Kid applied 10/30, due to an issue with college board school didn’t receive his SAT until 11/3. Does that move him to RD?
Everything else was submitted on 10/30.
My D24 just saw this morning that she was accepted to UP for Forensic Science with a summer start. She is in state, TO, 3.83UW/4.18W. Very happy for her, she had gotten in 5-6 schools including Pitt but it’s nice to have Penn State as an option. Good luck everyone, hang in there if you haven’t heard yet.
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congrats to her!! that’s so exciting
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anyone else have this in their portal?
“Sorry, we are unable to retrieve your application details. Please check back later as we are working to resolve this issue.”
i thought i was in… lol
hoping for some good news today for myself and everyone else waiting!!!
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So, just curious how this works. Penn State gets upwards of 100K applications and the acceptance rate is supposedly 55% for University Park. So let’s use 120K applications and 50% accepted to make it easy. So in this made up case, they would accept ~60K students and only about 9K would accept and become their freshman class at UP?
Also, is the average SAT score going to keep creeping up due to test optional? It seems few people are submitting if SAT score is below 1300 and I’ve even seen people getting 2+2 in the 1300s. But a few years ago, I’d think a 1300 would be a shoe-in for UP. Maybe I’m wrong that few are submitting below 1300.
Finally, just curious why Penn State is notoriously stingy with merit aid. For an SAT of 1400, the Ohio State net price calculator shows 15K in merit aid. I would assume they also get tons of applications like PSU and the schools are quite similar.
I’m just curious and definitely not complaining. My son got into UP and both parents are alums, so we are super excited!
Good luck to those still waiting!
I think the state of Ohio funds its public universities better than Pennsylvania does. My D17 received better merit and need-based aid from the University of Toledo than she did from West Chester and Temple. In addition, Penn State as well as Pitt and Temple are state-related schools, with even less state funding than the PASSHE schools. On the other hand, Pitt and Temple provide more merit (and need-based) aid than Penn State. I’m guessing Penn State considers institutional financial aid of any type low priority, and would rather spend its funds elsewhere.
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The biggest reason Penn State cannot compete with other big name state flagships is that those schools are state schools (state funded) and Penn State is not Penn State is ‘state related’ and only gets a small % of its funding from the state.
Whether the average SAT will go up or not is a good question. I don’t think test optional is here to stay so it may right itself if test optional goes away. Less than 40% submitted scores for the last application cycle, but it’d be interesting to do a study to see if test optional affected the average GPA as well as it does seem, from this small subset here on CC, that it applying test optional requires a higher GPA for acceptance.
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My son finally received his acceptance this morning to University Park. My husband is an alumni and his brother graduated from UP this past May. He was admitted for Fall 2024 to the College IST for Security Risk and Analysis.
I have been waiting to comment here until I had more details. For those asking about deferrals, his brother was deferred until RD and ended up being offered Summer 5 years ago. Summer was an absolutely wonderful experience for him and a great way to integrate to such a large campus. For those out there waiting, I know the waiting is hard but I would take a deferral over a 2+2 any day. Thanks for the support here everyone and best of luck!
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Not at all arguing and realize that Smeal has a very low acceptance rate. However, we did do our research - common data set (not helpful as not broken out by school as far as I could tell?), scoir acceptances from last year (and going back broken out year by year), online research, penn state website, guidance counselor feedback. It’s not devastating but it was surprising to get a deferral as a decision was expected by the end of December. (Realize that deferral is a decision but really, it’s kind of not).
Genuine question…why apply to an individual school within UP (unless super specialized) rather than apply DUS which allows a student to transfer to (for example) Smeal provided they keep up their grades which they would have to regardless at Penn State. This has stumped me since The nineties….it’s not a way “to get in”, I believe many rising seniors thinks they know what they want to do in life….many, many change over time. Do one of the moderators (or anybody else) know? Schools such as Georgia…all come in undeclared.
I was told to notate all of my future texts as “not all I say should be construed as true”, but I genuinely mean the above. Maybe it’s the prestige of a direct Smeal (other college) admit…but isn’t the real prestige of the ultimate degree? Every college coach in my town told these student to direct apply…90% received 2/2. Thoughts? Thanks.
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No worries… they are just updating.
Yes that’s the problem with Smeal specifically. People do their due diligence and look up whether a school is a safety, match or reach - and Penn State’s listed average GPA gives a lot of Smeal applicants a false sense of security. I wish Penn State made it clearer that Smeal is extremely competitive and the average GPA for accepted Smeal students is very high - usually 4.0+.
I wish Penn State published acceptance rates for ALL of their colleges so that parents and students could make more informed decisions.
