 Like

i think those are commonwealth. she has a friend who applied to the local campus and she got her decision last week. I think Main campus is def. gonna wait until after 11/1

3 Likes

That makes sense!!

1 Like

She will most likely get into main campus with those stats, but Schreyer is not a slam dunk. Know people with amazing stats including high SATs, great ECs, excellent writer etc. accepted fall of this past year to Smeal but declined from Schreyer. There is only 300 freshman for Schreyer each year. They will accept a few more than 300 to yield 300 students. Essays are weighted highly in the decision. Tell them to be authentic and let their true selves shine through. Schreyer is looking for those students who are intellectually curious and typically have several interests. Have a son in Schreyer who absolutely loves it. SATs are not considered for the application. Good luck to your daughter!

1 Like

Received the same email for my student today. Don’t recall getting that for my older student who is at main campus already. So of course I want to read into it, but probably just a new confirmation email they started sending this year, but hopeful for an early decision in their favor.

1 Like