got in for summer session
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Congratulations!
so for anyone getting in for summer session, I know there is some disappointment, but it is a great little secret. My kids did summer session, not because that “had” to (per Penn State), because they “had” to (because of parent direction).
It gives kids a chance to:
- get ahead on 6 credits - take the tough math class or English… everything is ‘easier’ in summer.
- acclimate to campus: roommate living, dorm living, dining hall, campus layout, how to structure time.
- get the nerves of starting school (seniors experience this throughout the summer) resolved. You are AT school and rocking it! and when you get home for 10 days or so in August, you can’t wait to go back!
- make friends.
I find that kids who have done summer tend to jump into clubs and activities right away in fall, because they’ve figured out transition already.
Obviously, there is a cost to it… and you give up summer at home (reality check here, you are tired of mom and dad anyway).
For anyone on the fence who was admitted fall, you can call and switch to summer. Easy process. For anyone admitted summer instead of fall, this is an opportunity to get ahead. grab it and go be successful!
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Thank you for this. My son applied for Summer only even though he probably could have been admitted for fall based on what I am reading. We really like the idea of him having the chance to get acclimated before all the students arrive in the fall.
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What major?
Stats?
still waiting. looks like everyone test button is disappearing except ours. waiting for Smeal direct.
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Just sharing a data point here: During today’s Smeal College admitted students virtual session, they shared that they’ve received approximately 23,000 applications this cycle. They plan to admit between 850 and 950 first year students and noted that not all acceptance decisions have been released yet.
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Admit between 850 and 900 or admit enough that the yield is 850-900? There’s no way that Smeal is more selective than, say, Harvard with a sub 5% acceptance rate.
I’m sure they meant the yield is 850-950 though they just said between 850-950 first years.
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They will admit more than 850 to yield their desired number of students. Believe the yield for University Park is around 33%. So if admit 3 students 1 will accept.
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I was just going to ask the same question, Acceptance rate of 5%. My very elementary understanding from the information at the summer tour at Smeal was that the percentage most likely would be going up because of direct admit at Smeal and that in prior years when a small number of Smeal direct admits for really high stats, it was apx 10%
Also, what percentage of the entire undergraduate population attends Smeal? If Smeal is getting 23,000 applicants, does UP usually get 100k-150k plus applicants a year?
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Even. If they accept at 3x of the expected yield, if they had 23k applicants the acceptance rate may only be a apx 12%.
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I found online that they had a record number of applicants last year - 145,654 undergraduate applications were received from the class of 2025. Not sure how that breaks down by major.
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Penn State had over 150k applications last year overall and believe almost 120k to 130k asked for University Park. Obviously only have space for 9500 freshman at main campus. When they finish renovating some of the dorms they will have space for a few more students. PSU will accept more than 9500 in order to yield a full freshman class. This is how they end up with students in supplemental housing as they may underestimate how many will accept. It’s not an exact science. This year might see a small decrease due to less international applicants as it’s harder to get student visas. In addition, I wouldn’t discount a small decrease due to PSU football not doing as well this year. People can be fickle 
. But overall they expect a good deal of applications again this year. There are certain colleges within the university that will have a lower acceptance rate than the overall university as the college may house popular majors such as Smeal, engineering, and nursing. The college with the lowest acceptance rate is Schreyer Honors College, but that is separate application and have to be admitted to a college for your major first. Schreyer only admits 300 freshman and again they will accept a few more than 300, but it has a much higher yield than the university as a whole. Good luck to your student!
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Is PSU really going to drop a ton of rejections on kids on Christmas Eve? Doesn’t that seem like Scroogiest thing ever? Why choose that date if you’re planning on releasing a ton of rejections?
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same boat. Hang in there!
PSU UP as a whole admits almost 6x the number of students that ultimately enroll (<20% yield). For Fall 2024, they accepted ~53K for enrollment of ~9K. If that same general practice is used in Smeal, it would imply an acceptance rate of just under 25%, vs. about 60% for all of UP.
By the way, the acceptance rate for Schreyer is about 20% so would imply that Smeal is almost as selective as that, though I think students that apply to Schreyer are highly self-selective because there is a lot of work involved in the application, and it has a reputation for being extremely selective.
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Hang in there! My oldest got in UP on Dec 20 two years ago and his friend got in Dec 23 at 10PM! I’m still waiting for my senior!
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They would typically either defer to the RD round or offer 2+2 rather than outright deny.
Students can then decide if they’d rather be admitted to Sneak at Altoona (etc) or try another major at UP through reconsideration.
I imagine they’ll admit 5-6,000 out of the 23,000 to UP and a few thousand instate students to branch campuses.
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