I don’t think that the letter was designed with evil intent but I do think that PSU admissions certainly must know based on complaints they have surely read and heard about applicants being duped by the letter should have taken steps to re-word the letter and the fact that they have failed do so shows either incompetence or aloofness on their part.
I also don’t deny that the Commonwealth Campuses are a good fit and provide value to some students despite being viewed as not desirable by some others (which is why enrollment at the Commonwealth Campuses has declined by 30% since 2010) By the way, the cost of the Commonwealth campuses (along with UP) is no bargain for in-state students except some can save money by commuting from home. When I moved to PA 12 years ago for my job, the mess of the PA higher education system is one of the few things that really disppointed me about PA. The state system of education is very fragmented and the schools are not generally great quality while the state-related schools are of generally good quality, but their in-state cost is very high compared to in-state tution of good universities in other states (i.e., Purdue, Georgia and U of Florida, which are great schools that cost about 30-40% less than PSU for in-state students)
Yes, the sign that they send to the exiles sent to the 2+2 campuses should not be “WE ARE”, it would be more appropriate to send them a sign that says “YOU AIN’T”, lol.
S24 got the 2+2 (Harrisburg + UP) option for Engg in Dec. He was ready to do the 2+2 as we did see some advantages. However, now that he has full admits to Engg at other OOS universities, the 2+2 option is not as appealing. The change of campuses after 2 years and subsequent reestablishment of social networks at UP in junior year are big concern factors for us despite the lower tuition and $6K scholarship per year at Harrisburg.
Sounds like a logical decision. My son years ago got 2+2 in Altoona and the Provost Award Scholarship. Thought he would benefit from a smaller campus. We went to visit and it wasn’t the ‘feel’ that he wanted and frankly I did not the ‘talk track.’ I suggest that anyone strongly thinking about a branch take a tour of the campus for fit and feel. It is appropriate for some but not those that want the large rah rah college and limited transitions.
Can you (all ^) provide stats and post in the decisions thread?
Remember to register for your favorite LEAPs as soon as registration opens and if you’re a strong student with a possible major in the College of Liberal Arts ask about the Paterno Fellows Aspirants’ LEAP.
Hopefully this post will be helpful to anyone who asked for a reconsieration. My son was 2+2’d in Computer Science back in December, but submitted a request for reconsideration changing his major to DUS (undecided major). He received the following notification last night that he was accepted into UP:
Congratulations! We have completed the reevaluation of your application as you requested, and I am pleased to offer you admission to the Division of Undergraduate Studies for fall 2024 at Penn State University Park.
The notification was put into his portal sometime after midnight and nothing in the portal changed before my son saw the message this morning when he checked on MyPennState
We had been told by several people who supposedly had connections with the admissions office that changing majors would not help as Penn State does not consider the major when making the admission decision…obviously that is nonsense. We were also told that geography does not matter, but I suspect that is also false and that being located in the Main Line Philly suburbs worked against him as Penn State undoubtedly gets thousands of applications from qualified applicants from this area and any state flagship is going to consider geographic diversity for in state students whether they admit it or not since they need to keep the state legislature happy to obtain their state funding allocation every year. Curiously, my son was admitted to some other state flagships for computer science and engineering even those schools are at least as competitive and in one case, objectively more compoetitive than Penn State for CS and engineering.
My son requested reconsideration way back in December, the day after the EA descisions were sent, so it took about 7 weeks to get the answer to the reconsideration request…If I had to guess, it looks like that they may have sent out all of the regular decisions before they started sending out any answers to pending reconsideration requests, but who really knows and the whole process is super frustrating and completely lacks transparency.
Good luck to everyone still awaiting a final decision, I hope that your child ends up at whatever school is the best fit for them whether that is at UP or elsewhere.
Congrats to all who have received the decision they were hoping for!
Good advice about LEAP prides for those attending summer. And don’t look at it as a negative - there are so many positives to be had from summer start.
For those who did not get the decision they wanted, please only request reconsideration if Penn State is your #1 and you would accept the different option (if offered). It isn’t fair to admissions staff or other students if you are doing it “just because” or because of a bruised ego. Be considerate.
I wouldn’t necessarily think of it as prestige. My perception is that you are paying for the network. I went to University of Maryland and there was no comparison that the PSU ppl had much stronger bonds and networks. I flat out told my kids b/w PSU and Maryland, go to PSU for the connections alone.
I’m curious to what your son’s stats are and which HS. My son’s suburban Philly HS also has a high amount of PSU applicants, but also has a high acceptance rate. (PW FWIW)
My son was offered admission to PSU UP, UPitt, Millersville, Drexel, and UVW. UVW offered a lot of merit aid (with potential for more) and Morgantown rent is a fraction of what rent in State College is. That being said, you cant compare the two at the end of the day. PSU has the worlds largest alumni association.
Not questioning networks. Lots of variables, though. Depends on your major. I have two nephews who did ME, one at PSU and one at a much smaller, lower ranked school. Both had jobs lined up before school let out. They are both doing great. Again, I agree PSU has a huge and effective network. But not enough of one that I’d advise a kid to borrow an extra 10k a year, or put a second mortgage on a house.
It’s just super expensive for a state (related!) school and the aid is super stingy.
No matter how much my kids might like PSU, for whatever reason, we simply can’t afford it. Which is fine. There are other options. Just saying it’d be nice if we had a legit state owned flagship as our land grant.
