as far as his UW GPA, we were never really certain because his school doesnāt report it, but when he used the online GPA calculator, it came to a 3.7/3.8. That said, I know Penn only weighs the core courses so again not really sure. He got a B in precalc Junior year and we thought that was going to hurt him but it apparently did not. He had/has very strong rigor
Thank you so much! I will be following this thread and watch for your sonās decision. You canāt create the LionPath account until you receive a decision. But as soon as that test button disappears in the portal, you will be able to use the portal login credentials to get into LionPath and see your decision letter immediately instead of waiting until midnight for the portal to update.
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I thought about this strategy then i felt if they cannot give fall directly, they will consider for summer. My son is in IB rigorous program. Not sure whether that will help but we are waiting and hoping to hear soon. Congrats for your son.
We are attending a virtual admitted students day next week through College of Ed since in person isnāt until the Spring. We loved admitted students day at Pitt last month so hoping this gives a good picture of the difference between the two schools/programs even if its virtual. Has anyone done these in the past? Was it a good or bad experience?
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It is my understanding that the āSummer onlyā students are not compared to the āFall students who are considered for Summer if they do not make the Fall cut offā group. I could be very very wrong though. Curious to know for sure. All that said, we felt my son would benefit from a slow transition to the school so we are happy with the Summer start. Sad to send him off early though 
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Thank you.
Question: does Penn state take AP scores from Common App if they are reported there or from stars? Inputted on stars but donāt see them there:
Also, do they distinguish GPAs from magnet schools that are very selective to get into? And someone said Smeal is very focused on math. What happens to a kid who has good grades but most of the Bās are in math but is still taking APCalculus and got a 31 in math ACT section but a 33 overall. Their 31 in math was lowest of their ACT sections but probably higher than your average applicant.
Our son applied summer only; Iām hoping that was the correct choice. The waiting has not been easy. We wanted to improve chances for admission to UP and also thought the summer program would be a helpful transition to the rigors of full-time college life.
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My D26 received something in the mail today welcoming her to PSU. It doesnāt look like any type of swag, just a welcome pamphlet that I havenāt opened.
Havenāt gotten anything yet here. Got in 3 weeks ago. Guess PSU just knows everyone wants to go there so isnāt trying to wow people with swag 
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Penn State is pretty serious about academics for its athletes, relative to some D1 universities, but for admissions athletes compete in their own lane, as long as they meet the recommended preparation with a B/B+ average theyāre ok.
If admitted, your grades WILL be regularly sent to the coaches, freshman year you will have mandatory 2-hour study hall with tutors, and if your grades slip to 70-72 in one subject youāll have a tutor to make sure they stop slipping. They want you to graduate with a degree as well as being a high profile, high level athlete.
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They would take it from STARS but itās worth checking directly with Admissions 1/if they can see them 2/ if they take them from STARS or from CommonApp 3/if thereās been a problem with your STARS processing.
Smeal likes to see a Math test score, math courses through Precalculus/Precalculus Honors/Calculus (<-especially), 4 years of a world language, and some solid social science courses (APUSH because it means ability to read and process a lot of material in-depth, another course thatās more global or diverse in outlook because it reflects the collegeās values, AP Econ because it shows how you handle a subject that forms a foundational basis for their major, as well as other History or social science APs or IB Individuals&Society classes.)
31 ACT Math would be okay. The threshold is probably 30 and admitted students were recommended to have a 32 Math but this changed with the new process.
If you get a 5 on the Calc AB test, you can take the 4 credits for Math 110 and just take Maths 111 (a 2-credit complement that will help you complete your quantitative requirement. SCM 200 aka Stats applied to Business&Economics, or Stats 200, would be the other Math requirement.)
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They donāt send out swag and never have. Frankly, they admit too many students and it would probably be cost prohibitive.
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My son applied 10/21 for SMEAL and hasnāt heard yet. He just received his 1stQ gpa of 4.07. And when he applied in Oct he was working toward Eagle rank, but it became official in early Nov. How can he send these application updates to PSU? We did this with my daughter a few years ago along with a short letter of continued interest.
Can he upload new info like this directly to his application account (he canāt find any āuploadā area on his portal) or would he send via email to a rep? And how does he find that rep contact info?
Ty in advance for the help
So if I apply with a gpa that is weighted around B to a B+ itās pretty likely that Iāll get accepted, correct?
We called Admissions about sending in Q1 Senior year grades and they told us they would not consider them.
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Our son was accepted into HHD for summer at UP.
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Found out tonight? Itās been very quiet
Yea, I havenāt gotten anything yet and button is still there.