A deferral is disappointing but it also means you are still in it. You still have options. You will either get an acceptance or a 2+2, but if you get a 2+2 you can still ask for reconsideration to a different major. Even though to get into Smeal from DUS or pre-major sophomore year, there are also creative ways to get there. You could be an econ major for example and then change to DUS after first semester.
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When I went to PSU back in the 90s, it was definitely the “easy” way to get in. I applied DUS back then… so using DUS has been around for quite some time. I just think more people know about it as a “back door” way now.
Although everyone coming in undecided as a freshman, in theory, may be good… I think it would end up leading to a lot more denials into majors later cause PSU would then have to decide/control numbers after sophomore year. Lots of kids would may have to change schools? Jmo
It’s a good question and one I don’t have the answer for. The only benefit of a freshman admit to pre-major in Smeal is that the student gets a Smeal advisor…and some students like the prestige of saying they are in Smeal. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
The problem is now that many potential smeal students know that if their high school record is under a 4.0+ they should probably apply DUS rather than directly to Smeal. This has caused the average GPA for DUS to rise and it’s been reported that it’s now the third most competitive major after Smeal and Engineering! This does a disservice to actual undecided students.
I’m hoping with the new director of enrollment, that some of these things will change. It’s probably not sustainable as DUS does not have unlimited spots either. It is pretty easy to change to DUS once you are a student there though.
For the rest of the university, it makes even less sense as most of the majors that have controls on their classes, control for DUS majors or pre-majors to get the classes.
Maybe someone else will have more information as to why Penn State does admissions to majors the way they do. It’s never really made much sense to me either.
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I’m my opinion, not too many kids actually know what they want to do after their junior year of high school (yes, some do and I believe that is an outlier statistic)…would just seem much simpler to admit all to DUS and let them maintain the grades required for ETM. College coaches in our district apply their methodology to all school and either ignore or don’t know admission stats to Smeal. Why not put the student in the best position to succeed (in this case gain admission based on the particular school…and NO, I don’t believe this is a way to game the system, Penn State really needs to change this). Their brains are still growing at this time…maybe one didn’t have the intellect or raw horse power to get into Smeal now, but their thought process grows between freshman and sophomore year in college. One really has to know the school they are applying to (unfair, but is what it is). Horses for courses.
Do you happen to know the liberal arts admission stats off hand?
Just want to add my two cents to champion for Penn State and any other schools and their admissions’ teams.
First off, I am a lifelong educator and my youngest of four is a senior in high school. So, needless to say, I’ve been through acceptances, deferrals and denials. If your child is deferred, what you need to understand is that the team sees value in your student and wants to find a way for him or her to attend. But, they need more time to do a thorough read or maybe need more information. Wouldn’t you prefer that so that they may have see the whole package? The waiting is difficult, but, in the grand scheme of things, not a lot of time.
With the common app, these schools see over 100,000 applications. They need time to do a thorough review. They also need weekends off, like the rest of us. Give them that grace.
If your child is denied, it is not an easy pill to swallow, but, you need to champion them and encourage them that this is a blip in life. For many, it is their first disappointment. That is why we don’t throw all of our eggs in one basket. And, if we let every disappointment get us down, we all wouldn’t be here with our 17 year olds!
Out of my four, this is our only that has applied to Penn State and I must say, this forum is certainly busy. My children apply to nine schools at the most. Three schools that they see themselves as fits and would be happy at an acceptance at any of them, these are their dream schools, they also have to be geographically acceptable and within a distance that we can get to them quickly! Three that they say, “I can go here, maybe wasn’t on my radar, but, I can do this.” And, three that are super close to home or 100% safety schools.
The whole three dream school concept has worked very well for us as the three older ones were all accepted at at least two of them. And, currently our fourth is already accepted at one of them and we are waiting from the other two…one that won’t release decisions until January, and the other one is Penn State, that we don’t expect to hear from until before December 24 because that is what they were very clear on all literature. If it is a deferral, that is a decision.
Please just enjoy your time with your senior. They will be gone before you know it and let them enjoy this very special year and enjoy it with them. They all end up where they need to be. Oh, and don’t call the admissions’ teams unless 100% necessary, when you call, they have to stop reading and talk with you - - -
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I think that’s a good point. Most kids don’t know what they want to do and/or will switch majors, but some might know they want business. If they know getting into Smeal sophomore year could be difficult, then they may opt for Ross or Stern or wherever.
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The problem with admitting everyone undecided is that its hard for the college to then later on have what they need for every major. You wind up with overpopulated interest in some majors and no one majoring in others. My daughter is truly undecided and lucklily she got in DUS but I find it unfair to compete against others who know they want business. I dont know the answer but there should be a better way.
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