I had no idea about BASH. They didnāt mention it during the accepted students day but did during the Sapphire online call. They touched on AI again as they did during the accepted students day. Itās clear everyone is worried about AI and PSU, along with every other institution, has no idea how to deal with it. Itās moving faster than the schools can adapt a curriculum for. Iāve asked several universities and twice to PSU how they are dealing with the future job loss coming in the next decade or less. The fact the science and tech school students are learning how to harness AI to replace all the jobs in Smeal. They gave a corporate answer which was disappointing. Personally, if Iām an incoming student Iām staying very far away from data and financial analysis and accounting. Those jobs are going first. My company has recently let go of 700 data analysts after they developed an AI platform to do their job for them. We now employ only 10 in that entire department and its early days in this tech revolution.
There were a lot of questions on the Sapphire Video. There are practice videos to watch and there will be a quick 5 minute essay in addition to the video. If I were 17 Iād be terrified of this but it is all apart of growing up. Students have to maintain a 3.5 GPA and there will only be 50 selected. I think they currently have 284 applicants or maybe that was last years total.
If you can schedule a Sapphire video call I recommend it. (I donāt know if they are having another one). My daughter still doesnāt know where she will end up but she is going to do the Sapphire thing before the deadline.
Penn State seems to adapt well - new degrees, modified exams, etc. - but youāre right this is going very fast, both from a technology viewpoint and from a society viewpoint (compared to a year ago, many young people are now both fascinated and repulsed, with recent āvalue addedā for āmade by humansā. As per recent polls, enthusiasm is higher among older people than among the young, which is unlike anything thatās been recorded before, where younger people love and adopt innovations much faster than adults.)
I think overall AI company claims are exaggerated at this point - imho companies that move too much in that direction will need to revert back because AI doesnāt handle lots of tasks properly - Salesforce was an early adopter for its customer services and itās led to complaints and major errors; in some firms, some clients have refused to pay because AI was used and made mistakes; āgain in timeā evaporates once you factor time spent on reviewing, checking, and editing all the AI mistakes/hallucinations. It may get to what it claims it can do but itās not there yet.
For some tasks that can be easily replicated and automated, harnessing AI is going to be a key skill while most tasks that Smeal prepares for should be safe for now. Finding the right combination ā not the most āeffectiveā, meant as āless human workā, but what enhances your work most interestingly-- is still a work in progress. In addition, the ability to read and write at an advanced level+media literacy+interpersonal communication skills should also matter in upcoming times, especially if a percentage of the population delegates to AI to the point they unskill in that area (it goes very quickly, as some doctors have unfortunately found).
The IST minors are also excellent additions to any program. The Entrepreneurship& Innovation minor is very flexible and there are also specialized minors for various colleges/majors (Human resources, Communicationā¦) Finally, the Security certificates are recognized and very useful depending on careers students envision.
My daughter was in the same situation. She originally applied DUS because she really doesnāt know what she wants to do, and was accepted, but then wanted to ask for reconsideration for Smeal since sounds like you are largely shut out if not a direct admit under the new system. She got a response in maybe 3 weeks that she did not get into Smeal. She is going to stick with DUS, which I think is probably better for her anyway.
Thanks for the response. 3 weeks isnāt too bad. I had a friend that put in for reconsideration in December and it took almost 6 weeks. I was worried about it taking too long. He is in for Fall DUS and we did not check summer for Smeal so who knows if it will work out or not.
Iām late to respond (so apologies if this has already been answered - I am just catching up). My son started this past fall - and also works at overnight camp.
He went to NSO mid-June - post graduation - during his senior week (then headed down for senior week). There were May / June options - and also - he could have done NSO in August - just before arriving to school - if he wanted. Worked out fine with his camp schedule.
The only thing he said about doing it in June - he made some friends - but then wouldnāt see anyone again until August - so he may have preferred waiting till the August NSO (but I was glad he went in June - it was good to be there and get a lay of the land).
Okay, @MYOS1634 since it is pretty slow around here rigt now I am taking up your offer for scheduling advice:
CSD major fall 2026 start:
HS summary:
completed AP Lang and English 12 Dual Enrollment (transfers in as CMLITR 185 (GH)).
Completed math through Calc and Stat, but on level
Honors Physical Science, Honors Bio, Chem, A&P, AP EnvSci
AP US Gov, Honors History before that (World and US)
Other DE:
EDU100 (Gwynedd Mercy) ā EDTHP XFR100 at PSU (Elective)
She is starting her in school sessions later this week and was able to land a spot where she can work with two SLPās in her former Elem School. Both push in, and pull out sessions. She is very excited about this.
