Penn State Early Action for Fall 2024 Admissions

Drips and drabs. Welcome to the party.
The word is the final decision when everyone will know will be Dec 24th.

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Some parents check their student’s portal so they don’t. I know from my end, I am highly anxious and so is my son. If my son knew any of the conversation on here, he would be checking incessantly. Now that I know he got it, and he doesn’t need to look for another major to try to change to, I won’t tell him. Yes, they are almost adults but to expect a 17yo to understand the workings of an admissions department and do research about which majors are “easier” to get into, etc. is too much. If I can help him even a little before he leaves, I will do that. Please be mindful of passing judgement on others.

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If you add all honors and APs how many do you have?
What major?
What’s your UNWEIGHTED GPA (There’s a big difference btw HS that weight +.1 and those that weight +1 so weighted gpa tells us very little. Your uw could be as low as 3.2 and as high as 3.9
)

My kid checks hers, but i do as well. Mostly because I am anxious and a planner. And also she is so rediculously busy. In the end, we would probably be fine waiting until we got the mail, but it is also good to know early so we can plan visits. PSU did not get an official vist from us, just a walk with people that we know that work there.

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Personally I can’t imagine NOT having access to the portals. That’s just me! Some of the schools my kid has applied to are $90k a year, and we won’t get a nickel of aid. You better believe I’m keeping an eye on this process, lol :sweat_smile:

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My son still awaiting. No portal update. DUS. Seems as if everyone in his school has received a decision. OOS. Anybody else?

Honestly my son is president of three clubs, leadership committee, peer ministry, works part time at a store, volunteers all day on Saturdays at the nature center and is taking an extra class everyday at 7:30am and is involved in an investment competition that takes all of his free time away. So his schedule is hectic, I volunteered to help him with checking on the portals for two of his top schools, Penn state is one of them because the sooner he gets a response for this school the happier we both will be.

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Same here!

Still waiting also- oos with much higher stats than 2 others she knows who were accepted :woman_shrugging:

Also I want to add that this forum has been amazing. The comfort and information it has provided to us is priceless. I really appreciate the moderators/champions and the highly knowledgeable folks that contribute to this journey we are on. I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through this process without the support of this forum.

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Yes. Same. Much higher stats that others in the local HS accepted. I know there is no rhyme or reason, but frustrating and stressful nonetheless.

You will be one of the first to know! :smile:

Penn State is a huge school. They can’t get to know each of the 130,000 applicants they get each year. People are already complaining about how long the process is - can you imagine how long it would be if each applicant was reviewed for their hobbies and interests? Penn State wants to know if your child can handle the rigor involved at the University, and the best way to determine that is to see the coursework your child took, the coursework available at your HS, and how your child fared in those classes.

After your child is admitted to Penn State, they offer more than 500 clubs and organizations for your child to explore. They care about giving your child a whole experience at college - not just classes. But for admissions, they have to streamline somehow.

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that’s great but that seems unfair in my opinion. but if you agree that that is fair, by all means go with it. i will say i believe each child should be reviewed on a full holistic evaluation.

numbers and gpas and test scores should not define a kid.

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This is how many (most?) larger state schools admitted students until the lack of access to testing for the class of 2021 forced them into a somewhat more holistic process.

If you want a school that has the bandwidth to look at the full applicant in detail, there are colleges out there that do that. They won’t be colleges with 40,000+ students who get tens of thousands of applicants a year, though. Large colleges have many great things to offer, but a personalized admissions experience won’t be one of them.

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Has anyone OOS been accepted yet?
If so do you mind sharing your stats?

This site has some decisions and stats. Definitely some OOS on there.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/penn-state-early-action-for-fall-2024-admissions/

CORRECT. That is for “Freshman Direct Admit” Cohort Program. Same program as PSU. The other pathway to RN is compete after taking Health Sciences, Pre-Nursing Courses then compete spring semester sophomore year for entrance Jr. Year. Typical GPA going this route is about a 3.8 with summer shadowing on your own to help your application.

Penn State receives over 100,000 first-year student applications each year. Even if only half of that are ED and EA, that’s 50,000 students they must evaluate. If you want a fair assessment of your child’s application, then you must respect that this takes time. If you want a quick response, then the only way to do that is based purely on scores. I think it is fair to say that most people would want their kids to be considered on more than just scores. And given that PSU is test optional that means it takes longer to review some files. I have a friend who works at another institution that uses a “holistic review” process for admission - they also are test optional and read and review everything carefully. On a good day, she will get through 15-20 files. So please be patient and let them do their job.

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