Think of LEAP as an optional configuration for Summer start.
That said, if your your student decides to do LEAP, they need to register for their Pride of choice the minute it opens. Our kid didn’t believe me and almost missed the boat on what he wanted.
From a lot of anecdotal stories, including ours, LEAP seems to foster solid friendships more easily than Fall start. Being with the same group for both courses lends itself well to that.
I noted above that our kid would choose Summer start and LEAP every time now that he’s done it.
I would like to remind people that this thread is for Penn State Early Action, class of 2030. Any other topics can be discussed on a new thread, or via PM. Thank you all for your compliance.
My read is that it is easy for a topic to get clogged with compare posts that end up waaaay off topic to the original thread.. There was a compare topic linked above - looks like a good resource. It is cleaner to keep this as Penn State info - especially as kids are getting reconsideration results.
Just my .02
Eta: if there are questions specific to Penn State, by all means, ask away! I can speak directly to Smeal recruiting, HHD grad school preparation, and Engineering. DM me -
Comparing PSU Smeal to other offers isn’t off topic if your student was admitted already. However the answers here will be more Smeal-focused (not in a Yay-Smeal way but because it’s the PSU forum and I know Smeal way better than most other business colleges, as would most contributors).
There is a specific forum titled Compare Admissions: you put the different colleges in the title and people who know two or more give their opinion or share experience. You don’t need to wait and have all your offers to open a thread, you can start with what you have right now, then later on open a new thread with a new title once you’ve eliminated some possibilities and received new offers. It’s a great tool on this website and I hope everyone makes use of it because of may bring new angles or perspectives into focus.
Our daughter just received an email awarding her a the Penn State Provost Award. Has anyone else been awarded a scholarships yet? Hopefully now she will finally commit.
Hi! Do you know what the benchmarks are for the Provost awards? We are disappointed that my son did not receive this award. Hoping Schreyer comes through for him!
My son got an email about checking out his financial aid package, and then it was basically “you get no financial aid”. We weren’t expecting anything, but we had a good chuckle at that.
Based on some quick research, it is based on merit, need-based, diversity, and extra-curriculars. Given to about 15% of incoming freshmen. I would expect students to be 4.0 (uw) students with strong test scores.
I do not believe it has anything to do with Schreyer admissions since they are totally different processes. (Not totally sure about that but based on my knowledge of processes).
With regards to Schreyer, these are extremely competitive students. My Schreyer kid had Calc BC as a junior and 4.0/5.1 gpa so that is the type of kid they are competing against. They will do a deep dive review of transcripts for rigor in the SHC process.
However the answers here will be more Smeal-focused (not in a Yay-Smeal way but because it’s the PSU forum and I know Smeal way better than most other business colleges, as would most contributors).
It’s a great tool on this website and I hope everyone makes use of it because of may bring new angles or perspectives into focus.