New program at school this year through TCNJ, supposed to transfer to all PA state schools, and I am sure they will, but likely just as General Electives. Will need to discuss with PSU at NSO.
AP US Gov ā TCNJ POL 170 - Topics in Politics (4 hours)
AP EnvSci ā TCNJ BIO 172 - Topics in Intro Biology (4 Hours)
College Credit: PSYC 110 from local CC last Summer ā PSYCH 100 PSU
Year 1 Fall:
Fairly set list:
Eng 15/30 (3): She is worried about 30 as all she hears is Honors at PSU and gets anxious
CSD 146 (3) - Intro to CSD
PSU 14 (1)- First Year Seminar HHD
Options for last 2 courses
One of
STAT 200
CHEM 1
BISC 4
BIOL 155 (only offered through World Campus, would that also be a good option I am not a fan of online, but she doesnāt seem to mind)
One other for GE: ID
HDFS 101N
HDFS 108N (if she were to apply and get accepted to Flourish LLC
Astro 7N
THEA 101
or CSD 218 - American Sign Language (would not fulfill a required GenEd category, but she is very interested in getting started with Sign in the next year)
I am really pushing her to limit the first semester to 13-14 hours with seminar included. I want her successful and confident without getting too stressed. Try out clubs, go to games, etc. I would assume she would just push STAT or BISC to Spring depending on Fall decision. CHEM 1 is only offered in fall, but could be pushed to year 2.
Would love to hear your recommendations. We have already started playing around in the Schedule Builder through Lionpath, and she has figured out how to limit schedule options (think no class Friday morning early or afternoon!)
I am not very familiar with Penn Stateās course requirements, but why is your daughter taking CHEM 1? Doesnāt her AP Environmental Science credit fulfill the Natural Sciences (GN) requirement?
Possibly, but it is yet to be determined. She needs a Physical Science (either Chemistry or Physics) course in her undergrad to meet SLP Graduate program requirements. CHEM 1 is listed as a recommended option for her major at PSU. She excelled in Chemistry, but didnāt take an advanced version in high school. I am not certain the AP equivalency for AP EnvSci at PSU would satisfy grad school requirements, so we are debating CHEM 1 as an option. This is pretty specific to the SLP path.
I just googled it, and AP Environmental Science can be considered an inter-domain course that fulfills both the General Education Natural Science and Social Science requirements at the 100 level. Not 100% sure. I guess @MYOS1634 is the better person for the question.
I didnāt see a Penn State Early Action Class of 2031 thread just yet so I will ask here my current junior is considering Penn State for a pre-health intended major debating between pre-PA or OT/SLP. She is choosing her senior year coursework currently. With her older sister (freshman at Pitt / Communication Science) HS guidance stressed taking Calculus and Physics senior year among her coursework. She earned dual enrollment credit for both classes taken during 12th grade but the participating college has scaled back their d/e offerings through the HS and require more to be taken through them directly (either online or in-person). My older daughter completed 60+ d/e credits and current junior tracking to complete the same.
Q - is taking Calculus directly through the college this summer (she has already completed PreCalc this year in HS) in anyway going to harm her 12 grade courses/ transcript or devalue senior year coursework? I recall my older daughter included all dual enrollment and college credits among her traditional coursework on her SRARs app so presumably whatever rubric or metric used to assign weight/value to courses completed should factor in. I donāt want her to not schedule Calculus among her 12th grade in-class year long schedule if it may harm her admissions process.
If she is taking it elsewhere she can report it and it should not harm her. They do seem to like to see calculus for engineering students, but see many students accepted in Smeal, IST, Ag Sciences, HHD with pre calc in their senior year. I do believe they look mainly at gpa, course rigor and test scores if reported. Know many who didnāt report SATs as about 1/2 of applicants do not report them and still admitted to UP. The reality seems if under 1300 on SAT they do not recommend submitting scores as it doesnāt help you. But PSU admissions feels SATs can show ability to succeed in college, but in addition that consistent strong grades and rigor can also be reflective of ability to succeed in college. The admissions officer basically said report if excellent, otherwise do not report them and it wonāt harm you. Iāve read somewhere that 12-15 honors, DE, or AP classes is the minimum you should have to show rigor for UP admissions. Sounds like your daughter has that, so I would not worry. I personally have 1 current UP student (engineering) who reported SATs and took all math courses offered through AP calc BC and second admitted to PSU with precalc in senior year(non engineering major).
