An interview can help! Most of the time, it does, but there have been occasions where an interview brought a candidate down.
Essays are the important part. If all readers agree and the academic rigor is there, an interview is a confirming piece of the file. If the kid is in the middle of the pack of admissions, an interview might be the thing that pushes them over the edge into an admit pile. It will not push a kid who is a clear deny into an admit pile ā¦ 99% of the time.
Glad the interview went well! Happy to answer questions if any-
I have certainly read of nursing applicants being admitted to UP. After visiting the nursing school this summer, I think my daughter is prepared for an unfavorable result at Penn State. Small cohort that requires the year in Hershey to even be as big as it is, and very heavy reliance on stats instead of a more holistic review (per what we were told on a tour). As you said though, Pitt is a great option so sheāll be fine either way. She is learning that admission to top BSN programs is no joke and every acceptance to a direct admit program is worth celebrating.
We are also in Metrowest. We did the drive to Penn State a couple times this summer and itās LONG. You can fly into the State College airport, but thereās only one flight a day, so if you miss the connection, youāre kind of SOL. I was told itās not that difficult to get a carpool together. Also, there is bus to Philly and you can fly/train from there (but thatās ends up being longer than driving).
Just want to say thanks to everybody on this forum for their help, especially MYOS1634. DS was admitted to the school of education at UP yesterday with a Summer Start.
He was shocked when he finally checked his portal. His decision had been there for 3 days. He only has two friends admitted so far and those are his āvery very smartā friends.
Ok, so they have started rolling out nursing admissions. Like every other school, they are still working through them, it sounds like.
Yes, they are heavy on stats and if nursing can easily make decisions based on stats, they donāt have to do a holistic review. Holistic review really comes into play when everyone has the same stats (4.0uw/1500/etc.). I do think the candidates āon the bubbleā are looked at more clearly - they want to make sure they donāt admit the kid with a 4.0 but āsofterā classes and easy electives while the kid with lots of AP-level and/or STEM based classes and possibly a lower gpa isnāt admitted. Iām sure they have a profile of which kids are successful.
good luck. yes, nursing direct admits is an honor!
Reading some of the discussion here about travel to and from campus coming from OOS locationsā¦.I think thatās the greatest logistical barrier for my son right now, given that we live in Utah. How practical is it to fly in, train/bus over to State College from Philly or Pittsburgh, knowing heās going to have some amount of āstuffā at least when moving in and out and no vehicle to help move into a dorm once he gets there. Would love anyoneās thoughts on how this works for students in similar situations.
From Utah, I would definitely be flying into State College. I just looked at a random day in January, and itās only $500 with 1 connection on United. The next closest airport is Harrisburg (which isnāt all that large) either and youāll still need to connect to get there, then take a bus to State College. Flying into Philly or Newark, then trying to bus to State College, sounds like a nightmare. There is no train service to state college, just bus.
Any advice on reconsideration strategy here? Got 2+2 Agribusiness Mgmt. Thinking about switching to Summer session Hospitality Mgmt or DUS. 3.41 GPA Test Optional, Double Legacy. Itās a long shot but would appreciate any suggestions!
Is that gpa weighted or unweighted? I wouldnāt do DUS. Maybe something in HHD like HRIM or similar or early education with summer start. If unweighted was 3.41 and has decent rigor he was probably just a bit below the stats they would accept based on prior years Iāve seen 3.5 unweighted to ag business with summer start. Might want your son to call admissions as they might actually help guide him and tell him if summer start would be enough or not for ag business. Good luck.
GPA is unweighted. Rigorous private high school with not many APās. He canāt reapply to Ag Business summer. Senior first semester grades higher than GPA. Currently A- in Calculus, math and science classes are best.
Admitted to the 2+2 Smeal program at Penn State Harrisburg but want reconsideration for the Economics BS at University Park.
When I tried through the MyPennState portal, the āSubmitā button only appears if I select an alternate starting campus. Admissions confirmed this is the only way to submit.
Has anyone else run into this issue where the āSubmitā button wonāt show unless you choose an alternate campus? How can I submit the request without choosing an alternate starting campus? Also, if I request reconsideration, will Penn State just change my major to Economics (Liberal Arts) but still keep me at Harrisburg, instead of moving me to University Park?
If he didnāt mark summer session as start or as an alternative to be evaluated, then he can keep same major and ask about summer start. If it was already indicated on his application to be reviewed for summer with preferred fall start then he would need to ask for reconsideration under diff major. Iād reach out to admissions to discuss.