No updates in your portal? If not, I’d reach out to PSU admissions.
Don’t know if anyone is still on here but…
My son just received admission to UP for FALL 24!!! After my battles with missing the EA date due to late SRAR, switching from smeal to DUS, then getting 2+2. He then asked for reconsideration per the help of everyone on this forum. He got in to info sciences and tech!!!
I’m so incredibly happy for you! Huge congratulations!
My son recently got accepted into DUS and I am a bit concerned regarding him not applying directly into a major. Two of the areas he is looking into are business and information sciences. How difficult is it to change majors and must be remain in DUS for at least a year before any move?
Congratulations !
All students are in “premajor” - it doesn’t mattee how they’re classified, they declare when they have accumulated 45 credits I think (and received the minimum grades required, ie., you can’t declare Engineering with a D in physics, you can’t declare Communication/PR with a D in English, etc). DUS allows him to register for any course he may need for any major he likes.
Will he come in with AP/DE/IB credit?
Was he admitted for Summer or fall?
With the above^ info I can show you what his 1st semesters would look like.
Thank you!! He was admitted for fall. He will come in with a few AP credits (Psych and Human Geo). I am not sure any of those will help his majors though
@MYOS1634 is correct. And if he is considering both business AND IST, then DUS is the place to be to explore. When he goes for NSO (new student orientation) over the summer, he should be clear with the advisor what he is considering. If you want to prep him in advance, google “Penn State {insert potential major here} entrance to major” and you will see a prescribed list of classes. Look for the overlaps in the first year and schedule those. And he may want to consider taking the FYS (first year seminar) - a 1 credit class everyone is required - for both IST AND Business. It is designed to introduce students to all the majors in the college. There will be some overlap in the FYS, so ask if that makes sense or not.
When he goes to NSO, he will schedule classes for freshman fall. If you can talk through options with him and what makes sense, that will help. Because students go off on their own with advisors and parents are sent elsewhere. Just make sure he builds a balance in his schedule and doesn’t bite off more than he can chew … many freshman are still figuring out college and football and dorms, etc. without being killed by too many weed-out classes.
Human Geography gets him credits for a 3, 4, or 5.
Each semester = 5 courses
So, his 1st semester, he would have to take IST 110, ECON 104, either CAS100 or English 15/30, Foreign language
2nd semester, he would have to take ECON 102, IST 140, Foreign language if he didn’t take 4 years in HS, either CAS100 or English 15/30.
MATH110 either semester (Applied Calculus).
It covers 1st year courses for both colleges.
Econ 104 is easier than ECON 102.
English 15 v. 30 depends on the level of English classes taken in HS.
If he took 3 years of foreign language in hS he needs to do 2 semesters. If he toik 4 or 5 years he needs to do 1 semester only.
@AAC1426 yay!! there are many great majors in that college…
@MYOS1634 @lucy_van_pelt
Thank you so much for the great advice! I feel a lot better now knowing that he really isn’t going to be at a disadvantage with DUS since everyone is pre-major, sounds like an advantage in his case so he that he is free to explore both.
Exactly. He can register for any premajor class. Then, after his 1st semester, he can re assess, take premajor pre-reqs for other majors, or continue with the 2 majors you listed. (The 1st year schedule I wrote down covers all his pre-reqs for both majors and all the 1st year requirements. )
He’ll need as many As as possible and as few Cs as possible. There’s a writing center, a tutoring center, and office hours. Booking appointment, meeting with the professor early in the semester (well before the 1st exam) will be on him.
Smeal typically requires 3.2-3.5 in total GPA by sophomore year, IST 2.7-3.0 by sophomore year.
Econ 102 is weedout and to succeed in Math 110 it helps to have studied the basics of Calculus (however it’s more applied and less weedout than Math 140, which Engineering or Math or premed majors take).
Yes, I couldn’t believe we didn’t look more into it at first. He is interested in the field as he is taking information systems right now and took AP CSP. That honestly might be what got him in, they saw his coursework fit the college well.
Had the pleasure of visiting UP today, as our son is a spring sport athlete for his HS and can’t make the accepted events in April. We attended a General Undergraduate presentation and tour, which unfortunately both were a little underwhelming. Despite that, we all walked away loving the campus vibe and atmosphere. The campus itself flowed very nicely, but is absolutely enormous, and we’ve visited UT-Austin, UIUC, Purdue and others.
Happy to say we can totally see our son attending Penn State, and left very impressed!!! Can’t say that’s been true for every visit we’ve made. It just has to feel right…
@Issaquah_Coug98 glad you had a good visit - I think everyone is a little sleep deprived and catching up after last weekend.
Last weekend was THON. It is a student run fundraiser for pediatric cancer. The “dancers” stand for 46 hours and the students support them by filling the basketball arena and standing in support all weekend. They raised $16.9 million this year. Yes, almost $17 million. This year.
My kids were there all weekend - one was part of setup and breakdown - first in, last out. Starting Friday morning at 5:30am, then classes, then work shifts, supporting friends and family, then cleaning up until 2am Sunday. And another danced. So that kid is catching up on classes and sleep.
So - not an excuse - but just reality is that everyone is a little “hung over” from the weekend. (Not from drinking, but from lack of sleep!) but it was an amazing weekend and one that Penn Staters are proud of.
Happy to answer questions- about anything if I can.
That is an incredible amount of money!!!
Sorry you didn’t get to the actual accepted students day - it was very impressive! The college-specific info session was very informative and the student mixer was a nice way for them to meet some people. Definitely left us with a great impression.
We also did an accepted students day a couple of weeks ago and left very impressed. The campus is beautiful and the presentation and tours were simply awesome! My son is interested in Architectural Engineering and Penn State is one of the few schools on the East coast to offer that program.
Interesting, we came away with the same general feelings this past Sunday. Wife is alum and we were fortunate to have my son’s close friend and his gf show us around campus for almost 5 hours. They left no stone unturned and you could feel their excitement and pride for PSU. I actually thought the campus was reasonably compact for 40k students and nicely laid out. College Ave. was vibrant as well despite THON. Thought we were down to VA Tech(yet to tour), Maryland, and IU (felt much larger than PSU) for Business, but PSU may have thrown a wrench into daughter’s decision.
@MDmom8 i am a parent of a student in architectural engineering. Feel free to DM me if any specific questions.
(Btw, the head of the department is amazing!)
Thank you so much! Penn State is currently his top choice, so I might just take you up on that