I agree that the campus feels more compact than I thought it would and I like that the dorms and stadium are so close (not a bus ride away). We live in MD so my daughter had no interest in UMD, definitely a more urban feel there. Toured Va Tech with my older D but need to take this one, although she is already attached to Penn State at this point. Both of my parents are from PA so we have many alumni in the family.
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Has anyone been offered a Provost award yet?
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On our way to Virginia Tech right now. Good luck!!!
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You have been a wealth of knowledge on this page so figured you may have the info we are looking for! We did one of the half day accepted student programs but it was a Monday and before a snow storm and sparsely attended and not much ooomph. PSU had been my sonâs #1 but it lost some shine, or added some doubt about the place being too impersonal. I want to take him back on one of the big Saturday events, not to do the official tours and all that he did, but to experience the campus when it is more festive and welcoming to the admitted students and also to maybe meet potential roommates and all. The Saturday sessions are full so i can no longer see the dates. Do you know the April (or March?) Saturday admitted student dates for Liberal Arts?
Iâd appreciate some insight from this community as weâre OOS and donât have any history with some of the programs. Our daughter was admitted to Smeal and just got on email to apply to the Sapphire Leadership Academic Program. Is every Smeal student invited to apply? Any information on how hard it is to get in? Anyone have direct experience with the program and if so, how useful has it been?
She was admitted to a similar honors program at another âpublic ivyâ business program without having to apply, so admittance to the Sapphire program and hearing about direct experience would make a big difference in where she ends up choosing to attend.
Unfortunately we applied a little late so only received our acceptance to Penn State on Feb 7th and this invitation arrived after their virtual information session occurred this past Monday.
Thanks in advance for anyone who can help!
Wow Congratulations to your daughter!
Keeping in mind only about 5% students are admitted straight to Smeal out of HS, that gives you an idea of how great Smeal+Sapphire is!
Sapphire is Smealâs Honors program and totally worth it if only for the dedicated adviser, the smaller 1st year classes, and the co-curricular activities (meeting business leaders, field tripsâŠ)
Just in case:
https://www.smeal.psu.edu/sapphire
If she applied to Schreyer, she can do both - basically all her 1st classes would be small and interactive classes if she so chose.
If she doesnât get into Schreyer, she can apply for housing in the BASH LLC.
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@coffeemom23 ugh, I donât know the dates. But I would call admissions and ask them (or maybe even call the college of Liberal Artsâ Deanâs office?) ⊠maybe even ask if you could be put on a waitlist ? But explain that your first visit was a snow day and you would like to return when there is more âenergyâ on campus. Then ask for the schedule⊠and when there is a lunch break, eat in the HUB. Because there will be others eating in the HUB at the same time.
(avoid the Saturday before Easter or the Saturdays around spring break ⊠campus will be quieter those days).
good luck!
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Contact CLA about the Paterno Fellow Aspirants program, see if a current Paterno Fellow could meet with your student, have them tour their favorite places on campus and discuss the program with you.
March 16 or april 6 should be lively enough - after Spring Break, well before finals, not around Easter weekend 
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Hi all -
We went to a Saturday admitted students day earlier this month and LOVED it all. My daughter was admitted into Smeal and they put together a great panel of 2 professors, 2 current students, the study abroad counselor, the career counselor and the diversity counselor. Definitely impressed us and worth the visit.
One of the deans shared that there were 18,000 applicants for 950 spots at Smeal. (I might also not quite remember clearly - it might have been 850 spots). Iâm guessing that might be where the 5% admitted figure has come up.
But when I started to think about it, I donât think that the dean said that 5% were admitted - he said, âyou all were admitted to fill 950 spotsâ with that specific language for a reason.
Penn State has published that 20% is its typical overall annual yield - the percentage of those accepted who end up enrolling. If we use that number, to get a yield of 950 students enrolling, they would need to admit around 4,750 students. That would mean then that 26% of applicants to Smeal were admitted in order to end up with 950 spots filled.
I think itâs likely that business, engineering, and nursing get a better yield than 20% (Penn State doesnât publish yield by school). So I would guess that the real number for Smeal is closer to 20% admitted of those who apply.
Anyway, does that make sense to anyone or am I totally off? Either way, still something to be very proud of and I cannot wait to be the parent of a Penn Stater.
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Honors colleges announced March 1. Son just got notification.