Thank you! This is helpful. I presume my daughter will be test optional but she plans to take her SATs this June and we will decide. My older daughter with similar profile also applied TO and admitted to UP for fall 2025 as Nutritional Sciences major in HHD but took Calculus and Physics as part of her 12th grade course load through her HS. I was just curious if there was any negative/weighting difference if taking Calc directly through the college the summer between junior and senior year to earn the d/e credit. It will also free up space in her 12th grade coursework to add AP Envi Sci, a Psychology elective that is d/e eligible and some other courses she was interested in.
My rising senior daughter has an interest in CSD, pre-PT/OT and lots of experience working with youth, kids as camp counselor and sports camps. Sheās still deciding if she will apply undecided to PSU and Pitt or to select an intended major somewhere in this field.
30H is meant for students who took Honors and AP English in High School and got a B or higher. It is not a Schreyer course and is the appropriate placement for students who have taken classes where they had to write more than a paragraph-long answer in their Humanities classes or whose English classes involved more than multiple choice tests&5 paragraph essays - either HS honors classes where they had to write a 3-page paper or AP Englishā¦
30H means less busy work because the instructor can assume a basic command of grammar, spelling, punctuation, connectors, HS writing mechanisms, etc. as well as basic hs mastery of revising an essay. 30H is usually more interesting, with more reading then discussing then writing in many genres. (In addition, 30H sections are assigned to more experienced instructors). Placement used to be scoring ~650-680 on the Verbal SAT. In short, thereās nothing to be afraid of. Ultimately though students who qualify for 30H can register for either 15 or 30.
Chem 1 (without lab) or 3 (with lab) is quite easy and even fun. Itās designed for students who have not taken chemistry in HS and are interested in daily life examples.
The course she may need for professional school is Chem 130, which requires a solid background in math through algebra/precalculus and one year of HS chemistry (she qualifies). Chem 130 appears required for some HHD and Nursing majors.
I think you can take Chem1 first then Chen 130 if need be but check with adviser.
If she takes Chem 1 thereās no reason she couldnāt take both CSD218 AND HDFS 101 or 108. If she takes Chem130 then sheād have to choose just one because where Chem1 is meant to be a fun introduction to every day chemistry, 130 is a serious course meant to be followed with a light organic chem class. It is NOT as difficult as the Gen Chem 110-111/112-113 sequence and is not weedout but itās not fun (unless you like chemistry!).
HDFS 101/108 should be right up her alley and arenāt too difficult. CSD 218 is more time consuming but also not weedout or difficult.
Sheād be able to take all these classes because theyāre not weedout : itās a step up from HS in terms of pace and content volume, but well-prepared, hard working students (which seems to describe your daughter) do well. Many who donāt do well in this type of classes tend to be lured by the apparent easiness at first, donāt keep up, and then are left scrambling to catch up.
Stats 200 is relatively hard compared to those and worth 4 credits. Iād limit to 14 credits in a situation involving that class.
As long as sheās taken precalculus or calculus before graduation, sheās fine. Sheād list the summer class as part of her classes in the 12th grade category on the STARS/SRAR. The main difference is that the grade for her summer course will be on her transcript whereas if she takes the class during her senior year it will only be listing the course, not the grade. So she has to make sure itās a B or higher
Thank you! She has precalculus now (11th grade) and is grinding out a B there but itās her toughest class. I think part of the motivation to get Calculus done over the summer is the shorter course timeframe AND only having that to focus on, hopefully she can devote more time. Our school guidance (PA hs) preaches that kids need to hit Calc in 12th grade in their math sequence to be a solid candidate for Pitt/PSU UP so thatās comforting to here even with PreCalc she may be ok.
Taking calculus makes them more competitive for Pitt/PSU if 1/those applying from the HS are taking it + 2/for colleges or majors that have calculus as an entrance to major requirement (essentially, EMS, Eberly, Smeal, Engineering, IST, some in HHD and Ag but for those 2 ācalculus readinessā ie., an A in precalculus, is sufficient.)
Precalculus is the base expectation unless the student is applying to a major where no specific math class is required (Art, Languages, Communicationā¦) where algebra2+statistics is fine, and that is typically offset by equivalent courses in their field (ie., AP Foreign language, AP Art, AP Art History, multiple AP history..)
my current junior is considering Penn State for a pre-health intended major debating between pre-PA or OT/SLP. She is choosing her senior year coursework currently. With her older sister (freshman at Pitt / Communication Science) HS guidance stressed taking Calculus and Physics senior year among her coursework. She earned dual enrollment credit for both classes taken during 12th grade but the participating college has scaled back their d/e offerings through the HS and require more to be taken through them directly (either online or in-person). My older daughter completed 60+ d/e credits and current junior tracking to complete the same.
Ultimately though students who qualify for 30H can register for either 15 or 30.