Hi, yes UP is my first choice and I put Altoona as my second. Iām also a recruited athlete so hopefully they will consider that. Iām just concerned about how long itās taking considering I applied August 1st. My classes are relatively difficult I took 4 APs total considering my senior year (3 of them being history and 1 English) and 3 Honors classes. (My school doesnāt do UW gpaās because if they did everyone would be on the lower end because of the schools competitiveness). My extracurriculars are really good too so hopefully that stands out. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!
If he took 4 years of French in HS, just have him take Level 3 French at PSU and be done with it. The requirement is the same now as it was when I was a business major in the 1990s. I took 3 years of French in HS, took 2 years off, then took Level 2 and 3 my Sophomore year at PSU and it was no problem. I actually become much more proficient even from doing that and can still speak French well enough decades later to have basic conversational skills when I go to France.
I canāt post a link here but search for āSmeal World Language Policyā and it will give you more info. They generally recommend that you drop one level from what you took in HS, so 4 years in HS translates to Level 3 in college which, is all you need after you complete that course.
You need to take either Math 110 (Business Calculus) or Math 140, which is more advanced and what engineering students are required to take. I donāt know why a Smeal student would want to take Math 140, because it will be more difficult and gives you no other advantage that Iām aware of.
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We know how you feel. I donāt think the timing has to do with anything. I believe they are going by region or location. Our HS had three kids hear in the same week and 2 the week before.
Also your stats can be school dependent. The admissions people know if your school is challenging or not so a 3.5 one place might be stellar vs another.
I think have posted before the CDS information. Itās GPA and rigor first. SAT, Talent, and Location next. Nothing else is considered. Now I donāt know what talent means but it says ECs are not considered nor are essays.
Hang in there. 24th is upon us.
Yes. If he reached level 4 in HS, he would place into College French 3 and take one semester of it. After that, classes would be optional (ie , 201= conversation, then business French..) He can prepare by watching French shows on Netflix ā Call my agent, Lupin, 7 lives of?Alex??.. there must be others-- TV shows use some repetition and are therefore easier to understand.
He will take the ALEKS test and that will determine whether he places into 1st year calculus or has to take a class to be ready. As an IB student he should be fine. If he took the Calc AB exam after the IB Math SL class and scored 4 or 5, ALEKS is waived and heād be able to take the 2-credit Math 111 class (a complement to Applied Calc 1) and if not, heād take the 4-credit Math 110, Applied Calc 1.
He can also take the more STEM-oriented Math 140 if he prefers - 140B= Biology&premeds, 140E= calc for engineers, 140G= calc for Geology, Earth science, Environmental Science, 140H= proof-based calc for students who have already taken calculus and plan on a PhD in math, econ, data science.
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Since youāre being recruited you should reach out to the coach on Monday, very politely of course.
I have already and they said that admission is the one that has to respond to me and tell me what my decision is so Iām waiting for the 24th.
What is ābeing recruited.ā Had a relative who was recruited and he didnāt have to formally apply to the university. The coaches of all the universities did it for him or it was just assumed.
āBeing recruitedā means that you do a sport and youāre probably good at it so you grab the attention of college coaches. However, as far as I know, at PSU it doesnāt exempt you from the admission process.
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I think this probably varies pretty significantly by sport.
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I ask that because our relative was recruited to PSU and other schools. He didnāt fill out one app or do an essay. Just called the coach of the school he decided on and showed up.
if you are a recruited athlete the coach should be in touch with you and setting you up assuming that is the school you choose.
I think it varies by sport because Iāve heard this happen for more main stream sports but others not so much.
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My nephew was scouted and recruited by Michigan for baseball. He had to submit an application and be cleared by Admissions before the coaches could move ahead with the process of onboarding him (not sure if that is the right word).
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Yes, I just spoke with my relative. He was 20th in the country in his sport. The coach sent him a plane ticket to visit and have dinner with the president of the school and spend the weekend. He said itās not like that for everyone and was thankful the process was easy on him. He ended up somewhere else and of note he was a 4.0 1450 SAT student.
His friends were also recruited but to a lesser extent. Iām guessing there is a process that some have to go through that others donāt. Probably different levels of recruitment. All depends on how valuable the coach thinks you are. It doesnāt sound fair but so is everything else in life.
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All students, even recruited ones, need to apply. The difference is that athletesā benchmarks are sport-specific and with coach support their admission is facilitated (often, greatly). The more youāre recruited for athletics, the more lenient they are on academics, but within set parameters.
Penn State wouldnāt risk running afoul of NCAA rules and theyāre pretty stringent.
PSU sports also take academics seriously (comparatively..) with freshman athletes having mandatory 2-hour no phone study hall in a dedicated space and access to tutors, results forwarded to coaches, etc. Athletics is taken into account because itās really hard to spend 30-40 hours a week on a sport& ancillaries while being a college student (like, if thereās a midterm on a Friday they can take the midterm on Thursday evening; the semester their sport competes students take 12-14 credits and catch up the other semester and in the summer..) The advantage is that athletes can actually graduate with a degree if theyāre inclined to and theyāre not all shuffled into specific majors if thereās no need.
Regarding the Sapphire Applicationā¦. we cannot find it anywhere? Does anyone know how to access it?
You need to sign into the Sapphire application with your MyPennState account credentials.
Good luck 
He never filled out an application. Someone did it for him and Iām guessing this is common for athletes at the highest elite level for sports that are revenue generating. Maybe because his academic stats were good enough to gain admission to any school in the country. I donāt know. Just passing along information because someone was worried about their app and they are an athlete. When he decided he called the coach of the school he decided on and showed up for practice in the summer before the first semester started. He said he did sign a bunch of paperwork his first day. Maybe the app was in there.
Have you ever watched college football signing day on the NFL Network or ESPN? It was like that but a different sport and not on TV.
All I know is the person worried needs to call the coach because that is who is getting them in.
Thank youā¦.Hmmmm for some reason we cannot find the application in MyPennState. We will keep lookingā¦.or call admissions tomorrow.
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This all went off on a tangent. Iām just giving an experience of a recruited athlete. Maybe there are comms problems with the poster worried. Please call the coach. It cannot hurt.
How many Juniors and Seniors live on campus housing?