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I was just wondering about Schreyer Honors College - said notified by March 1 but no update to check status on the portal. Maybe tomorrow. Anyone already receive notification? Hoping for that and some merit scholarship but nothing yet, I guess thatâs not likely but out of state tuition is too high without some merit.
Schreyerâs notifications are all being released together at 3:30pm tomorrow.
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Weâre in the same boat. Daughter already committed but the scholarship will really help with OOS tuition. Good luck!
ANY scholarship OOS
I have sophomore who is interested in UP campus. Right now his stats fall within the median for the school. We are OOS but we do have family in PA and I am an alum so we are very familiar with the school but not with how much has changed in admissions! Iâm curious what you guys thought about admissions this year. Did it seem more competitive than you thought it would be? Any advice?
Apply Early Admission which is typically due by 11/1, but unlike other schools make sure your son submits his application and other materials by the stated deadline and give a few extra days cushion to receive the SRAR (Self Reported Academic Record) from PSU, to then report his grades. My son submitted his application the day prior to the EA deadline, but didnât receive the SRAR email/link from PSU until a day or two after, so got bumped to the Regular Admission pool. We didnât know that until 12/24, when everyone was getting their EA decision, and he didnât, until I read up on last yearâs forum and paid attention to the website more closely. Most of other schools he that applied to, only required that the application be submitted prior to the deadline, and then gave another 7-15 days to submit the SRAR and any other materials.
Iâve seen other posts on here or Reddit (sorry they blur all together at some point), that someone had very impressive stats (GPA/SAT), but didnât apply until like 1/29 and I believe were waitlisted or deferred. My hunch is that if they had applied earlier, they wouldâve gotten in, but missed the 11/1 EA, the 12/1 first Rolling, and were now relatively late in the game for the 3rd wave of submissions, everything after 12/1âŠ
If heâs set on UP, depending on what his intended major is, be open/willing to do summer start to increase his chances for UP. Some folks on here had to contact admissions after being slotted to a branch campus to either change majors or go DUS (aka undecided) and/or be willing to start in the summer, and were able to get into UP. Luckily my OOS son got into UP for CS without summer start.
Grades and test scores are what they are, but my son has now admitted that although we hounded him throughout last summer to start on his essays or at least begin the framework for them, he didnât and then got overwhelmed with all the extra essays that some of the other schools pile on (three here, four there, another two here, etcâŠ), the start of fall semester his senior year, fall sports, work, etc⊠They start to pile up and although you can reuse some essays, itâs usually not as easy as changing a word or two. There were probably a few more schools he wanted to apply to, but then had essay fatigue. Also, there are scholarship essays for some schools as well⊠It just becomes too much if youâre not organized or disciplined enough, donât have any free time and still want to have some sort of social life for those several few months.
Then thereâs the waiting game for decisions, merit or no merit, etc⊠Thirty years ago, I applied early to my first choice, got a decision by New Years and was done. It just doesnât feel that easy or simple nowâŠ
Last thing, rely and be thankful for all those on here that donât have kids currently going through the process, but come back and try to help the rest of us based on their past experiences. The folks on here have been great, and I appreciate all the time theyâve taken to help everyone through all this. There was so much I didnât know, was naive about, or didnât fully understand, until coming here.
Enjoy the ride while it lasts, be patient and good luck!!!
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@Issaquah_Coug98 has provided good information here. Itâs also worth noting that Penn State does not really provide any merit aid. Some other state flagships will provide some, but Penn State is pretty much going to be the price you see listed for out of state (tuition+room+board). So, take a look at the numbers now. If youâre not willing to spend that, it might be a good idea to start redirecting your son to look at other options. Of course, if you are willing to pay, then thatâs great for your son
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Thank you! Appreciate everything you shared! Congratulations to your son! PSU was a wonderful experience for me, not always easy but definitely memorable!
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Thank you! Good thing to know since the price tag has gone up quite a bit since Iâve been there!
He hasnât committed yet, but itâs in his top 5. We just visited recently and thought the school was great. However the OOS tuition is probably the deal killer. We have a neighbor who was supposedly offered a âtonâ of merit last year for Business, but didnât end up going to PSU, and we were given the impression that his stats were lower than my DS, so were initially optimistic, but thatâs faded as HKMmom and others have said it doesnât appear that they offer much Merit. Maybe weâll see something if the FAFSA mess ever gets resolved, but unfortunately not counting on itâŠ
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