I was asked a question I have no good insight into but thought you might:
For someone out-of-state who was offered 2+2 for Biology at Eberly, does Wildlife and Fisheries Science in the College of Agricultural Sciences offer an appropriate reconsideration major that might lead to acceptance at UP?
My son is very grateful for your help. He submitted his reconsideration via the portal for fall start at UP for BBH, but that he would do summer. Thank you again and I will update as soon as he hears back (hopefully, by mid-Feb)!
āReconsideration requests will be considered based on capacity for the campus and program you are requesting. You do not need to send any additional materials, updated grades, or email messages about your reconsideration. You can expect to receive an updated admissions decision within eight (8) weeks via your MyPennState portal.ā
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Sheās in! Fall UP at Smeal, Pre-Business! After waiting since August, we are so excited! TO, OOS, 5 state medals varsity sport, job
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My son got admitted. Main campus, fall 2025 Engineering with Materials Science major. He is an International student and applied November 1st.
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Iād agree.
I believe if they make second campus optional and instead provide an option to select a second choice major, the process will become much smoother, make reconsideration requests redundant, and reduce their overhead.
Why enforce an option someone isnāt even interested in the first place?
Iām sure Iām missing some big piece in this puzzle due to my ignorance.
But itās extremely frustrating that due to the current process everyone has to second guess if they chose the ārightā major.
Iām yet to find another school thatās releasing āEAā decisions over a period of 2-3 months - again that could be down to my own ignorance and impatience.
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S25 accepted to BME. And now the (very) long wait to find out about Schreyer Honors Collegeā¦ a whole different waiting game as described here by a moderator. 
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University of Delaware has been releasing EA since early November. My son applied in September and is still waiting to hear 
Iām hoping he chooses PSU itās my favorite for him.
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So just to be clear - if you do a reconsideration and you get accepted and attend - how easy is it generally to switch out from the new major to say, DUS, once you are matriculated and on campus your freshman year? Or does it really depend on the specific major? Letās use operational leadership as an example.
Congrats to all who have gotten in! Good luck to those still waiting with us. Hopefully not much longer.
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Yes, as long as the student has a solid science background (bio&chem in particular) and is ready to take calculus (senior year Precalculus or calculus, honors or AP if available).
Itās also a super interesting major (for someone who likes wild animals, rivers, etc).
Apologies in advance as I know this has been asked so many times! I canāt keep up with the posts on PSU. OOS son got 2+2. Wants to study business. Had applied TO and DUS checked summer or fall start. Reapplied to select just summer. Apparently he can reapply again but needs to pick a different major. He really has his heart set on business/economics and I know you have to grind to get the GPA post sophmore year to even get into business. Could he select a liberal arts major and summer start and then take pre-business classes? TIA if youāve read this far!
I donāt think what is posted here is representative of what is actually going on. Once people get a decision itās really easy to come back here and say you got in to UP. If you got 2+2 Iām sure a lot donāt post and are done with all of it. I would bet there are far more 2+2 than you would think if you only went by this forum.
I know I didnāt feel like posting when my son got 2+2 for Smeal but I did so that others can have a better data set when they look here for their future odds.
I also think that they are more lenient with OOS getting UP. I have seen many smeal UP admits with extremely similar stats to my son but they were all OOS. Itās probably more likely an in state applicant will go 2+2 than an out of state applicant will so why lose the potential tuition.
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Congrats! I know itās been a long wait.
I have mixed feeling about SHC - itās a great marketing tool, but one of my kids was not in it and did fabulous and had many of the same opportunities. If Penn State is the right school for a kid, SHC is not a tie-breaker, it is an icing on top (imho).
Happy to answer any questions. Feel free to DM me.
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Economics is in the college of liberal arts. I think that would be your best bet for reconsideration. DUS is somewhat competitive and Smeal (business) is very competitive.
Once he is in if he wants to pivot to a different business major he would have to go from liberal arts to DUS to Smeal. Iām not sure how long until he can make those moves though.
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FINALLY! Admitted fall UP
Physics major
OOS
1490 SAT
3.8 UW
10 APās
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I want to offer some positivity for anyone reading this forum who may have gotten 2+2. I know it feels like a loss and it sucks but keep your head up. I know we felt it when my son got 2+2. When we started this process he said he would only go to UP. Well, he didnāt get UP. I know that if we requested a reconsideration I am pretty confident he would get UP for DUS, but we arenāt. We are taking the 2+2 and here is why (sorry this probably is only relatable to in state students):
- Tuition is far cheaper and he should get a scholarship. Merit scholarships are handed out more frequently than they are in UP (which I think for most is at a near 0% chance). My older son is at Harrisburg now and got $4k merit scholarship and he had a lower GPA than my middle son that applied now.
- He can live at home and commute, again saving a ton of money for two years.
- He can keep his current job and his car.
- Smaller class sizes, more access to professors.
- Easing in to college life and courses. Especially with the entrance to major GPA requirement for finance. We feel it is a much safer bet for him to have those 2 years with better access to his professors and smaller class sizes. We feel it will be easier to get to the 3.5 GPA by the time he has to commit to major.
- He knows a lot of people who did the 2+2 and every single one of them he has talked to has said they LOVED their campus branch.
At the end of the day it feels like a great choice after we had time to reflect. This is a long term life goal to get a career and two years of missing out on the college experience isnāt that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things for him.
Congratulations to everyone who got UP AND 2+2, be proud of yourselves and your kids. Kids today are really raising the bar from where my generation was at college time.
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If you are good to do summer session do you have a better chance at main campus listing it as first option? As opposed to asking for fall first choice and summer second choice
My OOS daughter received 2+ 2. She applied DUS. Sheās going to put in for reconsideration for UP with summer start Her sister graduated from there and sister attends UP now. What would be a good major to help her. Sheās truly undecided but is weak in math. Any suggestions?
Thank you!!
What subjects is she interested in and/or has done well in? What are her stats (UWGPA, scores if submitted)?
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